By Sherani Theophilus, Times Chronicle
An audience at Venables Theatre last Saturday discovered the cure for the January blues.
Ben Thompson of the UK brought his amazing tribute to Elvis Presley, who, according to him was the greatest entertainer of all time.
First hearing Elvis’ music as a child, he started emulating the star at the age of 15, and has gone on to win many titles, including the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist title from Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Growing up with a mother who loved Elvis, I heard his music playing all the time. It wasn’t Christmas without Elvis crooning Blue Christmas in the background.
Meanwhile, in Oliver, Thompson walked on stage, and very soon a disconnect happened between a young singer from the UK and the actual sound of the legend.
You could see and hear the respect he has for Elvis’s career and the fact that Elvis covered almost every genre of music. The audience was smiling en masse, and most were dancing in their seats.
Thompson, with his shimmying, shaking, rattling and rolling, covered all the stages of Elvis’s career and performed all the songs so well, you could close your eyes and believe it was Elvis.
This was the start of Thompson’s first solo international tour, produced by LMS Entertainment. Mike Schell of LMS is the chair of the Penticton Elvis Festival. He also performs in the hand-picked band, The Cadillac Kings and Queens, which is touring with Thompson.
Connected through Elvis – Natalie Drache on set with Elvis Presley circa 1960s.
Sixty years later, Natalie enjoyed the performance she called a wonderful tribute but also original to Ben.
One of the delighted audience members who was dancing in her seat was someone with a unique connection to Elvis.
Natalie Drache, now 84, had met Elvis when she was a Script Supervisor on three of his movies. She worked on Spin Out, Speedway and Stay Away Joe. Drache spoke of that time, “as a young lady, I had the privilege to go to film school, UCLA, I graduated, went to work on a summer job with CBS, Gilligan’s Island, and others as a music editor.
“I saw an ad in Variety that said the municipality of Los Angeles was offering training programs. I was the first graduate. I went down to the office of the Producers’ Guild, and they said we’re only taking 20 people, and they had 20 people. I sat down on the carpet. I said, I’m not leaving. You didn’t advertise a limit. So a young woman went into the producer’s office and told them there’s an irate, hysterical woman out there, sitting on the carpet.
The training program was organized with the producers’ guild and equal opportunity.
They wanted to break down nepotism in the business. So she said, ‘Oh, oh, my, I put somebody’s name down here twice.’ And I had a career.”
She spoke of the difficulty of getting into the union. “I think I was the first Canadian. Because I was living in the US, going to UCLA. I was on the cusp of an industry trying to change, because the independents such as Francis Coppola and the Sundance people, were all coming in at that time. And they were taking talent. I want to inspire young people to follow their dreams and not back down.”
All shook up – Ben Thompson’s tribute to Elvis was a complete walk down memory lane for fans.
Meeting Thompson after the show, Drache held his hands and said: “I lived my dream and you are living yours!” She remarked on how it’s impossible to sit still at the show. ‘I’m sure everybody in their 60s and 70s has lived those songs. Yes, sir. We’ve lived those songs. The band was absolutely magical, the horns, and the ladies singing. I think it was a complete, complete experience.”
The tour heads back to the UK and the United States for the rest of the year, but a promise was made to return.
