‘Elvis — The Concert’ resurrects the King with class

Joe Delaney

Friday, Aug. 14, 1998 | 9:53 a.m.

"Elvis -- The Concert," in the Las Vegas Hilton showroom through Sunday, is the best multi-media presentation we've seen in more than 30 years of covering the local entertainment scene. It is even more remarkable when you realize that, with the exception of Elvis' pre-recorded voice, everything else onstage is live and that most of the performers are Elvis originals, under the direction of Elvis' personal conductor at the Hilton and on the road, Joe Guercio.

James Burton (lead guitar), Glen D. Hardin (piano), Jerry Scheff (bass guitar), and Ronnie Tutt (drums) are originals from Elvis' TCB (Taking Care of Business) Band; the current Sweet Inspirations are worthy of their predecessors, a group that included Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother. The Imperials -- Sherman Andrus, Terry Blackwood, Joe Moscheo and Jim Murray -- re-united for this tour and came close to stealing the show Thursday. Soprano Millie Kirkham's association with Elvis goes back to 1957.

The concert ran slightly more than two hours with a 20-minute intermission at the one-hour mark. Friday and Saturday, the two shows will be sans intermission. The 37 songs will please the most demanding Elvis fans. The show seemed too soon over. Oddly enough, I enjoyed songs that were associated with other artists as much as I enjoyed those that were Presley's exclusive province, especially his rendition of "That Loving Feeling," associated with the Righteous Brothers.

The integration of all the parts into one beautifully coordinated whole was near-perfect. Credit co-producers Stig Edgren and Todd Morgan, director Randy Johnson and maestro Joe Guercio, plus the live cast for making it all happen. I would personally recommend that parents with young children take their entire family so those too young to appreciate what Elvis meant can do so in proper context.

This production deserves a longer, well-publicized run in the showroom that once was Elvis' home in Las Vegas.

JOE DELANEY is a Sun entertainment critic.