New play on Elvis charts rise, fall

Press, 19 August 1985, Page 32

New play on Elvis charts rise, fall

NZPA-AP Lofldon A new play about Elvis Presley depicts the king of rock ‘n’ roll as a man who died of drug abuse, yet the author, Alan Bleasdale, says he aims to “bring back Elvis’ dignity and respect.” “I’m in there fighting for a man I love,” Bleasdale told Associated Press in an interview at the Phoenix Theatre in London, where his play “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” has opened. A native of the north England city of Liverpool where his play has had a successful try-out, Bleasdale, aged 39, described Presley’s life story as “the American dream that turns to the American tragedy.” “It’s an indication of the ultimate excess of capitalism,” he said of the rise and fall of Presley, who was 42 when he died in 1977 at Graceland, his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. “What do you give a man who has everything? You give him more and more and more, and one day he wakes up and can’t take any more,” said Bleasdale. Starring the British television star, Martin Shaw, as

the older, overweight Presley and 23-year-old Simon Bowman as his younger, leaner self, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” takes place on the last night of the singer’s life, as a bloated, drug-dependent Presley looks back on happier days. The American actress, Nancy Wood, plays Elvis’s wife Priscilla, the actress who is now cast as Jenna Wade in the television series “Dallas.” “The boy takes more than aspirin in this show,” said Bleasdale. “We show his drug abuse ... (so that) you understand it, you reason it.”

The author said his show had passed “the acid test” of approval from what he called Elfans — Presley’s British followers, who are as loyal as any in the world. The leading man, Shaw, is in his second recent American stage role. Last season he starred in a revival of Clifford Odets’ “The Country Girl.”

“The mental effort is far greater than the physical,” Shaw said of his preparation for the role. You’re dealing with a man who doesn't think sequentially.” He said he avoided sentimentality in his performance “because I have too much respect for who I’m playing.” For Bleasdale, the play marks a .potential breakthrough. He has never had a commercial success in London. “I’ve always tripped at the last hurdle or never even entered the race for London’s West End.” He admits he is concerned about audience reaction to the Elvis play. “It may be a hard trip for them to take,” Bleasdale said. “I don’t pull any punches. I’m in there fighting for the man. I would hope the people who are still close to Presley and love and respect him understand that I love and respect him, too.”