Review: Elvis is everywhere in ambitious new North Shore production

Dan Berry turns in a star-making peformance in the stage bio/jukebox musical, running through Nov. 12 in Beverly.

Dan Berry as Elvis Presley in "Elvis - A Musical Revolution" at North Shore Music Theatre. David Costa Photography

November 4, 2023

4 minutes to read

Let’s face it, when your musical revolves around the life of Elvis Presley, you’ve got a big problem right out of the gate: How do you even begin to approximate the presence of one of the most charismatic performers of all time — not to mention one of the most imitated?

Well, I’m happy to report that Dan Berry — the young actor at the center of “Elvis – A Musical Revolution,” directed by Kevin P. Hill at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly — has pulled off the seemingly impossible with a nuanced, star-making performance: He may not be Elvis, but he’s about as close as you’re going to get.

Save for a handful of effective and moving scenes featuring a young Elvis (played expertly by Patrick Naughton at the Nov. 2 performance), Berry is on stage for almost the entire production. But he doesn’t have even a glimmer of the exaggerated, winking takes we’ve grown used to from Elvis impersonators over the years; instead, he seems to embody Presley’s humble roots, his twitchy charisma, and, thanks to the book by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti, even his notoriously goofy humor. (Elvis loved a good fart joke.)

Unfortunately, Berry’s clearly Herculean efforts to capture Elvis for the stage aren’t always entirely served by the show surrounding him. Billed as a new “bio-musical” now making its debut in theaters around the globe, it’s apparently authorized by Elvis Presley Enterprises, which might explain some of the odd choices in terms of structure — not the least of which being the decision to end the show with his 1968 “comeback special,” when Elvis arguably had, from a dramatic standpoint, some of his most compelling years still ahead of him.

But they certainly weren’t happy years, and so “Elvis – A Musical Revolution” steers clear of the star’s final decade of mental and physical decline, and his eventual death at age 42 from cardiac arrest brought on by years of drug abuse. There’s not a pill to be seen or mentioned on the Beverly stage, and no TV screens were shot out in the making of this production.

But what does make it to the stage, and there’s plenty, is glorious: Berry and the actors playing Elvis’s early band — Hunter Henrickson as Scotty Moore, Joe Bentley as Bill Black, and Stephen Blauch as DJ Fontana, all playing their instruments — capture the raw energy and, frankly, the danger inherent in those early rockabilly sounds. Plowing through a litany of Elvis hits (about 40 are represented in all, including medleys), Berry provides the perfect mix of sultry baritone and sheer physicality to remind you of what it must have been like to hear them the first time around.

Joe Bentley as Bill Black and Dan Berry as Elvis Presley in “Elvis – A Musical Revolution.” *– David Costa Photography*

He’s well served throughout by his supporting cast, in particular Bronson Norris Murphy as a prickly Sam Phillips and North Shore legend David Coffee — yes, Scrooge in their annual “A Christmas Carol” — as Col. Tom Parker. Fortunately for all involved, Coffee does not attempt a vague Dutch accent like Tom Hanks in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 movie, instead portraying the hucksterish Parker as a convincingly ruthless Southern blowhard. (Unfortunately Emma Wilcox isn’t given much to do as the hapless Priscilla, but makes the most of relaying what it must have been like for a young girl thrust into Elvis’s limelight, and then faced with his frustration at his eventual declining popularity.)

As for the music, some of the numbers have a certain sameness to them — there are only so many ways for Berry to sing and gyrate, even as he’s supported by a well-choreographed jumping-and-jiving ensemble. (More of them would have actually been welcome.) But even so, the medleys are driving and exuberant, making the most of NSMT’s rounded space.

Plus, several well-staged numbers really stand out, including a steamy “You’re the Boss” featuring Berry and a well-cast Alaina Mills as his co-star and purported paramour Ann-Margret; and a sad/funny medley of film songs that dives deep into Elvis’s acting career and just how terrible — and career-damaging — all those movies really were.

Act I probably could have used more of a show-stopping finale — it ends on a down note, at the funeral for Elvis’s mother, lovingly played by Mary Callanan — and the decision to end with the 1968 special and not include “If I Can Dream,” the most Broadway of all of Elvis’s ballads, seems inexplicable. (The show also plays fast and loose with the history, like when Elvis sings 1956’s “Heartbreak Hotel” during his breakthrough appearance at the Louisiana Hayride — in 1954.) But there’s enough genius in the other numbers to make up for it, maybe most notably in Berry’s sweet rendition of “Can’t Help Falling Love,” sung to an infant Lisa Marie.

Still, if there’s one problem that dogs the show it’s the feeling that it’s torn between wanting to be a singalong jukebox musical and a serious biography, complete with racial strife, marital struggles and strategically-placed F-bombs. The tension between those two goals makes it not entirely successful as either, but judging from the audience reaction – including clapping and singing along right up through an enthusiastic standing ovation — that probably doesn’t really matter. Elvis is most definitely in the building, and that’s what counts.

Dan Berry and the cast of “Elvis – A Musical Revolution.” *– Courtesy Photo / Paul Lyden*

“Elvis: A Musical Revolution” plays at North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Road, Beverly, through Nov. 12; Tickets are $68-$93. Contains adult language, lots of gyrating, and Elvis can be kind of a jerk at times.