Randy (Elvis) Friske
Where: McPherson Playhouse (also Nanaimo’s Port Theatre Friday, Sidney’s Charlie White Theatre Sunday, Courtenay’s Sid Williams Theatre Jan. 24, Campbell River’s Tidemark Theatre Jan. 25)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $39.50; 250-386 6121
When Randy (Elvis) Friske was five, he saw the 1956 Elvis Presley movie, Love Me Tender. Elvis plays Clint Reno, who is killed in a desperate shootout at the end.
Young Friske was devastated. His mom had to explain it was only a movie, and that in real life, Elvis lived.
The boy decided, right then and there, that one day he was going to sing Elvis. That fantasy became reality. In the not-always-respected world of Elvis impersonation, Abbotsford’s Friske has enjoyed enviable success, sharing the stage with Bob Hope, Mickey Gilley and Pat Boone.
As a 14-year-old he sang Elvis songs in his dad’s band. “People started going up to my dad and saying, ‘that kid sounds just like Elvis,’ ” he said. When he was 17, Friske performed Elvis songs in a popular group with his brother. Then he successfully auditioned for the Elvis, Elvis, Elvis show. Expo 86 officials, impressed by Friske’s moves, hired him to do his own show. It sold out for seven weeks straight.
Friske says he has never looked back.
What follows is a Q&A session (edited for clarity and brevity) with Friske:
Describe your current show.
“I have the best band I’ve ever worked with. Vegas, anywhere. Monster players. This time we’re doing something different. We’ve touched on the [Elvis] movies. No one’s ever done that before. We’re doing little scenes from movies and duets.”
Can you elaborate?
“We’re touching on everything from Love Me Tender to That’s the Way It Is. There’s King Creole, Blue Hawaii, Jailhouse Rock, Girl Happy, Spinout and Acapulco.”
I understand your daughter, Cassandra, is part of your show.
“She does Ann-Margret, Marilyn Monroe. Her Liza Minnelli is getting standing ovations.”
What drew you to Elvis as a kid?
“He was cool. I think it was just, he had this warmth and this coolness. He kind of captured you, like you were his friend.”
You call yourself a tribute artist rather than an Elvis impersonator. Can you explain?
“When I first started, people call me an impersonator. I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I don’t get up there and ever claim to be Elvis. I step out of character, sometimes.”
I read that Elvis’s press agent was a fan of yours.
“He was cryin’ at my show, by the way. I went, ‘Oh boy, this guy either really likes me or he hates me.’ He said, ‘It was like seeing my old friend up there.’ Wow.”
Do you listen to Elvis songs away from the stage, or do you listen to other things?
“Do I listen to Elvis 24 hours a day? Absolutely not.”
I understand that Bob Hope was impressed when he saw you doing a sound-check once at Victoria’s Royal Theatre.
“He was checking out venues with [the late Vancouver impressario] Hugh Pickett. Hugh said Bob Hope told him, ‘Who is this guy?’ ”
And later you were hired by Pickett to open for Hope?
“Yes. I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Are you absolutely kidding me?’ ”
What are you aiming for with your show?
“We try to give people the chance to see what it might have been like to see Elvis. People have said, ‘It’s like both of you, your spirits are up there together.’ ”