The King is back with The Elvis Years

Oct 1 2010 By Barry Dix

SHOWS dedicated to two much-loved stars from the opposite ends of the entertainment spectrum are set to delight audiences at the Theatre Royal in Windsor.

Elvis Presley’s songs will be ringing out around the old venue on Sunday evening in a two-hour extravaganza featuring material from the earliest days to the glittering Las Vegas concerts.

The Elvis Years stars Mario Kombou, voted the best Presley performer in the world in an international contest five years ago.

He’s since starred as The King in Jailhouse Rock, The Musical, which ran at London’s Piccadilly Theatre for a couple of years and has even had the ultimate accolade of being installed in the Hall of Fame at the Elvis Presley Estate.

He’ll have the backing of a talented cast of singers, actors and musicians with West End experience.

Director of the show is David MacKay, who has produced hits for the likes of Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Harry Nilsson and recorded the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton at his Surrey studio.

The show will be staged at Windsor on Sunday evening from 7.30pm.

What a contrast two days later at the theatre when Bob Golding arrives with his one-man show, a loving tribute to Eric Morecambe.

It may seem peculiar that a comedian who will always be linked with partner Ernie Wise is being celebrated in a production which features just one performer.

But Morecambe has been a massive box office success since being the runaway success at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009.

It enjoyed a highly successful West End run, winning the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and played to-sell out houses in the spring.

Bob is now part way through one final tour with the show, which is on at Windsor from Tuesday (October 5) to Saturday.

It’s attracted numerous glowing reviews from all sorts of people, but surely there can be no better endorsement of the production than the one from Eric Morecambe’s own son, Gary, who said: "There were times when I felt a shiver down my spine, as if my father was suddenly resurrected for the evening."

* For information about either show contact the Theatre Royal box office on 01753 853888.