Robert Shaw has made King-sized leaps and bounds in building up his Elvis tribute-artist empire.
What started as an occasional performance at The Gaslight Theatre has turned into a full-time occupation, complete with regional tours, two separate backing bands and an operations staff that works under the name Lonely Street Productions.
Shaw divides his time between Tucson in the winter and Indiana in the summer, a state that he uses as a home base to reach some of the bigger Midwest markets, such as St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville.
"We are essentially snowbirds," Shaw says with a laugh. "It is kind of cool."
Shaw does a mean Johnny Cash and has other shows, including a Blues Brothers retrospective, but Elvis Presley has always served as his bread and butter.
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Thursday, he will use the Berger Performing Arts Center to stage his most ambitious Presley project yet: An Elvis showcase with musical backing from the 40-piece Desert Pops Orchestra.
The evening, dubbed "Celebrating Elvis: A Symphony Concert Experience," will be a test run for Shaw, who plans to present the show with the much larger Louisville Orchestra in early February.
Shaw got his first taste of how popular a classical Elvis show could be when he was invited to perform with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at Reid Park in 2008.
The crowd went wild for the tribute artist's string-laden renditions of "Don't Be Cruel," "Burning Love" and "Suspicious Minds."
"The performance was a tremendous success," said Tucson Pops conductor László Veres. "The audience loved it. It all went very well."
Shaw saw potential.
"I thought to myself, 'This thing has some life to it,' " he said.
After a year spent as a Presley/Cash understudy for the Broadway-bound, Sun Records musical, "Million Dollar Quartet" in Chicago, Shaw returned to the idea of classical Elvis and asked Veres if he could lend a hand.
Veres was never an Elvis fan.
"I couldn't take all that hip-grinding business," he said. "That was too new to me, coming from Hungary."
But the 2008 performance made him a convert, and so he gladly accepted.
"Robert sings the songs so well," he said. "He is such a nice guy and does such a good job. I want to see him be successful, not just in Tucson, but nationwide."
Veres brought in members from the Tucson Pops and Tucson Symphony Orchestra to create the Desert Pops Orchestra.
Of the 25 songs chosen for the evening, 90 percent will have some sort of orchestral accompaniment.
"It would be a waste to have all of those musicians on stage and not get the full enjoyment from that sound," Shaw said. "We've worked on arrangements for songs like 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' that sound almost majestic. It's neat how it all comes together."
The evening will run in a chronological fashion, taking audience members from a young Elvis repertoire, to songs from his '68 Comeback Special, then from his later Vegas years.
"You don't necessarily have to be an Elvis fan to like this," Shaw said. "Even people who enjoy classical music will enjoy the way this is presented. I hope people leave thinking, 'Wow. I never expected that.' "
If you go
"Celebrating Elvis: A Symphony Concert Experience" with Robert Shaw
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
• Where: Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway.
• Tickets: $38.
• Reservations/information: robertastheking.com or 1-888-718-4253.
• Etcetera: Shaw will perform a second show on Jan. 30 at the Desert View Performing Arts Center, 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive, SaddleBrooke. The performance starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $38 through saddlebrooketwo.com or $40 at the door. For more information, call 825-5318.
Gerald M. Gay, a former Star reporter, is a Tucson-based freelance writer.
