photo submitted

A CLOSER Walk with Roy Orbison stars Tom Arntzen (right) as Orbison, with Ben Bass as Elvis
Prestey and Alanna Lane as Marilyn Monroe. The musical tribute continues at the Surrey Arts Cen-
tre til Aug. 2, then moves to the Richmond Gateway Theatre till Aug. 22.

Heartfelt Orbison tribute

A Closer Walk with Roy Orbison, Directed by Dean Regan, Sur-
rey Arts Centre, to Aug. 2, Richmond Gateway theatre Aug. 7-

22. 1-596-1515.

dark, square glasses dominating his somewhat dead-

T= THE uninformed, he looks austere and distant, his

pan face.

But his songs belied this straight
exterior and revealed a man who
knew tenderness and heartache. A
Closer Walk with Roy Orbison
_ captures the nuances of this

rock-and-rofl balladeer, offering
glimpses into the man who gave
the world such hits as Blue Bayou,
Only the Lonely and Cryin’.

Directed by Dean Regan, who
brought us A Closer Walk with
Patsy Cline earlier this year, this
show is astutely cast, finely pro-
duced and more musically
stimulating than its predecessor.

Tom Artnzen stars as Roy, and is
supported by a cast of ‘60s faces
including James Dean (Curtis
Blayne), Elvis Presley (Ben Bass),
Marilyn Monroe (Alanna Lane),
Connie Francis (Lynda Boyd) and
our own rock chronicler, Red
Robinson (lah Boothby).

Arntzen is an excellent choice
for portraying Roy Orbison. He
has a euphonious voice that spills
out liquidly in the ballads and rip-
ples up and down the register in
the rockin’ tunes.

He has a solid command of the
three octaves that Orbison was so
famous for — remember “‘It’s
o-o-ver..”? — and, backed up by a
tight four-man combo, sends the
audience into rapture.

The show allows us insight into
Roy's character but doesn’t go
overboard on the details of his
personal life. Roy speaks, in his
calm and understated way, about
his friendship with Elvis and the
heydays of rock and roll.

Red Robinson, saddle shoes and

Barbara L.ack
THEATRE REVIEW

all, fills in the details about Roy's
personal life and career.

The show never stoops to sor-
didness or crass sentimentality but
remains sincere.

Even the Elvis portrayal stays
within the boundaries of good
taste. Ben Bass captures the king’s
mellow, sexy voice and re-excites
some memory nodes in the female
audience with his hip-gyrating.

The left side of the stage is
dressed up as a ‘50s diner. To
complement the musical numbers
and to compensate for Orbison’s
understated stage presence, small
scenes are acted out or characters
dance to the tunes as he sings.

Alanna Lane as Marilyn and
Curtis Blayne as James Dean are as
sexy and sizzling as the originals
and great dancers.

Lynda Boyd rounds out the cast
as the geeky Alice (dressed in
poodle skirt, of course), providing
comic retief and also contributing
some musical numbers, the most
memorable of which was the k.d.
lang duo of Cryin’ with Roy.

In the second act, Jan Boothby

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provides comic relief (not that we
need to be relieved of anything) as
a righteous PTA speaker aghast at
the evil of rock and roll music, and
Marilyn makes love to the air with
Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

The Elvis-Roy duo of My Way
pulls that song out of its schlock
resting place and places it in the
arena of true feeling.

At the end, the audience
responded to the integrity of the
music with a standing ovation. The
two women in front of me (who
launched into clapping along any
chance they could get) were posi-
tively swooning.

it’s a tight show.

Don’t miss it just because it’s in
Surrey (or Richmond). It’s an easy
25-minute drive. Take Hwy. 1 over
the Port Mann Bridge. Turn right
on 152nd Street, left on 88th
Avenue and travel three long
blocks. Look for signs for Bear
Creek Park and the Surrey Arts
Centre (which is on the left).

Message to everyone in
readerland: This will be my last
theatre review. | am removing my
critic’s cloak and moving overseas
(Victoria, actually), Thanks for
reading me.

Exeunt.

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