Rory Allen

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It’s not the holidays without Rory & Elvis

As one of the premiere Elvis Presley tribute artists in the world, Rory Allen could choose to hold his annual Elvis Christmas shows pretty much anywhere. Luckily for the locals of southern Saskatchewan, Allen feels a kinship with his hometown neighbours and has yet another string of sellout performances (all but Sunday were sold out as of Tuesday).

His show, Elvis Christmas Classic — Vegas Style, runs today through Sunday at Casino Regina, and it’s become one of the hardest tickets in town to find.

For Allen, the idea of another year of selling out his annual Christmas shows is hard to fathom.

“It’s hard for me to believe,” he says, calling by phone in a rare moment of downtime. “We started doing a Christmas show full-time about 12 years ago now, and people just tend to love Elvis’ Christmas music so much that we had to keep adding shows. There was such a demand and people couldn’t get in. It’s just music that everybody grew up with — they love ‘Blue Christmas’ and ‘Santa, Bring My Baby Back To Me’ and everybody on stage is in costume, so it’s really a lot of fun for everyone.”

His Christmas show is so immensely popular that Allen notes he’s been given the rare opportunity to perform in front of his home crowd on a regular basis. He feels that the Casino has really gone out of its way to make him feel even more at home, so it’s a no-brainer to keep coming back.

As far as the show itself, the Elvis lookalike considers himself more of a tribute artist then an impersonator and focuses the first act of his show on Elvis’ Christmas recordings, with the second act based more on the King’s time in Las Vegas.

“I do more of a tribute,” Allen explains, “so I’ve studied him a little more. When I go on stage, I don’t think I’m him — I remain Rory during the show. I think that’s how I’ve remained true to everything, because I don’t try very hard to be Elvis. I just sing as myself, and it comes out that way, which is handy. I think people really appreciate that it’s more of a tribute to him.”

Continuing, he adds, “I’m so busy, so there’s not a lot of downtime to get rusty. I’ve watched all of his movies and a bunch of his concerts and you pick up little things, and I think we try to do the little things that Elvis did and people pick up on that.”

All things considered, doing a tribute to Elvis isn’t all blue suede shoes and fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Allen says it takes a lot of energy and a focus on his health.

“I’d say the hardest part is trying to keep the energy up when you’re doing seven days in a row. (Elvis) was a machine. When he started in Las Vegas he was 34 and he only lasted until he was 42. The demand of doing show after show after show, and keeping the energy up for the audience is the hardest part. I like people, so I like giving people hugs and saying hi. In the first set I even like to go up to the balcony and spend some time up there. I like keeping the energy up, so I have to drink lots of Gatorade.”

Asked why the Elvis Christmas shows have become so popular, Allen feels that he and Presley both share a great love of the holiday season and that it comes through in the show and tends to be quite infectious.

“Christmas was Elvis’ favourite time of year,” he details. “His house, Graceland, was always done up to the nines with Christmas decorations, and our family, we like to do the same. Christmas is just an awesome, awesome time. I think you just think of family and friends and why we’re all here more at Christmas time, compared to the rest of the year. It’s more of a love your neighbour time of year. I think Elvis was very generous with his time and his money, and we try to be the same way. We’re just happy that everyone comes out and supports the show and that they’ve supported the show for this long.”

Considering that Allen goes into each show acting like it’s taking place in his living room and those in attendance are family, it’s no wonder the masses have felt comfortable over the years and keep coming back.

As one of the few true gentlemen in the entertainment industry, and a local legend in his own right, Allen ends the interview giving a glimpse of what’s really important to him.

“I’m hoping that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we’re just looking forward to many years ahead of entertaining the folks around here. It’s going to be lots of fun, and lots of energy, and I’m hoping we’ll make some pretty good memories throughout the week.”