“Elvis Through the Years" at the Timber Lake Playhouse -- November 16.
Saturday, November 16, 7 p.m.
Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL
A theatrical musical event boasting the combined talents of father-and-son team John and Jonathan Lyons, the touring sensation Elvis Through the Years lands at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse on November 16, this rock-and-roll showcase designed to capture the essence of a young Elvis from his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show right on through to the King's legendary comeback special from 1968.
Presley's first RCA single "Heartbreak Hotel" was released in January of 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell 10 million Presley singles. With a series of successful television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular rock and roll, though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of white American youth.
In November of 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, he relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. Presley held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock, Blue Hawaii, and Viva Las Vegas. In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours.
Having sold roughly 500 million records worldwide, Presley is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. He won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He also holds several records, including the most RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the U.K. Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the U.K. Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Elvis Through the Years will be performed in Mt. Carroll on November 16, admission to the 7 p.m. concert event is $25-30, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
