Question of the Day - 26 February 2024

An Elvis-themed artificial-intelligence-powered show is, we understand, destined for Las Vegas, though several caveats are attached.

For one, it won’t hit the stage in London until next November at the earliest and it comes to Las Vegas after that at an unspecified date. Iterations of Elvis Evolution will also play in Berlin and Tokyo, but it's presently unclear whether these will be residencies or touring shows. Ditto for Vegas.

The bulk of Elvis Evolution is being culled from “thousands of photographs” and old home movies. A life-size avatar of Elvis will be featured, but only as the climactic act. Some idea of how it will look can be gleaned from a CBS-TV report.

“The show peaks with a concert experience that will recreate the seismic impact of seeing Elvis live for a whole new generation of fans, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy,” explains presenter Layered Reality, somewhat unhelpfully.

The London premiere run will also incorporate a Presley-themed restaurant and a bar for carrying the show on into the wee hours. “Elvis maintains superstar status globally and people around the world no longer want to sit there and passively receive entertainment. Instead, they want to be a part of it,” said Layered Reality CEO Andrew McGuiness.

Layered Reality’s pedigree is for similar immersive shows, albeit not music-themed. The War of the Worlds was one and a spectacular based on Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot are previous outings for the theatrical company. However, the how and where of Elvis Evolution are still very sketchy at this point. Not even a venue for the first run has been announced.

The Las Vegas precedent for this could be considered discouraging. The holographic show featuring Whitney Houston at Harrah’s lasted only a few months.

A more successful non-Vegas precursor is ABBA Voyage. It premiered 19 months ago at England’s Stratford Olympic Park in a custom-built venue and, according to Deadline.com, “has taken the English capital by storm. The Elvis show differs in that the subject has been dead for decades, whereas all four members of ABBA had a hand in the production of their show, alongside Swedish entertainment company Pophouse and VFX outfit Industrial Light & Magic.” 

The ABBA tribute show blends holographic imagery of the famous foursome with live performers doubling as Frida, Agnetha, Benny, and Bjorn. Named after the Swedish supergroup’s final album, ABBA Voyage looks impressive on video and more three-dimensional than the teaser footage released for Elvis Evolution. If Layered Reality can challenge the Swedes’ famously exacting standards, it will really have something.