The Elvis Years at The Stockport Plaza Review
The Elvis Years
The Plaza, Stockport
7 February 2015
Reviewed by Emma Baker
When I was asked to review The Elvis Years I jumped at the chance to take my mum who is a massive fan.
It was at The Plaza in Stockport, we had never been to this theatre before but it was easy to find and took around 20 minutes by car from my home in Eccles, but finding parking nearby proved a bit tricky as one of the local pay and display car parks closed at 7.30pm and this was just around the time we arrived but we did find a space that was a 10 minute walk away, all though there are many other ways to access the theatre via public transport.
We collected our tickets from the box office and then went on to find our seats. The theatre was bigger than I imagined, it was clean and well lit and even though it soon filled to near full capacity it wasn’t too hot. The chairs were comfortable but a little on the small side for my liking and not much leg room which was needed with people trying to pass through. If you wanted a drink there was a fully licenced bar, which also enabled you to take your drinks into the show if they were in plastic glasses. The audience was a mixed bag of ages ranging from around 8 years to the golden oldies.
As we took our seats you could feel the excitement buzzing around the room as we awaited the man himself… As soon as he appeared the audience was in up roar.
He (Mario Kombou) portrayed Elvis’ life from how he got his record deal, his army years, his films even the passing of Elvis’ beloved momma through film footage and live performances. He was accompanied by a 4 piece band and 2 backing singers and dancers. There was plenty of costume changes and a great variety of songs including Blue Suede Shoes, Return to Sender, Jail House Rock and Viva Las Vagas to name but a few.
There was plenty or audience participation and swooning a plenty…
The show was 2 halves each around an hour long with a 30 minute interval where you could purchase drink, snacks and even ice cream.
I tried to go to the toilets during the interval which were a fair bit of a walk away down a flight of stair and down a corridor but the queues were really long so I headed back, but I did notice an accessible toilet within the theatre itself which was nice to see especially as there were some wheelchair users watching the show.
During the second part Elvis came down to the audience and gave some lucky fans some of his scarfs he had been wearing… I have never seen so many older ladies run so fast!!!
Toward the end everyone was in the spirit of things and were out of their chairs singing and dancing away, fun was had by all.
Mario portrayed Elvis with great passion and devotion and pulled off a great show proving that the King is very much alive.
There was a chance at the end to buy some merchandise and meet the man himself!
A must see for any Elvis fan and we would recommend it to family and friends.
Rating: 5/5 
The Elvis Years is currently touring the UK. For more information, tour dates or to book tickets visit www.theelvisyears.com.
For other shows at The Plaza in Stockport visit www.stockportplaza.co.uk.
The Plaza, Mersey Square, Stockport, Cheshire. SK1 1SP | 0161 477 7779
