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In his dressing room at
Wimbledon's refurbished theatre, Larry Branson has all he needs to become
a pop legend
A pair of dark glasses, a Gibson 335
guitar, and a company wardrobe assistant to tease his dyed jet-black hair
carefully into place.
When Larry walks out on stage, dressed all
in black, fans can be forgiven for thinking Roy Orbison lives.
And when he stands near-motionless in the
spotlight and sings hits like Oh Pretty Woman, Love Hurts, Crying
and In Dreams they may well be convinced their ears also deceive
them.
Because Larry Branson is the Big O when he
appears in the new Bill Kenwright musical 4 Steps To Heaven with
fellow cast members Rebel Dean as Elvis, Reuven Gershon as Buddy and Kludo
White as Eddie Cochran. |
The former factory worker from Vancouver drops his
Canadian accent for a soft Texas drawl and recreates the in-concert
persona of his hero who died of a heart attack on December 6, 1988.
Branson, 52, was the natural choice for the
role because he has been performing as Orbison in various musical
productions for the past 10 years. Most notably, the starring role
in another Bill Kenwright musical Only The Lonely the Roy
Orbison Story.
"Roy's brother Sam gave me his
blessing" says Larry. " He said it was what Roy would have
wanted. He had known of the many tribute shows dedicated to his friend
Elvis and said he would like to be remembered the same way."
"So, I like to think Roy is up there
somewhere feeling pleased with what I'm doing." |
