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Name: Elvis Evolution.
Age: New this week.
Appearance: Up to 12 shows a day at Excel London, until December.
What is it? A “first of its kind” production, according to its creators, “celebrating the life and work of Elvis Presley.”
Celebrating it how? With a “walk-through experience” combining “cutting-edge digital technology, live actors and musicians, mind-blowing multimedia and heart-pounding music”.
So is it holograms of Elvis and that? Not exactly, no.
Can you be more specific? You really have to see it to describe it, and that will set you back at least £75.
At least? VIP tickets are more like £300.
And what have the people who have seen it said? Different things.
Like what? “Absolutely atrocious,” was the assessment of one attender.
Not quite two thumbs up, then. “It was a shambles from start to finish, there was no Elvis; it was just a video of him that you could watch on YouTube,” a VIP ticket holder told the BBC.
Oh dear. Then again, some fans seem to have really enjoyed it, with one saying she “loved every minute”.
What about the reviews? Decidedly mixed. The Telegraph gave it one star and described it as “a limp assembly of video, actors, a live band and indifferently recreated sets”. Time Out was much more positive, giving it three stars, but also alluding to “a noticeable amount of booing”.
How do you explain the discrepancy? It appears to be a matter of expectations. When the show was announced last year, the creators, Layered Reality, suggested it would use AI and holographic projection to create a lifesize digital Elvis, leading to obvious comparisons with the hugely successful virtual reality extravaganza Abba Voyage.
But it’s nothing of the kind? “We ultimately took the creative decision not to mimic Elvis’s performances,” said a company spokesperson. “Instead, we use AI to upscale archive footage.”
What does that mean? Reviews suggest they have dressed up some footage from Elvis’s 1968 comeback TV special and built a show around it (which includes visits to three separate themed bars selling expensive drinks).
Sounds more like an escape room. Some visitors have drawn comparisons to that Willy Wonka experience fiasco in Glasgow last year.
Is it really that bad? They certainly have a problem on their hands. On Sunday, the show had to be stopped after an audience member who allegedly kept shouting “This is bollocks!” was dragged from the venue by security.
Do say: “We’re caught in a trap – we can’t walk out.”
Don’t say: “Elvis has left the building.”
