Jumpsuits and gyrations: Behind the scenes of this Elvis tribute show at OP’s New Theatre

Tammy Ljungblad

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Just an hour shy of showtime, he arrives in a gray hoodie and sweatpants. Ample time to become Elvis Presley.

He is Victor Trevino Jr., 39, a highly sought, Graceland-endorsed Elvis Presley tribute artist from Fort Worth, Texas. Trevino has been starring in the tribute concert “Elvis: Aloha From Vegas” at the New Theatre and Restaurant in Overland Park. The 11-week run closes April 21.

“He’s really, really good,” said Joe R. Fox III, the show’s director and New Theatre’s vice president of production.

So good in fact, that in 2022 Trevino clinched the title of Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist, awarded by the Elvis Presley Enterprises at Graceland in Memphis.

Company manager Jenny O’Leary gets a hug from Victor Trevino Jr. when he arrives backstage about an hour before showtime for “Elvis: Aloha from Vegas” at New Theatre.
Company manager Jenny O’Leary gets a hug from Victor Trevino Jr. when he arrives backstage about an hour before showtime for “Elvis: Aloha from Vegas” at New Theatre.

“The show is a very hard show, a very physically demanding show,” said Trevino. “I put my own spin on it and be myself and I’m kind of recreating the songs and talking about the history during the show.”

Fox said they began talks for the show nearly three years ago after a successful run of “The King in Concert,” Trevino’s Elvis show that reopened the New Theatre to live performances in summer 2021 after the pandemic shut it down. “It was so successful that Victor and I and Daniel Doss, our music director, we all started putting our heads together and said, ‘Hey, let’s do another one, but let’s do it in a different period,’” said Fox. Vegas in the 1970s.

In costume for the first set, Trevino grins as he walks out of his dressing room and heads toward the stage for his starring role.
In costume for the first set, Trevino grins as he walks out of his dressing room and heads toward the stage for his starring role.
Austin VanBecelaere, left, a show technician and scenic carpenter, waits with a scarf as Mackenzie Goodwin, a stage manager, makes an adjustment before Trevino takes the stage for the show’s opening number.
Austin VanBecelaere, left, a show technician and scenic carpenter, waits with a scarf as Mackenzie Goodwin, a stage manager, makes an adjustment before Trevino takes the stage for the show’s opening number.
Alyssa Byers, from left, Cherise Coaches and Jessica Brooke Seals prepare for the curtain to open where they perform as “The Sweet Inspirations,” during “Elvis: Aloha from Vegas” show.
Alyssa Byers, from left, Cherise Coaches and Jessica Brooke Seals prepare for the curtain to open where they perform as “The Sweet Inspirations,” during “Elvis: Aloha from Vegas” show.

The show also focuses on his backup singers of the time. “The Sweet Inspirations, a vocal group, they really helped to give Elvis his unique sound during this time period,” Fox said.

They’re played by Cherise Coaches and Jessica Brooke Seals, both 33 and from Chicago, and Alyssa Byers, 23, of Wichita, infusing the stage with vibrant R&B energy.

“Jessica and Cherise have been singing together for about 10 years, I believe,” said Byers, who recently moved to the Kansas City area. “So adding me into the mix was like infiltrating something that was already so bonded, but I’ve got a great bond with them and it feels like I’ve been singing with them forever.”

Doss, the music director, pulled together an ensemble of 10 musicians.

Trevino performs during the first set at New Theatre.
Trevino performs during the first set at New Theatre.
Seen from stage right, Trevino performs the physically demanding moves to channel the persona of Elvis on stage.
Seen from stage right, Trevino performs the physically demanding moves to channel the persona of Elvis on stage.

In a dressing room backstage, Jak Bush, a stage assistant, uses a toothbrush to carefully remove a tiny spot from one of two Aloha jumpsuits Trevino wears in the show. The iconic white jumpsuit, adorned with a studded red, white, blue, and gold eagle, was meticulously crafted over three or four months in Thailand by AJM (Ann Jumpsuit Maker) for Trevino.

It’s one of seven in Trevino’s collection, but he said he also owns many other costumes, used in more than 100 performances he does every year. Bush removes wrinkles with a handheld steamer, and the costumes are ready for the show.

Jak Bush, an assistant stage technician, uses a toothbrush to remove a tiny spot from the Aloha white jumpsuit that will be worn by Trevino during the show. Bush was working on the suit about two hours before Trevino took the stage.
Jak Bush, an assistant stage technician, uses a toothbrush to remove a tiny spot from the Aloha white jumpsuit that will be worn by Trevino during the show. Bush was working on the suit about two hours before Trevino took the stage.
Trevino adjusts his belt before heading to the stage.
Trevino adjusts his belt before heading to the stage.

In a nearby dressing room, filled with costumes on racks and wigs on shelves, Byers adheres false eyelashes, coats her lips with a deep burgundy lipstick and adjusts her wig.

“When we’re singing, it’s a really great feeling and we have lots of chemistry,” said Byers. “I was born way later than the time period that we’re singing in, but singing those songs really puts me in a place where I can imagine what they were thinking and what they were feeling.”

Alyssa Byers a native of Wichita, Kansas, adjusts her wig in the dressing room before a performance where she appears on stage as one of the three members of “The Sweet Inspirations.”
Alyssa Byers a native of Wichita, Kansas, adjusts her wig in the dressing room before a performance where she appears on stage as one of the three members of “The Sweet Inspirations.”
Jessica Brooke Seals, a backup singer in the “The Sweet Inspirations,” makes a dash from backstage to make it in time for her part in the Elvis tribute show.
Jessica Brooke Seals, a backup singer in the “The Sweet Inspirations,” makes a dash from backstage to make it in time for her part in the Elvis tribute show.
Victor Trevino Jr., an Elvis tribute artist, laughs with his co-stars Alyssa Byers, Jessica Brooke Seals, and Cherise Coaches after coming off the stage from the first set where he stars with the women in “Elvis: Aloha from Vegas,” a tribute concert, at the New Theatre in Overland Park. The women portray Elvis Presley’s backup singers the “Sweet Inspirations.”

Seals soon arrives plenty early for makeup, hair and a bit of friendly chitchat with Byers.Coaches strolls in a bit closer to show time and polishes her makeup, before slipping into the evening’s first costume, a gold jumpsuit.

Company manager Jenny O’Leary checks on Trevino. His hair, thick, black and shiny, is combed just right. The pair make a couple of adjustments to the dark blue costume worn in the first set. The “places” call goes out at 7:33 p.m. for performers who navigate a narrow, spiral staircase to get to the darkened stage.

From backstage, the performers, stage personnel and even the show’s director Joe Fox, shown here, must take a narrow spiral staircase to get to the stage at New Theatre.
From backstage, the performers, stage personnel and even the show’s director Joe Fox, shown here, must take a narrow spiral staircase to get to the stage at New Theatre.

In 2015, a multi-million dollar renovation added 4 million high-tech LED lights, which bursts on as Trevino kicks off with “Blue Suede Shoes,” “I Gotta Woman” and “All Shook Up.”

At 7:53 p.m., ‘The Sweet Inspirations’ grace the stage in gold jumpsuits, lacing the show with R&B.

In two sets, Trevino belts more of Presley’s 1970s hits, including “My Way, ‘Suspicious Minds” and an older Elvis classic, “Love Me Tender.”

Alyssa Byers, from left, Cherise Coaches and Jessica Brooke Seals perform as the “Sweet Inspirations,” during the show.
Alyssa Byers, from left, Cherise Coaches and Jessica Brooke Seals perform as the “Sweet Inspirations,” during the show.
Trevino performs one of the 21 and a half songs while gyrating on stage in the white, rhinestone-studded jumpsuit he wears for the second act of the show.
Trevino performs one of the 21 and a half songs while gyrating on stage in the white, rhinestone-studded jumpsuit he wears for the second act of the show.

“The audiences are loving it,” said Fox. “There’s something special about Elvis, there’s just no two ways around it. Elvis holds a unique spot in the American conscience.”

Clad in the Aloha jumpsuit, Trevino gyrates and moves across the stage for the second set, belting out “See See Rider” and “Burning Love” and, in classic Elvis style, he hands out scarves and plants kisses on women in the front row. “You know, some of the audiences that we know actually saw Elvis back in the day. It’s reviving some memories for them,” said Fox.

After more than 20 songs, Trevino wraps up with a rendition of “An American Trilogy,” then an encore of “A Big Hunk O’ Love,” “Proud Mary,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

Backstage, Trevino hits the sink to wash his hands, wipe sweat and chat and share a quick laugh with the vocalists.

After one of the shows, Trevino chatted with Alyssa Byers, one of the three backup singers in the “Sweet Inspirations.”
After one of the shows, Trevino chatted with Alyssa Byers, one of the three backup singers in the “Sweet Inspirations.”

“Victor is amazing,” said Byers. “He is so funny, he’s really thoughtful and he gets little gifts for us here and there. He tries to make us understand where Elvis was in his career at the time. He’s very, very insightful and he really guides us in what we’re singing as well.”

Trevino and cast mates committed to about 14 weeks to stay in the Kansas City area. They rehearsed for about three weeks before the show opened.

“I just love everything about the New Theatre,” said Trevino. “I love the staff, I love the owners, I love the crew and I love what a nice, beautiful theater it is. It’s very professional, everyone is so nice. It’s like a big family.”

The New Theatre lodges the cast individually in houses it owns in Johnson County. With the shows’ demands, Trevino said he doesn’t go out often but he said he loves to visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. He also said he has paid a couple visits to the Green Lady Lounge, a Crossroads jazz club. “There’s a lot of great food out here,” he said after recently hitting the burger joint Town Topic.

The real Elvis may have had dramatic entrances and exits from his concert venues that were announced over the public address systems, but when the show is done for Trevino he heads to his dressing room and shuts the door only to leave the theater with his real persona.
The real Elvis may have had dramatic entrances and exits from his concert venues that were announced over the public address systems, but when the show is done for Trevino he heads to his dressing room and shuts the door only to leave the theater with his real persona.

Trevino said he loves recreating something that people love.

“They’re there to be entertained and I enjoy being able to make them happy, make them think about their past, make them remember, or make them forget about the hard times,” he said. “I feel like that’s my gift to the world.”

“Elvis: Aloha From Vegas” runs through April 21 at the New Theatre and Restaurant in Overland Park. See newtheatre.com.

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