Where is Elvis? Cannon Beach to be ‘all shook up’ by comedy
Published 12:53 am Thursday, July 3, 2025
A note that arrives with the scripts sets the tone for the comedy:
“None of the ‘Elvises’ in this show need to be able to sing or look like Elvis. In fact, the less they’re able to sing or look like Elvis the funnier it is.”
Director Katherine Lacaze is relying on that as she gears up for opening night of “Elvis Has Left The Building.”
The comedy, which is set in 1970, opens at the Coaster Theatre in Cannon Beach July 5 and runs six weekends.
“There is a lot of physical comedy, which is fun to stage,” said Lacaze. “I hope people can escape for a couple of hours and remember this time period and have a good laugh. Elvis’s music touches us all — we all know the man and the legend.”
Disappearance
The 2011 play is by V. Cate & Duke Ernsberger, a mother and son team who have collaborated on a half-dozen plays.
It tells a story of Elvis’s charismatic manager Col. Tom Parker, the real-life figure who guided the singer and movie actor through his sometimes troubled career.
“A lot of this story is actually about Col. Parker and the influence he had on Elvis, for better or worse,” said Lacaze.
The play begins with Parker, played by Leland Fallon, aghast that Elvis has disappeared. He is in debt to the mob and needs his star to play a show in Vegas.
He enlists the help of his nerdy assistant Roscoe (played by Emily Dante), his friend Candy (Tim Schwieger), and his office manager Trudy (Rhonda Warnack) to find the missing singer. He even resorts to hypnosis to try to achieve his improptu solution to the disappearance.
Complicating the action amid the need for secrecy is an inquisitive news reporter (Allison Smith) looking for a “scoop.” “She adds more complications to the play,” Lazace said.
Research
Fallon, who has lived in North Carolina and Virginia, has adopted a Southern accent for his portrayal. He researched Tom Parker’s history, as an immigrant from Holland and a carnival barker, to craft his performance, including watching TV interview clips.
“It was almost like he taught himself to speak watching Bogart movies,” Fallon laughed. “He was not a very nice person and he sort of takes advantage of the people that work for him, because money matters everything to him. He is someone you ‘love to hate.’”
Inevitably, one or more of the characters are called on to impersonate Elvis, though to describe how or where would spoil any surprises.
“It has been really rewarding to watch the actors try to ‘pay homage’ to Elvis and discover what it would be like to be him,” said Lazace, the director. “But no one can ‘be’ Elvis, that’s the point of the play, so we are making sure we capture that lightness.”
The play features costumes by Sondra Gomez. Set and lighting design is by Mick Alderman and set painting by Juan Lira; Nancy McCarthy is the light and sound operator. Cyndi Fisher is understudying as Trudy for five shows.
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“Elvis Has Left The Building”
A comedy by V. Cate & Duke Ernsberger, directed by Katherine Lacaze.
Coaster Theatre Playhouse, 108 N. Hemlock St., Cannon Beach.
7:30 p.m. July 5-6, 9-10, 12, 16-17, 19, 23-24, 26, 30-31, Aug. 2, 6-7, 9. There is a pay-what-you-will performance July 31 (inquire at box office).
Tickets: $35 or $30, online at https://coastertheatre.com, at the box office or call (503) 436-1242.
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