Elvis: A Christmas Special featuring Pete Paquette and Amberley Beatty, Centennial Theatre, Saturday, Dec. 1. Tickets available at .
鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to live up to an image.鈥� 鈥� Elvis Presley, 1972
It was like he slipped out the back door and Elvis strolled in the front.
Pete Paquette grew up in Eastern Ontario. His accent, however, regularly skips into Quebec, turning 鈥渢h鈥� into 鈥渄鈥� sounds. But when he sings a snippet of 鈥淚 Can鈥檛 Stop Loving You,鈥� 400 years of French Canadian history from Samuel de Champlain to Patrice Bergeron vanish from his voice, replaced by the Tupelo tenor of Elvis Aaron Presley.
Recuperating from a nasty cold, Paquette is on his last day of rest before bringing his 10-piece show band out west for Elvis: A Christmas Special.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our first time flying everybody out,鈥� Paquette remarks. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never done our Christmas show, ever, outside of Ontario.鈥�
The show is slated to boast backup singers, three horn players and the 鈥渃hameleon鈥� country singer Amberley Beatty, a songstress who regularly performs Connie Francis, Patsy Cline, Shania Twain, and as herself.
鈥淲e call her Canada鈥檚 tribute queen,鈥� Paquette says.
The centrepiece of the Elvis Christmas show is Paquette, who jokes, jumps and gyrates as the rockabilly cat himself.
Paquette鈥檚 love for the king goes back to a boyhood viewing of the Elvis 鈥�68 Comeback Special.
Between 1960 and 鈥�67 Presley had pumped out about one movie every four months 鈥� culminating in a regrettable scene in which the conduit for generations of black artistry crooned 鈥淥ld Macdonald Had a Farm鈥� in the flatbed of a pickup truck crammed with chickens.
The comeback special, Paquette explains, 鈥渆nabled us to see Elvis in his true form as a rock 鈥榥鈥� roll star.鈥�
It was before Las Vegas showrooms and the smorgasbord of uppers and downers that tragically cut Presley鈥檚 life short.
Writing for the New York Review of Books, Luc Sante described Elvis as a 鈥渃harged presence, the manifestation of ticklish ambiguities of sex and race that cannot fail to provoke.鈥�
For Paquette, the 鈥�68 special was as provocative as anything he鈥檇 seen.
鈥淓lvis was still discovering who he was,鈥� Paquette says.
But if the show represented self-discovery for Presley, it marked self-realization for Paquette.
He wanted to sing like Elvis.
It wasn鈥檛 long before he was curling his lip and imitating Elvis for his classmates.
鈥淎t any grade level that I did it, they would always appreciate it and really get a kick out of it,鈥� he says.
As a part-time teacher in Toronto he still breaks out the occasional impression for students.
Describing the impact of Elvis shortly after his death, biographer Dave Marsh wrote: 鈥渢he new religion that seems destined to form around his persona and the best of his works had yet to take shape.鈥�
Paquette was educated in one branch of that religion at a series of jumpsuit-filled, competitive Presley impersonator festivals.
That time on stage was invaluable for developing his voice and stage presence.
Like parents waiting for their child will grow into an extra-large snowsuit or a coach hoping his first baseman grows a couple inches before opening day, Paquette watched himself grow 鈥� hoping he鈥檇 fill Presley鈥檚 blue suede shoes.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e always wondering if it鈥檒l change toward resembling a little bit of Elvis,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I hit my late 30s, my voice became much stronger and much more mature and it does sound more like Elvis than it ever did.鈥�
But while he鈥檚 able to embody Elvis in tone and timbre, Paquette draws a line between an impression and a tribute.
An impressionist chases every Elvis mannerism and tic, even at the expense of the music. The tribute artist, Paquette explains, values making great music in the style of Elvis over photo-realistic accuracy.
鈥淚f I have some kind of subtle differences then that鈥檚 fine to me as long as it鈥檚 good to hear,鈥� he says.
Following Presley鈥檚 death, impersonator Artie Mentz was once quoted as saying: 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 sort of like being a duplicate without an original.鈥�
But Paquette argues there can still be authenticity within the impression.
鈥淐reating a more natural performance is more fulfilling and much more accepted by the audience than to try to mimic,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about being as natural as possible 鈥� but performing like Elvis.鈥�
In his book Careless Love, music critic Peter Guralnick described Presley鈥檚 ambition to 鈥渆ncompass every strand of the American musical tradition.鈥�
That ambition is evident in Paquette鈥檚 song choices. He plans to wail through Presley鈥檚 White and Blue Christmas albums, singing 鈥淏lue Christmas,鈥� 鈥淗ere Comes Santa Claus,鈥� and 鈥淪anta Claus is Back in Town.鈥� But the show is also set to feature traditional Christmas carols and 鈥渟ongs of inspiration,鈥� including Leonard Cohen鈥檚 鈥淗allelujah.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a song that we believe Elvis would have done,鈥� Paquette says.
The question of what Elvis would have done is something Paquette has been pondering since he was 10 years old. But what matters more than anything, he says, is how the songs sound.
鈥淢usic hits everybody in a good way.鈥�
