“As you watch our next performer, just imagine that Elvis had been born a woman!”

This is the how the announcer introduced Laura Landauer when she made her ETA debut at Collingwood’s Elvis Festival last July. With that power of suggestion and an audience willing to “suspend belief,” the concept WORKED!

Laura, 31, an actress/singer/dancer from Toronto, Canada, made her mark at the 2001 Collingwood Elvis Festival! I decided to track her down recently as I had been impressed with her act, her unique concept of what Elvis’ “female counterpart” would look and perform like – and I also had a sense that Laura had a performing background that was quite extensive. This was no amateur!

Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and started performing at a very early age. Over the years, she has trained with various professional theatre companies and has performed in many theatrical productions - including a one-woman show. In l991, she moved to Toronto, where she now lives, and has continued to hone her skills in acting, singing, clowning, dancing, film and television, and performing/starring in musicals, Fringe Theatre productions, and a sci-fi series among other ventures.

Friday ~ When Laura arrived in Collingwood, she learned that she would be #95 out of #l05 performing at the huge street dance on Friday night. That meant sitting around for about 6 hours in costume, battling nerves - but by about 11:30 pm she was ready to “go on.” She says, “I don’t think I have ever been so nervous in all my life, and I have done a lot of performing. But this was different – I had no idea how the crowd was going to react to me. Well, it was an amazing experience!! The band was awesome and staring out into the cheering crowd, I understood what it must feel like to be a rock star. No wonder so many people get hooked on this. It’s incredible. I’ve never experienced anything like it.” Laura sang “Burning Love” at the street dance–and the crowd response was incredible!!

Saturday ~ Laura was up bright and early the next morning to be a part of the big “Elvis and classic car” parade through the town. She was perched on top of a vintage Corvette and, as the car made its way down the main street, it was a thrill to have fans shouting her name and posing for photos with her.

That afternoon, Laura performed at her first venue and found it wasn’t as nerve-wracking as the night before. Her set was very well received and she had lots of fun. Then, she was whisked off to the main arena to be judged - now this was nerve-wracking and the waiting wasn’t easy. She reports that all the male ETA’s were complimentary and encouraging, which calmed her nerves as she was the only female there at the time and didn’t have a chance to speak to the other two female ETA’s who were performing “Elvis as a male”.

In the past Laura had not really been an Elvis Presley fan but, of course, had heard his music and was well aware of his influence. She says, “NOW I’m a fan! It’s pretty hard not to be when you start reading about him and listening to him and watching his movies. There will never be anyone like him, that’s for sure. He was incredible. I can understand now why he changed so many people’s lives. Elvis just makes you feel good. I can’t even put it into words.”

One of Laura’s friends, an ETA himself, noticed that Laura’s facial features bore a remarkable similarity to Elvis’ and he suggested that she work up an Elvis act and take it to Collingwood. When Laura started working on her “tribute” last year, her goal was to do justice to Elvis, to perform well, and to have fun. She didn’t think it would be something she would do more than once. She started with the ‘68 Comeback era as she thought she could make a suitable leather outfit for herself. Also, she thought Elvis looked so good then and she hoped that if she tried to be the “female counterpart” it would go over well with the fans. Laura made her outfit herself, with a few adjustments - she decided to forgo the jacket pockets to give a sleeker look. As she says, “I wanted to be sexy, without being trampy.” Elvis had class and I wanted my tribute to have class also. I enjoyed the huge challenge of attempting to create the female equivalent of Elvis Presley. I tried to take a minimalist approach instead of becoming a caricature with a big wig and excessive jewelry. I have been singing for a long time and performing Elvis’ songs was a real treat. There is so much variety in range and style that it was a nice chance for me to explore a lot of new areas in my voice.”

Laura prepared for her act by learning the lyrics to the songs, watching videos, and studying the moves. Then she rehearsed in her living room with a mic and a bass amp. From time to time, her friend, the ETA, would drop by to give some pointers. About a week before the Festival, Laura had a dress rehearsal in her living room for friends - they all cheered her on, giving her the confidence she needed.

Laura found the competition experience to be “awesome - to be on such a big stage with a great sound system and two giant screens projecting my face. I wasn’t really concerned with where I placed in the judging at that point. I just wanted to take advantage of my surroundings and create a mood. I hoped to move people with my rendition of “Just Pretend”. I feel that I accomplished this judging from the crowd response and the many positive compliments I received.” She received a standing ovation and the audience loved her - she did an beautiful job with that song and the suggestion “to imagine Elvis' female counterpart" really did work!

That night, the list of 20 semi-finalists was posted and Laura was not one of them. She says that a great weight was lifted from her shoulders, but at the same time, she really would have liked another shot at the “big stage” (note: maybe we need a “female tribute” category).

Sunday ~ Laura and her friends and family headed to the arena to watch the semi-finals and were impressed by how good some of the performances were. They walked around and chatted with fans for most of the afternoon. She received many compliments and many fans voiced their disappointment that she hadn’t made the semi-finals. Then, that night, it was time to watch the contest finals. She says, “I would not have expected it to be so great. It’s hard to describe this kind of event to someone who hasn’t been there; it was truly spectacular. The calibre of talent up there was fantastic and the show was so entertaining. I think I lost my voice from cheering so loudly. All in all, it was a weekend, I will never forget. I can’t wait till next year. There is just such a good feeling in the town the whole weekend. The Collingwood Elvis Festival is a very special event and I’m just so glad I was a part of it.”

I asked Laura if she could remember any specific comments or compliments that she received during the Collingwood weekend from fans, as I was interested in knowing what the general reaction was from others to such a unique act. This is what Laura says:
“As far as comments from the fans, I would have to say one of the most common was that people were not expecting to like me because I was a woman, but once they saw me perform they said they totally changed their minds as they thought I did a terrific job. During the parade, a lot of women would shout, “Go Girl” - I had lots of female support. A few women did come up to me and say they were disappointed that I wasn’t in the semis and that they would write a letter suggesting a female tribute category. One thing that sticks in my mind is a comment a gentleman made. He said, ‘You look more like Elvis than many of the guys here and you’re so good looking.’ I thought that was really sweet. Another favourite comment I received, not in Collingwood, but after a recent appearance, came from a little girl who said, ‘You’re better than Britney Spears’.”

The response of the Collingwood crowd to Laura's performances was overwhelming. She created quite a stir and, at the same time, became completely hooked on the whole Elvis experience. Here is another comment from Laura about Elvis Presley: “As far as Elvis goes, the man had a stage presence like no other. The sheer power and range of his voice give me shivers. He knew how to perform and you could tell he was having a great time by the glimmer in his eyes. “

In the future, Laura wants to perform all 3 Elvis eras. She loves Elvis’ music and the songs and is excited about creating new costumes. She wants to focus on learning the moves and says she has lots of studying to do in the upcoming months before next year’s Collingwood Festival. Watch out for Laura Landauer, folks!!

Laura Landauer can be contacted at: ella_viss@hotmail.com