Graceland Is Taking Its Show on the Road to Las Vegas
The new operators of Elvis Presley’s estate and brand took their show on the road for the first time with a nine-month exhibition of Presley artifacts at London’s O2 arena that began in December. Now Graceland, the longtime Presley home that opened to the public in Memphis in 1982, five years after the star's death, will establish a second permanent home in Las Vegas, where the singer had some of his greatest triumphs.
The plan will not be officially announced until later this month, but Joel Weinshanker, the managing partner of Graceland, said that the new Presley outpost — featuring an exhibition space and live performances — will be at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino on the site of the former International Hotel, where Presley played a record 58 consecutive sold-out shows in 1969. Presley would eventually play 837 performances in Las Vegas.
“We have everything from a 35-foot-high outdoor sign promoting Elvis’s show there to a Stutz car he had delivered to him when he first performed in Las Vegas in 1956,” Mr. Weinshanker said, adding that the live performances will be “Elvis-related but not Elvis impersonators.”
Las Vegas offers an opportunity to show off more of the million Graceland artifacts that often remain in storage, Mr. Weinshanker said, saying that the exhibit will not cannibalize audiences from Graceland but whet people’s appetites for a trip to Memphis. “Once you give someone a taste of this they’ll want more,” he said.
Mr. Weinshanker, who is also founder of the National Entertainment Collectibles Association, partnered in late 2013 with the Authentic Brands Group, which bought 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises. Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, owns the rest as well as Graceland and its artifacts. Mr. Weinshanker oversees Graceland and live events, while Authentic Brands Group manages licensing and intellectual property.
Kim Howe Died
The woman killed in a horror crash involving reality TV star Bruce Jenner was actress Kim Howe. She once appeared in a music video for "I Love Only One Girl" alongside Elvis Presley in the 1967 movie "Double Trouble".
In her early 20s, Ms Howe is seen dressed as a traditional German frauline holding a stein of beer with her long blonde hair tied up in a bun. She features on screen a few moments into the song I Love Only One Girl, as Elvis walks down the steps of a bandstand and into a dancing crowd before walking up to her. The King takes her hand, they raise their glasses and then perform a short dance, during which time Ms Howe can be seen beaming at the music star. Elvis grabs a bouquet of flowers from a passing seller, hands them to Ms Howe, and then walks off while continuing the song.
(Source: Amazon / NY Times / ElvisMatters / Mail Online)