BIOGRAPHIES
Roy Orbison - Larry Branson
"LARRY
BRANSON IS ROY ORBISON"... is the phrase most commonly used by
reviewers around the world when describing Larry's performances. His
astounding re-creation of Roy Orbison in concert and on the theatre stage
has earned him roles in many major productions including the "Legends
of Rock'n'Roll"... "Legends In Concert"... "American
Superstars"... and London's West End hit musical "The Roy
Orbison Story".
BIOGRAPHY:
LARRY
BRANSON grew up in Western Canada the son of second generation
Norwegian-Canadian parents. He didn't get into the music business until
1968... and then only by fluke.
Larry's parents bought him a "sing-a-long" record player and he
used their Orbison records to learn on. He would turn down Roy's voice and
turn up his own to practice. Branson says " At the time, I wasn't
trying to sound like Roy Orbison... I thought, if was going to learn how
to sing, I'm going to let Roy be my teacher. It's really strange how
things turned out".
Larry
graduated from Gladstone High School in Vancouver, B.C. where music was
his worst subject because he was too shy and embarrassed to sing in front
of the class. He worked at various jobs, but one day, while working at
Radio Shack, during a lunch break he was asked by a co-worker if he would
manage his brother's band. When Larry first heard them play, they were
doing an instrumental version of Orbison's classic "Oh, Pretty
Woman". Larry jumped in to provide the vocal and he was soon asked to
front the band. For the next five years Larry and his group
"Downstream" played country music, rock & roll and just
about everything until he decided to go solo.
Since then, Larry has pursued a life-long dream to perform a "Tribute
To Roy Orbison". He continued to play the lounges as a solo performer
while working on Orbison songs at home. After Roy's untimely death
December 6th, 1988, Larry decided the time was right to get serious about
his dream. In February, 1989 he auditioned for the "Legends Of
Rock'n'Roll" and became a staple in that show for the next four
years. The rest is history... after stints with "Legends In
Concert" and "American Superstars", Larry was discovered by
the producers of a major new musical in England "The Roy Orbison
Story". Larry spent the next three years acting and singing in this
production which culminated in a year-long run at the Piccadilly Theatre
in London's prestigious West End theatre district. A nomination for
"Best New Musical" and the opportunity to sing "Only The
Lonely" at Briton's TV event of the year, the "1995 Olivier
Awards", are evidence to the fact that Larry Branson has surely
fulfilled his life-long dream and then some.
More recently, Larry completed a 40 date tour across Canada during the
Fall of 1998 with "THIS LONELY HEART: The Roy Orbison
Experience". The show played to mostly capacity houses including six
consecutive sell-outs at the Surrey Arts Centre in Vancouver, B.C. And,
most recently, a second run engagement at the Fanny Hill Dinner Theatre in
Eau Clair, Wisconsin produced sell-out audiences for nine consecutive
weeks January through March of 2000. Larry is currently performing as Roy
at the Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
•••
Buddy
Holly - John Mueller
Entertainer John
Mueller is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in the U.S.
production of Buddy... The Buddy Holly Story. John has garnered critical
acclaim for his detailed and authentic portrayal of Buddy, but he is most
proud of the assessment of Niki Sullivan, an original member of Buddy's
band. The Crickets... "John is a reincarnation of Buddy Holly, he is
that good. John is awesome."
BIOGRAPHY
Buddy . . . The Buddy
Holly Story opened at the American Heartland Theatre in Kansas City in
January, 1996. Fans were quick to realize that before John Mueller played
Buddy Holly, never has the rock and roll legend been so faithfully
portrayed. Aside from winning a Drama Desk award, John's performance is
perhaps best summed up by original Crickets member Niki Sullivan.
"John is a reincarnation of Buddy Holly. He is that good. He has the
same determination in his eyes that Buddy did and when John is on stage,
he is a totally dynamic performer, just like Buddy. John is awesome."
John Mueller was raised on the electrifying music of Chuck Berry, Jerry
Lee Lewis, Little Richard and of course, Buddy Holly. Playing along to
that great old rock and roll with his Sears and Roebuck drum set and Dutch
Masters cigar box guitar, a young John Mueller unknowingly began a career
that would take him throughout the United States, playing his music and
acting for the stage, film and television.
Music seemed the obvious path, but in his teens while working at the K 42
Drive-In in his home town of Wichita Kansas, John became interested in
acting. He set his music aside, stopped drag racing, and concentrated on
his acting studies -- a decision that ultimately led him to Chicago's rich
theatrical community.
John's acting debut was a part in Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander, a
play which won Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Ensemble and Best
Production. John continued his acting career in the Windy City, performing
in many great plays, including Awake and Sing at Wisdom Bridge Theatre, 27
Wagons Full of Cotton at Victory Gardens, and Henry V at Chicago
Shakespeare Repertory. He was a founding member of the Raven Theatre
Company and studied acting with Tom Irwin at the prestigious Steppenwolf
Theatre Company, where John also worked with Martha Lavey.
As John broke into film and television, he found himself playing roles
that drew on his guitar playing and singing talents. Still in Chicago,
John took roles in Bad Boys starring Sean Penn and Ally Sheedy, ABC's Lady
Blue, and Crime Story, among others. Companies like Oldsmobile, Old Style
Beer and others even featured John in their TV commercials.
The place to be for film and television, of course, is Hollywood. After
seven rewarding years in Chicago, John was ready for a change. His agent
agreed. John moved to Hollywood and soon found himself playing a variety
of roles in television shows such as Ellen, Linda Hamilton's Beauty and
the Beast, Days of Our Lives, China Beach, Lois and Clark and others. Film
credits include Return to Horror High, The Roommate, and Out of Track.
If acting is in John's heart, then music is in his soul. He plays concerts
in some of the best places around, such as the famous Cain's Ballroom in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. He's developed his own unique style -- kind of a 50's
rock-pop- country sound that brings back the good old days. At the urging
of fans, John released a CD, "A Boy's Gotta Do What a Boy's Gotta
Do." Featuring ten original songs and two covers, the album includes
Hey Buddy, John's tribute to Buddy Holly.
John's stage career continued in addition to his work in film, television
and music. His more recent theatrical credits include, among others,
Flight to Arkadelphia (which John co-wrote), and Return to the Forbidden
Planet at the American Heartland Theatre, where John's part called for
playing guitar with his teeth! In Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, John
played the Scottish rebel Brodie at both the Northlight Repertory
production and on the national Broadway Tour directed by Mike Nichols. And
he starred as Buddy Holly in Adam Ant's world premiere production of Be
Bop A Lula, giving audiences their first look at John Mueller as Buddy
Holly.
John is a reincarnation of Buddy . . . A lot of people say that now,
echoed by such publications as the Chicago Tribune -- "John Mueller
is living proof of Buddy Holly's legacy."
Today Buddy . . . The Buddy Holly Story is alive and well and sweeping
across North America. From San Diego to Chicago, to Kansas City and
Toronto, John has brought Buddy Holly back to life to packed houses around
the country. In addition to The Buddy Holly Story, John stars in a rockin'
production he wrote himself, Buddy . . . Not Fade Away.
John recently headlined the 40th Anniversary of the Winter Dance Party
tour. Highlights of the tour included John being awarded the Key to the
City of Green Bay Wisconsin and performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear
Lake Iowa, where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper gave their
last performance before their tragic plane crash on February 3, 1959. The
Winter Dance Party tour of 1999 recreated the final days of Holly, Valens
and The Big Bopper. It was a moving event. But maybe it showed us that
those final days were not quite as final as they seemed, after all.
•••
Elvis
- Scot Bruce
"Top
Elvis Impersonator Scot Bruce has got it going on, his voice is so
uncannily like the King's you'll think you're in Blue Hawaii… He has all
the signature Presley moves, — the independently rotating thighs, the
swiveling pelvis, the droopy bedroom eyes - down to the science." The
Tennessean, Nashville
BIOGRAPHY:
Originally
from the Pacific Northwest, where he was an air-personality at the top 40
FM radio station Z-FUN 106 and a drummer, Scot has lived in Los Angeles
since 1990. While pursuing his career as a musician/actor (and having been
a musician and a big Elvis fan all of his life) he started doing a 1950s'
era Elvis show as a way to survive the lean times. The result was a
surprise to Scot… what was meant as a part-time "gig" to
supplement his income blossomed into a full-time career.
Because of
his uncanny resemblance to the young "King" and his ability to
sing, strum a guitar, and swivel his hips, his live show has taken him all
over the world to places like Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia (where
he had the privilege of performing for the King and Queen), Mainland
China, Australia and several countries in Europe and South America. He
regularly plays concert dates across the United States. As Elvis, Scot has
appeared in music videos with Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, and Tasmin Archer,
as well as on the FOX TV sitcom "Partners." Scot has also been
heard as the "Resident Elvis" on the highly rated Los Angeles
morning radio show "Mark and Brian" on KLOS FM.
Most recently, Scot has appeared in a recurring role on the hit soap opera
"Days of Our Lives," a Pizza Hut commercial, and as the lead
role in three successful productions of "Idols of the King": the
prestigous Barter Theater in Virginia, the Tennessee Repertory Theater in
Nashville, and ArtPark in upstate New York. If you saw the "True
Hollywood Story: Elvis in Hollywood" on E! Entertainment Network,
that was Scot playing Elvis in the recreation scenes. He is also a regular
cast member of "A Really Big Shew – the Tribute to the Ed Sullivan
Show." Aside from "Being Elvis," Scot has also been seen as
a night-club crooner on "The Bold and the Beautiful." Scot is a
song-writer, and (whenever possible) performs an acoustic guitar/harmonica
solo act in the local pubs, and plays the drums with an LA-based rock-a-billy
band. Two of Scot's original songs were used in Riverdance Pictures' 1999
film "On the Turning Away."
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