
DATE: Saturday, August 9, 1997              TAG: 9708080126

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

WANT TO SEE ELVIS, PATSY OR REBA? TRY OCEANFRONT IMPRESSIONISTS

SUNDAY EVENINGS at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, impersonators explore the sliver of Americana that embraces people who ``do'' The King & Co.

At the 17th Street Stage, locals mimic some of the world's most beloved entertainers, many of whom have either retired to Beverly Hills or moved on to that Great Big Vegas in the sky.

A befittingly blue-dressed woman belts out Patsy Cline.

A spookily dead-on Johnny Carson is the emcee.

A guy does Elvis.

So does another guy.

The Beach Tonight Show is all in the name of entertaining the bathing-suited throng of tourists who gather at the canopied stage between Atlantic Avenue and the Boardwalk.

It's also to the good fortune of Dairy Queen, since the nation's top-selling, neon-bedecked peddler of the Blizzard is a convenient stone's throw from the stage.

Bob Glass started this about two years back. By day he is a data analyst for a government contractor, but when the data is analyzed, Glass, 42, is an ``Elvis tribute artist.'' He was at a karaoke bar watching folks emulate famous others when the idea hit.

``I thought it'd be nice to put something like that on the stage,'' Glass said. ``Clean it up, you know. Polish it.''

Calling it TRIBUTES (To Recreate Images By Using Talented Enthusiastic Singers) he took the idea to Cellar Door. After an exhibition, it was a done deal.

And now, on summer Sundays, regulars come out to do someone else's thing.

Black-clad Ron Parker, 45, is a Navy base cop who does Marty Robbins. ``He's the guy who does `El Paso,' '' Parker explained. ``He's been dead a couple years now.''

Parker's wife is Holly Parker, 41. She does the late Patsy Cline.

``I've been doing her songs ever since I saw the movie (``Sweet Dreams'') in 1985,'' she said.

Ron did Elvis to the tune of second place at the Viva Elvis fiesta a couple years back. There he met Bob Glass. And here they are.

Tiffany James, 16, does Reba McEntire.

``I've been performing since I was about 2 1/2,'' said James, blue-eyed and clad in a red-and-black outfit.

``I'm the biggest Reba fan in Suffolk,'' she continued. ``I've met her a few times.''

James has been driving since May. Her car license plate reads ``Lil Reba,'' which she likes to be called.

Tim Beasley, 45, is a Virginia Beach actor who does Johnny Carson for a living.

``I grew up watching the old `Tonight Show,' '' said Beasley, who compares himself to impersonator Rich Little.

``I do a lot of people,'' he said.

There are three shows left, but the Aug. 17 show may take the cake. It's called ``Elvis Through the Years'' and it features everything Elvis from a 5-year-old kid Elvis ``right on up to a big, old Elvis'' representing the beefy, jump-suited Elvis Las Vegas period.

Aug. 16 is the anniversary of Presley's death.

``The show is catered to the anniversary of Elvis' death,'' Glass said of the next show, which aims to entice a throng of Elvisheads who enjoy seeing The King get done.

Of those fans, Glass said, ``Every year about this time they go kind of nutsy.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot

Holly Parker impersonates Patsy Cline during the Beach Tonight Show.

L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot

He ain't nothing but a . . . little boy. Bret Fikentscher, 6, plays

Real Young Elvis on the 17th Street Stage at the Beach Tonight Show,

running Sundays through Aug. 24 at the Oceanfront.

WANT TO GO?

GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]