Viva performing arts center

The King may be dead, and false reports of Elvis sightings abound, but ask actress Susan Anton — starring in the Broadway Across America production of “All Shook Up” — what she thinks, and she’ll tell you Elvis is definitely in the house.

The musical, featuring a “guitar-playin’ roustabout” and 24 original Presley tunes, rides into town for a two-week run beginning Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The story is based on a book by Joe Dipietro, and Anton describes it as a fun, family show that “integrates a clever story line with wanting to find love.”

The show, set in a Midwest town in the 1950s, explores the lives of the residents of a small, conservative town, which is turned upside down when an uninhibited, hip-swiveling, motorcycle-riding rebel decides to shake things up a bit.

The rockin’ and rollin’ love story incorporates mistaken identities, differing sexual orientations, interracial couples and manages to do it all “with a wink and a nod, and high energy,” Anton said.

“It’s a joyous experience, and its message of love is that love is never impossible; it breaks all stereotypes, and love is never wrong if you open your heart,” she said.

The show opened in Minnesota in September, and Anton and Joe Mandragona — who plays Chad, the hip-swiveling reincarnation of Presley — agree that audience reaction to each performance is different and sets the tone for the evening.

For the most part, Anton says, audiences are “going along for the ride” and responding to Presley’s timeless music.

Anton was a young singer in the early ‘70s when she met Presley in Las Vegas. She was performing in a revue at the Hacienda Hotel and was in the audience at a Tom Jones show one night when, she said, “the doors to the theater opened up, and in walked Elvis.”

Backstage after the performance, Presley invited Anton to his room at the Hilton, and despite fearing it could turn into one of those Hollywood stories that would come back to haunt her later in her career, Anton went.

She was in her ‘20s, after all, and come on, it was Elvis.

Back in his penthouse at the Hilton, Presley had other things on his mind. After telling Anton to wait on the couch, Presley came back with a book — “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran — which was a favorite of his, he told her.

Presley read passages to her, autographed the book and then gave it to her to keep.

The touring company of “All Shook Up” was in Memphis recently, and cast members toured Graceland during their time off.

Anton said that it was amazing and that Graceland truly was Presley’s world.

“He didn’t want to go out into the world, so he brought the world to him,” Anton said, adding that when she toured the library, one of the books on display was “The Prophet.”

Anton said the show is “breaking down prejudices and that Elvis would be smiling if he saw it.”

As a singer and movie, TV and theater actress, Anton enjoys all aspects of the entertainment industry, and says that live performing presents a different challenge.

“You have to keep it fresh night after night, and it’s a big unknown because the audience is the other member of the cast, and the most important,” Anton says.

Keeping it fresh can be especially tough, Mandragona said, especially when performing eight shows a week and traveling as much as they do.

Mandragona’s background is in theater, and he loves performing live.

“It’s great to be in a profession where your passion lies,” Mandragona said, and adds that for him, the music and the story line are what make the show “a blast,” especially when the audience is responding.

Mandragona was only “moderately familiar” with Elvis’ music before he had to perform all his songs, but he said that he likes the ones he knew and that the show has given him a new appreciation for Presley’s music.

Anton said audiences across the country feel the same way.

“At the end,” she said, “we do an encore that has everyone shaking it up and clapping, from age 8 to 80.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “All Shook Up”

WHEN: Tuesday till June 10; 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $20 to $70

INFO: (714) 556-2787 or www.ocpac.org