When a Medicine Hat entertainer steps backstage this weekend his audience will be on the edge of their seats wondering which legend to expect next.
In just two hours Robert Larrabee will bring three dozen of the greatest entertainers to life in a one-man full costume tribute act that mixes music and comedy in An Evening With the Legends at the Foothills Centennial Centre in Okotoks Nov. 28.
In addition to a roast beef supper, attendees can expect performances representing Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, Garth Brooks, Conway Twitty and Elvis Presley.
“I’m the man of 100 voices,” Larrabee said. “It’s my tribute to each one of these performers. Every one of the performers that I do is somebody who I personally loved their craft and loved what they did.”
Larrabee takes his act to the next level.
“When I do the Blues Brothers I’ll get the ladies in the audience to help me find an Elwood Blues,” he said. “Then I bring him up on stage, put the black tux jacket, fedora and glasses on him and he and I will do Soul Man together.”
Larrabee said he’s learned who to select and who to leave alone.
“I’m pretty good at getting out and finding the people that are a little bit extroverted,” he said. “It’s always easy to find that person.”
Larrabee’s show turns the clock back a few decades to the old fashioned way of performing.
“If you go back to the ’40s and ’50s all your stars had to be able to do comedy and perform and sing,” he said. “They were all around entertainers. They did everything. That’s what this show is all about. We bring all those elements to each character.”
This is the type of show Larrabee grew up with and idolized as a youngster.
“When I was a little guy I was raised by a single mom until I was 10,” he said. “We bounced all over the place because she was a waitress and she didn’t have a lot of money. My escape was music and acting and comedy.
“It was a way for a few hours to be someone else.”
Larrabee has been entertaining audiences for 30 years, starting with an Elvis tribute in a show called Elvis Elvis Elvis in Winnipeg that traveled the world for two years. He then joined Celebrations Dinner Theatre, now called Jubilations, to gain some acting experience.
It was 25 years ago that he decided to create a legends show that would contain a theatrical element. His wife Brenda is the stage manager and is in charge of lights, props, sound and other elements of the show.
“It’s not like any other job you could ever do,” he said. “At the end of the show most people are lined up to buy CDs and meet me and have their pictures taken with me. They are so happy and I’m so happy. We’re in this good happy place.”
Although Larrabee must frequently slip backstage for costume changes, he said there is no dead air. He can change in just 60 seconds while the emcee is introducing his next act.
“Dead air is a killer,” he said. “This way they don’t know who is coming through the curtain next and they definitely don’t know what they are going to do. You want them on the edge of their seat laughing about the last guy and wondering who’s up next. If you don’t have the electricity in the air you’re not doing what you’ve got to be doing. You’ve got to keep it charged up.”
Larrabee said he hopes to see a big turnout at his show despite everything else going on in the world.
“My take is you’ve still got to go out and enjoy yourself whether the world is at war or the economy is down,” he said. “You’ve got to have a few hours where none of that stuff matters. You’re just being thoroughly entertained and your tummy is full and you’re having a cocktail and enjoying yourself.”
Tickets to see An Evening with the Legends cost $60 and can be purchased at Sobeys or online at legendshow.net
The doors to the Centennial Centre open at 6:30 p.m., dinner is at 7 p.m. and the show will follow at 8 p.m.
