Memories of Elvis linger

Anita Mann was in for a surprise when she saw the first preview of “Viva Elvis.”

There was her younger self, kissing Elvis on the overhead screen, in a scene from “Clambake.”

And I was in for a surprise when she told me this. I’ve talked to Mann now and then for most of the 10 years “Fantasy” has been at the Luxor (it was “Midnight Fantasy” the first few years).

Never had she mentioned an Elvis connection, and that’s rare in this town. The guest list for Friday’s official premiere of the Cirque du Soleil tribute will be long on those who owe their current livelihoods to past ties to the “Memphis Mafia.”

“Fantasy” is so steady it’s perhaps overlooked, and I’ve never heard anyone speak ill of Mann. She didn’t have to drop Presley’s name to get through the door in Las Vegas. By the time she produced a show here in 1987, she as easily could have name-checked the Jacksons and Kermit the Frog from her choreography credits.

Nonetheless, “I’m gonna say I owe Elvis,” she says of her career, even though — like most who make it in show business — “it was luck, it was timing, it was me being a little proactive.”

Mann had danced on TV in “Shindig” by the time she was cast as an extra in the 1966 movie “Spinout.” Repeated takes of the title song inspired her to create a little routine and repeat it every time Elvis walked past her singing, “Never saw parts move like that before.”

The film editor noticed the continuity. The director whistled her over to meet Elvis and invited her to be a choreographer’s assistant. A career was born.

The Review-Journal solicited your Elvis stories, set to run Feb. 25. Many are sure to involve a kiss , but Mann’s is documented in the song “Hey Hey Hey.”

So how was it? “It was like me being his sister. He was kind of shy,” she says. “We were so professionally linked and such good friends.”

“I can’t even tell you how much I loved him just like a brother. I would sit on the couch with him in his dressing room upstairs in the (Las Vegas Hilton) suite, and he would show me his scrapbook and pictures of his mom. We’d sit on the couch and he’d reminisce.”

I often wonder what those who know the real man make of the ubiquitous sequined-jumpsuit symbol. Mann’s “Fantasy” even has a bit where an audience recruit gets a goofy Elvis makeover. Is there a disconnect there?

She struggles a bit with an answer. “Something about Elvis makes you feel like — we all have this link. He’s been a part of music in every generation for so many years, I think it’s fun to keep his spirit alive.

“I do it really as a tribute to keeping his name and spirit in my heart.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.