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HillviewillviewHillview
LebanonebanonLebanonJunctionunctionJunction
Todd
Bodenheimer
honors The King in
a show at severalarea venues.
TributetoElvis
READ STORY ON PAGE 4
By Scott Utterback, The Courier-Journal
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PAGE 4 | BULLITT NEIGHBORHOODS | courier-journal.com/bullitt The
Courier-Journal | Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Backstage at the Leba-non Junction Jamboree,The King places a
jet blackwigover his naturallyblondhair.
The signature curl dan-gles over his forehead.
He attaches his trade-
mark sideburns with glue,darkens his eyebrows witha makeup
pencil and tanshis complexion with liquidfoundation.
Gingerly patting his coifin the mirror that has thew o r d s W E
L C O M ESTARS stuck on it in vinylletters, Todd Bodenheimer
paces, waiting for his intro-duction.
Its definitely some-thing that gets the nervesstirring, he said
of thetense moments before themusic starts and the crowdgoes
wild.
Your belly starts tum-bling around.
Then his cue: He isknown as The King.
Before he can get toowrapped up in the stress,Bodenheimer is
gyrating,swinging and hopping toShake, Rattle and Roll.
Thank you very much,
he purrs into the micro-phone.
B o d e n h e i m e r, o f L a Grange, is an Elvis
Presleytribute artist who performsat many Bullitt Countyspots,such
as the Jamboreeand Shepherdsvilles El No-
pal Mexican Restaurant,along with Fern Valleys ElNopal.
The roughly 100 peopleat the Jamboree cheer asBodenheimer goes
into thecrowd to serenade and kisswomens hands while sing-ing Love
Me Tender.
Love me tender, love me
Photos by Scott Utterback, The Courier-Journal
Todd Bodenheimer, dressed as Elvis during his Army stint,
performed at the Lebanon Junction Jamboree. If Elvis saw it,
I would hope he would tell me I did him justice, Bodenheimer
said.
Kentucky
reignElvis tribute on Bullitt stages aimsto do justice to memory
of The King
By Emily Hagedorn | [email protected] | The
Courier-Journal
COVER STORY
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | The Courier-Journal NEIGHBORHOODS
| courier-journal.com/bullitt BULLITT | PAGE 5
sweet, never let me go.You have made my life
complete, and I love you so.
Musical beginnings
Dont call Bodenheimeran impersonator.
I pay tribute, said Bo-denheimer, 35. Impersona-tors force
thevoice of Elvis.They constantly curl theirlipup.Theytalkin a
slurredvoice.
I t a l m o s t m a k e s a mockery of Elvis and whathe stood
for.
Bodenheimers admira-tion for Elvis started with
hismother, a huge Elvisfan.Though Elvis died whenBodenheimer was
4 yearsold, he said he still feelsconnected to him.
The sound of his voice,it just does something toyou, he
said.
Almost three decades, awife and three children lat-er,
Bodenheimer saw Elvistribute artists at a show atLouisvilles Palace
Theatre.
I said, You know, Icould do that.
Bodenheimer set outbuying the signature flashysuits, leather
jackets andjumpsuits. (One jumpsuitcan cost $3,400, with
wigscosting $1,300, he said.)
He watched Elvis mo-vies, TV specials and con-cert footage,
practicing themoves in front of the fami-lys large television so
he
could see his reflection inthe screen.I have tons of record-
ings of myself, he said.Thats my natural singingvoice now.
Then he took the stage.Every time on stage is
just an over-the-top feel-ing, he said. I get a smalltaste of
what Elvis saw.
B o d e n h e i m e r , w h omakes replacement parts
for amusement-park ridesas a machinist, hascompet-ed in a few
regionalcompe-titions, finishing as a final-ist.
Hehashissights set onanational Elvis tribute con-test and
eventually a stagein Las Vegas.
People dont realize the
flash he had on stage, hesaid. The attire he wore,the energy he
just put intothe crowd.
On stageBodenheimers manager
Glenna Spratt, also knownasMama, gives himcoughdrops
andreadieshis props a duffel bag full of
teddybearsashewaitstogoonstagein his G.I. Blues cos-
tume, a khaki Army uni-form adorned with thesame types of
patches andpins Elvis wore.
I just got off the trainand got some dirty laundryfor you,
Bodenheimerjoked with the audience,gesturing toward the bag.
During intermission,Lorretta Flaherty, 68, ofHikes Point, is
still blushingbecause Bodenheimer sang
to her personally.He sounds a lot likehim, shesaid.Andhislookis
spot on.
Her husband, KennethFlaherty, said their home isfilled with
Elvis memorabi-lia, even in the bathroom.
Brenda Bland, 60, ofElizabethtown,clutchesher
new teddy bear in the frontrow as she admits to beingan Elvis
fanatic.
Her friends brought herto see Bodenheimer as asurprise.
Be still my heart, shesaid. I dont think therewill be another
one like El-vis.
Elvis and Bodenheimeralso had fans among theyounger set.
Brianna Eatmon whoturned 11 on Elvis birthdaylast Thursday
stands infront of Bodenheimersmerchandise table as he au-tographs
CDs for her.
I like his voice, said
Brianna, of Valley Station.Hes cute.Bodenheimer closes the
show in a bedazzling whitejumpsuit, complete with acape
emblazoned with ared, white and gold eagle.
I know Elvis did have atrue dislike for impersona-tors, but he
said it was flat-
tering, Bodenheimer saidlater. I would hope hewould tell me I
did him jus-tice.
I hope he would beproud.
Reporter Emily Hagedorn canbe reached at (502) 582-7086.
Bodenheimer, who bears little resemblance to Elvis in his daily
life, began the transformation into his stage persona.
With makeup and black wig, Bodenheimers transformation
progressed.
IF YOU GO
Todd BodenheimersElvis shows
El Nopal Restaurant, 500Ky. 44E in Shepherdsville,6:30 p.m.
Tuesdays
El Nopal Restaurant,6521 Paramount Park Drive,off Fern Valley
Road inLouisville, 6:30 p.m. Thurs-days.
Information: www.my-space.com/toddbodenheim-er.
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