What happens when Elvis Aaron Presley meets President Teddy Roosevelt? That’s the premise of a play coming to Ann Arbor this weekend. We speak to the two actresses portraying Elvis and Teddy in the play "RoosevElvis."
One was the 26th president of the United States who talked softly and carried a big stick, while the other had to be filmed on The Ed Sullivan Show from the waist up for being overly provocative. Both Teddy Roosevelt and Elvis Aaron Presley are central characters in the play "RoosevElvis," coming to the University of Michigan’s Mendelssohn Theater this weekend.
"RoosevElvis" is the product of the Brooklyn, New York-based experimental theater project called The TEAM. It deals with a road trip of self-discovery from Mount Rushmore down to Elvis’ home in Memphis, Tennessee. These road trippers are played by Kristen Sieh as Teddy Roosevelt and Brenda, a taxidermist, and her counterpart Libby King as Elvis and as Ann, a closeted lesbian. The pair also helped create the play.
Current State’s Jamie Paisley speaks with the two women playing Teddy and Elvis.