Celebrity impersonator brings British Invasion to Marion County

By Debra Minor Wilson
Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT April 30, 2008 07:45 pm

— Watch out, Marion County. It’s the British Invasion all over again ... kind of.
Celebrity impersonator Tim Beasley is bringing his renditions of Tom Jones, Rod Stewart and the late John Lennon to Christopher’s Saturday.
A professional celebrity impersonator for 15 years, Beasley headlines at Abbey Road, a club in Virginia Beach, Va., and tours the nation. He also hosts the Elvis Festival in Virginia Beach, and appears in commercials and at corporate functions.
He’s got several different shows featuring 35 characters — TV and movie stars, “Rock and Roll Heroes,” “British Invasion,” country stars, sports, historical and literary figures. He even does Edgar Allan Poe for Halloween.
He says he got his start as a boy watching such talents as Frank Gorshin and Rich Little on television.
“I just had a knack for that,” he said in a telephone interview from his Virginia Beach, Va., home. “It’s quite a craft. You can’t be taught. You have to have a natural tendency for it.”
He took their bits one step further.
“I do the whole thing: dress, looks and voice. I transform into them right on stage.
“I start with the voice first, then I color it in with mannerisms. It’s like a painting, getting the soul of the person. You don’t have to look exactly like them if you’ve got the voice and the body and the soul.
The Beatles were a major influence on him, he said.
“They were like members of my own family.”
So it’s only natural that he “does” Lennon. And Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Roy Orbison for his “Rock and Roll Heroes” show. He also does Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra
and more.
“I love all the artists I portray. It’s a thrill to bring that fantasy back life. I mix up the show. I can be anybody in any arrangement. You never see the same show twice. It just keeps mushrooming,” he said.
“My Celebrity Stars is a wide galaxy of favorites,” he said. “I have a show for just about any crowd or special occasion.
“I can be John Lennon one minute and General Patton the next. And I’m proud that I do all of these believably and make a living at it.”
Larry Mazza, president of Christopher’s, said that Beasley’s British Invasion should play well in Marion County.
“You don’t see that around here. He’s so versatile. He can do almost anyone.”
It’s the next best thing to the real thing.
“Impersonators are the second best thing to having the actual person there. You’d have to go to Vegas to see something like this.”
This is just part of his quest to bring entertainment to Marion County. The Dennis McClung Band and the West Virginia Blues Society did very well a couple of weeks ago, he said.
“People did not want to go home. We had to turn the lights on at 3:30 in the morning.”
Mazza said Beasley will perform for three hours: one hour as each artist, beginning with John Lennon, then Tom Jones and ending with Rod Stewart, featuring a real ”hot legs” contest.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, and include a buffet at 6 p.m. Christopher’s is located at 110 Van Kirk Road, Fairmont. For more information, call 534-5300.
E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.

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