The Todd Allen Show (Panama City Beach)

"The Legends of Rock & Country Music" starring Todd Allen Herendeen and the FTD Band is an experience.  I saw this show last week in PCB with friends.  And I wrote about it this morning on the VisitPCB.com website.  But my article is on the new (currently unlaunched) site.  It won't be available until the revamped website goes live (which should be very soon).  So I thought I would post the review on my blog with a few of my own pictures.

Todd Allen Herendeen has won numerous awards for his family-friendly, musical variety show. He impersonates the great musical legends of rock and country music, including Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. This show has been recommended to me for quite a while now, and I finally had the opportunity to see it myself while in PCB over the July 4th holiday. Wow!  What a fun show!  Now I can recommend it myself!

Todd has a powerful, dynamic voice and the ability to sound just like the artists he pays tribute to. The first half of the show was dedicated to several legendary performers, beginning with Johnny Cash. (Todd's wife, Angel, performed a great duo with him as June Carter Cash!)  I was particularly blown away by Todd's Roy Orbison impersonation. He sounded just like Roy Orbison. And that is one distinctive voice to recapture with such authenticity. Todd's son, Derek, performed Buddy Holly with style and flare (right down to his patent leather shoes) while Todd left the stage for a costume change.

The second half of the show was devoted entirely to Elvis. Todd takes the audience on a journey from Elvis' early years through his Las Vegas years and culminates the performance with some of the most memorable songs of Elvis Presley's last concerts. 

Between these different eras of Elvis, there are video clips that bring Elvis to life on the screen.  Todd explains that these clips are really intended for the younger members of his audience, to give them a better sense of why Elvis is considered The King.  If, like me, you never had the opportunity to see Elvis in concert, this is truly the next best thing. Todd so beautifully recreates Elvis' unique sound and style that he has recently been asked to submit his vocals for a movie that is being made about Elvis.

In addition to the nostalgia and musical artistry of the show, there are plenty of laughs and audience interaction. This is a Las Vegas/Branson type of musical variety show.  And it is clean, wholesome, family fun.  Todd personally serenaded an audience member on-stage (this was hilarious and my favorite part of the show). 

And, like Elvis, he wrapped some scarves around the necks of enthusiastic fans. Following the performance, audience members had the opportunity to have their picture taken with Elvis on-stage. And our entire party (girl's night out) assembled around The King to capture our own personal memory of the evening.

On our way out of Gulf World, we got to chat with Elvis (I mean Todd) and members of the band. They were all so warm and friendly. It's easy to see why Todd has become Mr. Panama City Beach.