The Art of Impersonation: Elvis Meets Sinatra in Benefit Concert

Lamar Peters was never among the lucky ones to watch Elvis Presley perform live.

In some ways, he didn’t need to be. He had his father.

It was 1977 — the same year that Presley died — that Gregg Peters was named the first official Elvis Tribute Artist in New York City. By age 9, his son was a fixture in his show as a backup dancer, the younger Peters recalled.

But by age 18, he had struck out on his own, honing his interpretation of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll.

“If my father was a pizza man, I would still be an entertainer,” Peters said. “It helped that there was influence there, of course.”

Nearly two decades later, the performer has perfected his craft and is considered one of the best Elvis Tribute Artists in the state. On Saturday, May 3, he will transport audiences back in time for “Elvis Meets Sinatra,” a concert alongside leading Frank Sinatra impersonator Jesse Posa at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, as a fundraiser for the Westhampton Rotary Club.

“Anybody who wants to see this show and relive some amazing moments and some great music, come check it out — and it’s for a great cause,” Peters said. “It’s Elvis and Sinatra. How could you beat it?”

While growing up in Astoria, Queens, Presley and Sinatra, along with the Beatles and Dean Martin, were the soundtrack of Peters’s childhood, he said.

“I’ve been in this business basically my whole life,” Peters explained. “My mother said, ‘When you came out of that womb, you were dancing, boy.’”

He would go on to become the first Elvis Tribute Artist to perform at B.B. King Blues Club in Times Square and currently holds the title of Best Celebrity Impersonator in the annual Best of The Boro Contest — four years running.

He also placed in the Top 3 in the Ultimate Elvis Presley tribute contest sponsored by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

“The preparation and the mindset is, ‘Okay, you’re not Greek and Italian anymore,’” he said of transforming into Presley, starting in his heavy Queens accent before slipping into a Southern lilt. “‘You’re a boy from Memphis. You gotta really just get into it, honey. You gotta go right into it.’ And that’s what happens. Once the voice changes, that’s it — and I just stay in character throughout the whole show.”

Meeting other tribute artists, such as Posa — who has performed as Sinatra at Radio City Music Hall and B.B. King’s Blues Club in an Off-Broadway production of “Sinatra and Friends” — can be a hit or miss, Peters said.

In their case, “we just clicked,” he recalled. “It was just like, boom.”

“You can get some very humble gentlemen and then you could get some guy who actually believes he’s Elvis Presley — and that’s when you walk the other way,” Peters said. “Trust me, when I wake up in the morning, I’m not Elvis Presley.”

Getting into character takes a lot of concentration and hairspray, Peters said. His thick black pompadour and sideburns are entirely real, he said, and the rest comes together in about two hours with a side of stage magic.

“I love when someone asks me what my day job is,” he said, “because I could be man enough to look them in the eye with that makeup and go, ‘You’re looking at it, sweetheart.’”

His set list takes audiences back through Presley’s career — from the best of the 1950s rockabilly up through the 1970s. “I’ve been singing ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ longer than Elvis did, probably, when he was alive,” he said.

But the singer’s favorite tunes are the rarer ones, such as “Just Pretend” and “Kentucky Rain” — though the best part of any given concert is the nostalgia it brings for those listening, he said.

“When someone comes up to me at a show and says, ‘Oh my God, you’re even better than Elvis,” first of all, no one’s better than Elvis,” he said. “I don’t ever say, ‘I’m the greatest’ — ugh, that’s the worst.”

He laughed and continued. “Elvis himself was insecure. The most handsome, talented man was insecure. So any artist can be. That’s how I see it,” he said. “But to just wake up and say, ‘Hey, tonight I’m going to tributize my idol,’ it’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

“Elvis Meets Sinatra,” featuring performances by Lamar Peters and Jesse Posa, will be held on Saturday, May 3, at 8 p.m. at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, as a fundraiser for the Westhampton Rotary Club. Online tickets are $59, or $52 when paid with cash at the box office. VIP tickets, which include preferred seating and admission to a post-show reception and meet-and-greet with the performers, are $92, or $81 with cash. For more information, call 631-288-1500 or visit whbpac.org.