It's 1969, and Elvis Presley is preparing to return to the stage after a run of mostly mediocre films. "A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage," he is quoted as saying.

And so he gets a booking in Las Vegas. In the first half, This is Elvis covers the preparations for that show, while after the interval we get a recreation of the performance itself. It's an odd period to choose for an Elvis tribute show: many would say that he was well past his prime by 1969, and there was hot young competition in town a certain Tom Jones.

Elvis had also become visibly overweight and flabby by this time something that Simon Bowman makes no attempt to recreate in his performance in the title role. Bowman's Elvis is a man who has naturally aged even the iconic Elvis hairstyle is scaled down. But there seems absolutely no risk that he might bulge out of his trousers.

The first half the rehearsal sequence is a bit plodding, and Bowman's American accent is distinctly suspect. But interestingly it presents Elvis as very much the professional musician, making sure the best band is picked, and generally involved in every detail he has no need to worry about the band, incidentally, for This is Elvis boasts a top-quality line-up, with particularly good work from pianist Stuart Morley and Tom Clare on drums. However, the producers feel that this first half isn't up to scratch apparently it is to be revised next week.

After the interval, Bowman really lets fly, giving some 20 numbers his all, everything from Blue Suede Shoes, to Are You Lonesome Tonight to Jailhouse Rock. He's particularly good at capturing the trademark Elvis vibrato. The atmosphere in Milton Keynes Theatre duly became electric: "Elvis lives on," I heard one senior member of the audience say afterwards.