Donnie Roberts
The King & I
By day, Donnie Roberts is the Director of Facilities for Meals on Wheels Central Texas, but by night you might catch him rockin’ and rollin’ on stage as an Elvis impersonator. Donnie has been “doing Elvis” for over 20 years now and, despite having no background or training as a performer, he’s been extremely successful, at times working around 300 gigs per year.
“I actually didn’t even know how to sing when I started. The first show that I did was at the Georgetown Opry. And I had never sang anything and did a sold out crowd. It was really bad. So after that I learned how to start singing.”
Donnie was one of five Elvis impersonators featured alongside 3 contemporary dancers in Forklift’s 2007 performance, The King and I. One of Forklift’s lesser-known shows, The King & I was loosely based on Elvis’ last concert and was inspired by choreographer Allison Orr’s desire to connect with the human side of the legendary Elvis Presley and learn about the people who embody Elvis on a regular basis.
Nearly 15 years after The King & I, Donnie and Allison caught up and reminisced about their work together. Listen to their conversation or read the transcript below.
[Donnie sings “Cross My Heart and Hope to Die” by Elvis Presley]
Donnie Roberts: My name is Donnie Roberts. I’m the Director of Facilities at Meals on Wheels Central Texas.
Allison Orr: And what else do you do for work?
DR: Well, I do Elvis, of course.
AO: What does that mean?
DR: It means I entertain people and act like Elvis on stage or at a party or whatever. Try to bring them back to something they’ve never seen before. Yeah. It’s a lot of fun and I have fun doing it. Of course, I haven’t been doing it lately because of the Coronavirus, but that’s the way it goes. I even thought about retiring. I haven’t decided yet.
AO: Oh, that would be too bad.
DR: That would be too bad, wouldn’t it?
AO: I think it would be. So how long have you been doing your Elvis work?
DR: I’ve been doing it for 20 years. A little over.
AO: Tell me how did you get into this business? I don’t even think I know!
DR: I had a friend who was out in Las Vegas and he was doing it at a casino and he told me, “You need to go back to Austin and start doing Elvis.” I said, “What are you talking about, man? I can’t sing.” And he said, “Well you got a good look.” Well, at the time I had gray hair and all that. So I just dyed my hair and I learned how to sing basically. And one thing led to another and we just started doing it basically.
AO: Had you ever performed or sung for an audience before Donnie?
DR: Nope. I actually didn’t even know how to sing when I started. The first show that I did was at the Georgetown Opry. There were four Elvises there and like two thousand? And I had never sang anything and did a sold out crowd. It was really bad. So after that I learned how to start singing. Yeah, so just one thing kind of led to another.
AO: Wow, that is crazy that you had never… So you hadn’t done theater, you weren’t in church choir. You just decided, this guy told you and you said, “Well, okay, I guess I’ll try it?”
DR: Well, he’s told me how much money you can make doing it. SO I said, “Oh man. Well, maybe I can make some of that too.” So I’ve always done it — yeah, I’ve always liked Elvis music, always have, probably always will — but I always did it because I like making the money doing it. That’s the reason why I do it. And I try to be good at it. Of course, I get on the YouTube and watch Elvis…how he did all the moves in the songs I wanted to sing. So that’s how I kind of got into it.
AO: So what does your family think about you doing this? Did they ever see you and make comments or tell you what they, thought?
DR: Yep. Well, my dad, he’s become a big ol’ fan to me, and my aunt. My aunt used to date Buddy Holly, you know? And so they started coming to every show that we did when it was close by like at an auditorium or something like that. So they was pretty supportive of it.
AO: So your aunt dated Buddy Holly?
DR: Yeah. My aunt used to date Buddy Holly back in the fifties. And she was a big fan of Elvis, too, back then. Of course, he wasn’t like he was now or like he was back then, you know, he was just getting started in the fifties. And so of course she was dating Buddy Holly while they were in school. And so he got to know Elvis when he would come to Loving and they would go over to my grandmother’s house sometimes. And she had photos of her and Elvis and Buddy Holly.
AO: Wow. Yeah. So what are some of the movements that you had to learn to do your job well as Elvis? Because his moves are famous, the moves of Elvis were partially what made him so famous and what got him in trouble.
DR: Yeah. That did get him in trouble. Had never got me in trouble, but yeah, some of the moves are kind of hard to do if you don’t do it all the time.
AO: Like which ones?
DR: Some of his dance moves the way he twisted his legs. Not in the shake of his leg, but the way he moves his legs sometimes, the way he did his movements. It’s kind of hard to do that on some of them, but I got pretty good at it. Well, I could pass it off where people wouldn’t know, they’s just say, “Oh wow, he’s doing it.”
AO: Now what about hip moves? Cause Elvis did a lot of hip movement. Did you have to get any coaching for that, Donnie?
DR: Yea, I just started watching on how he did it. Stood up there, he started… Like if he did whatever song I was practicing all the time, if he had hip movements in it I would sit there and I would watch him do it. And I would just hit reverse, rewind or whatever back and forth until I got it down. Anyway, that’s how I did it for the songs that I started doing that I liked doing.
AO: Yeah. Cool. So what would you like people to know about you and your fellow Elvis artists? What would you like folks to know?
DR: Well, for the most part, I myself…I never thought as “I think I’m Elvis.” Of course you try to be him on stage when you’re doing it, because that’s what you’re portraying, but you don’t want to think that you’re better than Elvis. You’re just there trying to make people happy and do a good job at what you’re doing. You just got to keep it in perspective, that’s the way I’ve always done it. I’ve never though I’m be Elvis and I never would be, never would have wanted to be. But I tried to do what people want to see on stage or performing in front of somebody to try to make them happy. And that’s the way I’ve always took it on that. Just keep it in perspective.
AO: That’s amazing. So, let’s talk just a little bit about our work together. Donnie, I think I started getting to know you probably in 2000, 2001, 2002, because we did a number of shows together. We did a show, we did the big show in 2007 that, you know, where we had nine performances. We did the first show in 2005, the first full show. You were part of that at the Elks Lodge. But then before that we did a show at UT and it might’ve been in 2003 or 2004? Is there a specific highlight or a memory or a moment you remember from our shows that stands out?
DR: Yeah. I remember where you and the girls would eat the peanut butter sandwich and y’all was making them back on that stage right there. I thought hat was pretty cool. And then I liked the last part of it, where Mayor Will Wynn was on there, he was all out there putting the arms this way, putting the arms that way. And then the very last of it, where we was all up there just kind of doing our thing at the very last. I thought that was pretty cool. I thought it made a big impact on your show.
AO: It totally did. We had… In the end, I think we had five or eight Elvis impersonators. You were the central character and you sang by yourself and a duet. Didn’t you sing with our guests impersonators? And yeah, we had Will Wynn one night and we had other kind of local celebrities. And then at the end, we had other people who weren’t necessarily professional, but just put on the jumpsuit, come out at the end. Which was super fun. Yeah, that peanut butter section… That was so fun to choreograph. Well, anything fun, anything special that you learned from the process, Donnie, as you look back? I mean, again, we’ve known each other almost 20 years now. We’ve worked together in a number of ways. Anything that you, in terms of working with Forklift or working in this way, anything special you learned?
DR: Yeah, I would say that working with y’all helps you to be a good entertainer because you’re a good coach, the way you want to do it. And I think that you learn how to be in the spotlight, but you learn how to do something different. And that’s why I liked doing that, too. It’s kind of like being in a movie or something like that. You can learn how to act. So I thought it was like a…more of like a play setting, but a musical, but a play also. So I learned a lot just from that.
AO: So, I mean, what would you say about Elvis now? Like what would you say about his legacy?
DR: You know what, he loved being on stage. He loved being in front of people. He just, he enjoyed making people happy. That’s the way I seen him, you know, see him today.
AO: Yeah, so making people happy. Well, you got the right attitude, Donnie. It’s been so great to talk with you. I look forward to more and good luck. I hope you don’t retire. I think we always need a little Elvis in our lives, you know? People are going to need you.
DR: [Elvis voice] Well thank you very much, honey.
AO: Thanks a lot, Donnie. Talk soon.
DR: Bye-bye.
On the Job: 20 Portraits from 20 Years highlights the work of twenty people who have collaborated and performed with Forklift Danceworks. Featuring new interviews between Forklift choreographers and our collaborators, the series shares the voices and experiences of people whose work sustains our communities.
New portraits will be released each month, so follow us on Facebook and Instagram to meet more Forklift performers throughout the year!
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.
