MARIO Kombou swapped his hair stylist scissors for a chance to swivel his hips in Jailhouse Rock the musical.

The singer was following in the footsteps of his music idol, the king of rock ‘n’ roll, scooping the lead role of Vincent Everett, the character played by Elvis Presley in the film.

Now the singer has created a whole stage show following the life of Elvis, from the early years of Sun Studios to the glitz and glamour of his Los Vegas concerts.

The Elvis Years, starring Mario and a whole cast of musicians, singers and actors, will be stopping off in Swindon this month as part of their UK theatre tour.

Mario said: “I had 10 or 12 recalls for the part in Jailhouse Rock, they even came to America to see me perform in concert, to see how I looked onstage.

“They took video footage and asked the audience members what they thought. They had to narrow it down and they were casting an unknown in the lead role — I was cutting hair at the time.”

Having secured the role, Mario went on to make it his own, performing in the West End with Ivor Novello award-winning producer and musical director David Mackay.

“I learned a lot from that production and came up with the Elvis Years idea and got David Mackay on board,” said Mario.

As part of the theatrical experience, The Elvis Years shows video footage behind the performers, depicting various different eras, including the Depression years for In The Ghetto, army footage, the Ed Sullivan Show and the vocal quartet who backed Elvis, The Jordanaires.

“I have 15 really quick costume changes — lots of velcro,” said Mario.

“We have 50 songs with the footage making it visually exciting.”

As an Elvis fan, one of the highlights for Mario was meeting Donna Presley, cousin to his hero.

“I met her in the UK. She was over here to promote her book and I was one of three Elvises helping with the promotion. She invited me to Memphis. She grew up with Elvis,” said Mario, who has visited Gracelands many times.

“It’s my tribute, my way of saying thank you because Elvis has helped me in my life.”

When the record company re-released the Elvis, song One Night With You, it shot to number one in the UK chart, but the BBC were not allowed to show clips of Elvis on Top of the Pops, so they asked Mario and the cast of Jailhouse Rock to perform.

“I had a lot of good experiences from Jailhouse Rock, including appearing on GMTV with Phillip Schofield and singing at Twickenham Rugby Stadium for the All Blacks versus the Barbarians game.”

Mario will be All Shook Up in The Elvis Years at Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre on July 13 from 7.30pm. Tickets are £24.50 from 01793 524481 or visit swindontheatres.co.uk.