The EDWARDS TWINS - “An Evening With Impersonators Extrordinaire

“An Evening With Impersonators Extrordinaire - The EDWARDS TWINS”

It was hard to imagine that I could spend an evening watching 2 impersonators portraying more than one or two celebrities each - knowing the time and precision it takes to pull off the illusion for just one.  And especially when the Edwards Twins do their own singing, rather than lip-synching! 

Yet, there I was at the Burbank Colony Theater, watching Eddie Edwards singing as Barbra Streisand - swearing to myself that he was lip-synching, as there was no way that he could be hitting those glorious Streisand notes and looking so ‘Streisand-esque’!  As he worked his way through a medley of her hits from “Don’t Rain On My Parade”, “Evergreen”, “Main Event”, “Papa Can You Hear Me”, “Guilty”, and ending with “Somewhere” - I continuously  searched for him to miss a note or miss a word so that I could prove that he wasn’t really singing - yet he didn’t miss a beat! 

As he left the stage, his brother Anthony came out as Elton John - just as convincingly - sat down at the piano and began a medley of hits from the 70’s and 80’s. 

Once again, Eddie (who performs all of the female celebrities) came out as Cher singing “The Way Of Love” and was spot-on in wig, headdress, and gold lamè gown.  At the end of that, he ducked backstage, the music to “Turn Back Time” and 30 seconds later he reappeared in her famous outfit: a sequin studded top, fishnet hose, thigh-high boots, and a revealing G-string complete with butterfly tattoos on the butt and proved a man can turn himself into a woman onstage!  By the end of that song, the theme from the “Sonny & Cher Show” started, and Anthony appeared as Sonny Bono.  The two sang “I Got You Babe” and bantered back and forth just as hilariously as on the original show. 

Without an intermission in the 90 minute show - Anthony took this time to showcase some of his other talents and voices.  He gave the audience a whirlwind tour of many of their other celebrity impersonations from their other shows.  Using just an occasional wig or pair of glasses and without any make-up, he hit perfection with his renditions of:  Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Dean Martin singing with Elmo (where he did have a giant stuffed Elmo puppet), Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Frankie Vallie, and even as Kermit the Frog (again using a stuffed Kermit Puppet) singing “It’s Not Easy Being Green”, then ended with Pavarotti. 

This had given Eddie time to once again change into another gown and make-up, as a blonde.  Nobody in particular - however he sang a poignant song titled “My Father’s Son”.  It explained how he always wanted his father to be proud of him, yet he needed to be true to himself as a performer and a person - and performing as a ‘woman and in drag’ is what that was.  While he sang, he sat down at a small dressing table, and began to remove his make-up, wig, gown, etc.... and ended up in a tuxedo shirt, pants, and no make-up, as a man, singing in his own voice.  It was a very moving and eye-opening piece and a great way to end the show. 

His brother Anthony joined him on stage afterwards and they did one last song from “Victor Victoria” - before closing the show with a quick skit of George Burns and Gracie Allen. 

It was a great evening of entertainment and I’d highly recommend catching their show in Vegas or if you happen to see them performing on the East Coast.  They’ve been performing in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida for many years now and continue to do so, as well as Hennessey’s in downtown Las Vegas.