Guess What? Muktiwibowo

Guess What? Muktiwibowo

Elvis sang Are you lonesome tonight -- again. This time he was
spotted at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center during a
commemoration for the late Indonesian theater and movie director
Arifin C. Noer last weekend.

Well, actually it was Indonesian Elvis' impersonator
Muktiwibowo in basic Elvis garb -- a black shirt with three
buttons on each cuff, a standing collar and black pants known
here as cut bray.

He came to the discussion to share his experience as Arifin's
high school mate in Cirebon, West Java, in the late of the 50s.
Muktiwibowo said that in 1958 he helped Arifin stage several
plays, including Anton Chekhov's The Wedding.

"I assisted him with the music. At that time, we played LPs to
illustrate the scene. And it was my job to play the LPs,"
recalled Muktiwibowo, who joked that Elvis looked like him.

They previously played in a music group together.

"But, we always put Arifin at the back because he couldn't
dance," Muktiwibowo recalled.

"Later we separated because Arifin moved to Yogyakarta to
study theater, and I moved to Jakarta to specialize on Elvis,"
the Elvis's impersonator who lives in a house he has dubbed
"Elvis Mansion" said.

Today, living the legend is still his business. From one event
to another, Muktiwibowo keeps singing Elvis' tunes and dressing
like the King. (als)