As a man in a white, jeweled jumpsuit enters the room, the applause roar.
“I said C., C.C. Rider, oh see what you have done,” sings Mark Stanzler, belting out the opening lines of a blues song often performed by Elvis Presley. The audience, mostly women over 60, clap to the beat.
“I guess I’m the only one who got the memo that this was a costume party,” he joked after finishing the song with a bow.
An Elvis impersonator, Stanzler has performed around the greater Boston area for 10 years. On a recent afternoon at the Quincy Council on Aging’s Kennedy Center, he wore the long sideburns, big sunglasses, glittering outfit and leather boots that are trademarks of the King of Rock ‘N Roll. Moving around the room and leaning in close, he captivated his listeners.
“Awesome,” said Quincy resident Helen Wilhelmi, 84, as she watched him dance and sing around the room. “I love all his stuff. But his gospel really got to me.”