Valley native in ‘50 Shades!’

Youngstown native Matthew Alexander is part of the touring production of “50 Shades! The Musical.”

The show is a spoof of the steamy “50 Shades of Grey” novel that has been playing off-Broadway in New York. The tour came to Powers Auditorium in October 2013, but Alexander wasn’t in it at that time.

Alexander, a 2002 Chaney High School grad, plays Elliot Grey in “50 Shades!” and is also part of the ensemble.

You can catch him Friday night in Mansfield, where the musical will be performed at the Renaissance Theater. That’s the closest it’s coming to Youngstown.

Alexander only recently landed the role, and started rehearsals last month in New York.

His prior stage credits include three years with the national tour of “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” as well as with touring productions of “Bye, Bye Birdie” and “A Christmas Carol.” He also spent time as a singer on a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, in “Jubilee!” at Bally’s in Las Vegas and with several professional regional theaters.

Alexander got his start in theater at the Youngstown Playhouse. He was also a member of the Youngstown Connection, the song-and-dance troupe of the city school system. He graduated from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, where he studied theater.

Before high school, Alexander attended Kirkmere and Volney Rogers schools on the West Side. He said Youngstown holds a special place in his heart.

“I travel a lot for work, but I never forget where I came from,” he said.

To learn more about the tour or to buy tickets to Friday’s performance in Mansfield, go to 50shadesthemusical.com.

Boardman couple remembers 1971 Elvis Presley concert

Happy birthday, Elvis Presley.

If the King was still alive, he would be 80 years old today.

Of course, memories of the man who changed pop music live forever.

Theresa Beggs of Boardman remembers the day she saw him. She and her husband, John, went to a Presley concert Nov. 6, 1971, at Public Hall in Cleveland. The couple had been married for just a few years at the time.

“It was a Saturday afternoon, and when we got out [of the building], it was dark and it was snowing,” she recalled. Elvis finished the concert the way he always did, with his famed “American trilogy” of songs — “Dixie,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “All My Trials.”

The Beggs learned of the concert from an ad in The Vindicator and bought their tickets — $10 apiece — at Richman Brothers, a men’s clothing store downtown at the time. I guess that’s how ticket sales were handled for that show.

Theresa, who still has the concert program (“It’s in mint condition,” she said), said the show was awesome.

“We weren’t in the front row,” she said. “We were in the back. But it was a wonderful experience.”

NORTH COUNTRY BREWING to INVADE RUST BELT taphouse

North Country Brewing will take over the taps at Rust Belt Taphouse, 112 W. Commerce St., tonight starting at 7 p.m.

Representatives from the brewery, located in a cool little brew-pub in Slippery Rock, Pa., will offer fresh pints of their beverages at Rust Belt, which is downtown. North Country beers became available in Ohio last year.

On Saturday at Rust Belt, the Guilty Pleasures will play, starting at 8 p.m.