SCHAUFUSS'S ELVIS BALLET HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.

IS ELVIS alive? Not in Great Britain, where a ballet about the musical icon had to be changed almost overnight due to strict copyright laws governing the singer's hits.

The King, which Peter Schaufuss created in April 1999, premiered in the choreographer's home town of Holstebro, Denmark. He described it as a "dansical spectacular," since it tells its story through the combination of classical, contemporary, show dance and tap styles. Last year, the Peter Schaufuss Ballet company toured the production throughout Denmark, where it played to full houses and standing ovations.

Just ten days before the company was due to tour Edinburgh and London, Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns rights to much of Presley's catalogue, announced that Schaufuss could not use the songs he had chosen for his original ballet, nor could the persona of Elvis be depicted on stage without permission from the estate. Schaufuss reluctantly canceled the Scottish engagement and reworked the production in time for the London opening.

"It was a tremendous effort," Schaufuss said. "The musical rights to do things are very different in Scandinavia than in the U.K. Here we've had problems getting the rights from a certain music publisher for several of the songs. So we've had to choose different songs that were not under the control of that publisher. I've had to change eighteen numbers over the past week--then two more yesterday." Out went such favorites as "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and in went several lesser-known songs and recordings by other artists such as Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis.

In trying to sort things out, Schaufuss flew to Los Angeles. "There I was told by Elvis Presley Enterprises that they were not happy with a show about Elvis. It was then, so as not to aggravate anyone, I decided to change the story, which I've made much more down to earth. It's now about a person who could be any one of us. He's called Johnny and is the leader of a band called The Losers. But he decides that he could do better if he went out on his own, and he becomes a Presley impersonator."

Thus Schaufuss steered clear of the copyright minefield, though for all intents and purposes, the new story mirrors Presley's life--the army, the drugs, woman problems, self-destruction--and at one point, the hero-dancer wears a white-sequined, flare-legged satin catsuit and sunglasses. With the London newspapers already joking about Elvis sightings, the theater's management garnered additional publicity by offering any costumed Elvis impersonator a free seat for the opening night. Three (including one woman) turned up, suitably slicked and shiny.