Halloween came a night early at Madison Square Garden. On Friday, Harry Styles walked out for the first of his two “Harryween” shows in New York, and he came dressed as Elvis Presley.
He wore a white bedazzled jumpsuit with colorful embellishments, a blue satin-lined cape and gold sunglasses like the ones Elvis wore at his 1970s concerts. If you remember those big, glittering stage years, you’d have known the look in a second.
Somebody in the crowd knew it better than anyone.
Riley Keough, 37, is Elvis’s granddaughter. Her mother was Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s daughter. Videos from the night show Riley dancing along, smiling and filming on her phone. Next to her stood Zoë Kravitz, Harry’s fiancée, dressed in red with devil horns. Zoë and Riley have been friends for years. So the singer in the cape had Elvis’s own granddaughter right there in the audience.
A fan in the arena filmed night one, and it gives you a real feel for the room Riley was dancing in.
Harryween night one, filmed from the crowd at Madison Square Garden
Harry is 32 now. But this costume wasn’t a random pick off a rack. Years ago, he wanted to play Elvis for real.
In May 2022 he told Howard Stern on his show that he’d auditioned for director Baz Luhrmann’s movie “Elvis.” He said he had to re-create one of Elvis’s Las Vegas performances and act out some scenes. Luhrmann later said he didn’t hold regular auditions at all. He put the actors through “these really rich workshops,” and he said Harry was “desperate to put the suit on and explore.”
Harry told Stern why it meant so much to him. “Elvis was probably the first person I knew besides my family when I was a kid,” he said. “For that reason, there was something incredibly sacred surrounding him, so I thought I should try to get the part.”
He didn’t get it. The role went to Austin Butler.
Luhrmann has looked back on those tryouts in more than one interview, and in this clip he talks about Harry’s turn in particular.
Baz Luhrmann looks back on Harry’s tryout for “Elvis”
So why not Harry? Luhrmann gave his answer to Australian radio hosts Fitzy and Wippa in June 2022. And it wasn’t a knock on Harry’s acting.
“Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him,” he said. “The real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon.”
Put simply, Harry was too famous to vanish into the part.
Harry seemed to get it. “If they think the movie’s going to be better with someone else then I don’t want to do it because I don’t want to be the not-as-good version,” he told Stern.
There’s a sweet footnote, too. Luhrmann told The Times, “I know Harry well. He sent me a video of him impersonating Elvis as a six-year-old. Harry embodies so much of Elvis.”
That little boy finally got his jumpsuit, on the Garden stage.
Another fan caught night one from a different seat, if you’d like a second view of the show.
A second fan’s view of Harryween night one
Tonight, Oct 31, Harry plays his second Harryween show. It’s also the last night of his 30-night run at the Garden. Friday already gave Elvis fans something to smile about, with Riley in the crowd filming on her phone.