Roy Orbison hologram to perform at Tilles Center

Roy Orbison’s career may be as big today as it was in the early ‘60s, when he was stunning fans with his distinctive voice on hits like “Only the Lonely,” “Crying” and "Oh, Pretty Woman."

His legacy provides the pivotal moment in the recent incarnation of “A Star Is Born,” and a new biopic of him is in the works. “Unchained Melodies,” his new album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, will be released on Nov. 16. And sure, Orbison died in 1988 of a heart attack, but thanks to new technology he is ready to hit the road again for “In Dreams,” the first-ever musical tour by a hologram, which stops at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Nov. 10.

“It has been really amazing to see it take flight,” says Alex Orbison, who worked with Base Hologram to create the virtual version of his father and the show around him. “To hear my dad’s voice at full volume in a theater again is moving. The whole experience of seeing the band and everything together was overwhelming.”

Marty Tudor, CEO of Base Hologram Productions, says he got the idea to create touring holograms after seeing the reaction to the Tupac Shakur hologram at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2012. “I thought, ‘That’s a new form of entertainment.’ ” Tudor says. “I’m in the business of putting on shows and this was a way to use technology to put on a new kind of show that is still a fulfilling experience and gives the audience an emotional connection.”

It took three years for Tudor to pull together “In Dreams.” They hired an actor to study Orbison’s movements in concert and then filmed him from every angle for use in the digital hologram that is synched to Orbison’s vocal track, using a CGI process similar to the one used in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” for the Princess Leia hologram. At each stop, the Orbison hologram is backed by a local 31-piece orchestra and at Tilles Center, the music will be handled by the Long Island Concert Orchestra.

“It’s potentially really groundbreaking,” says David Winkler, the LICO’s executive director. “It’s a way for artists from different periods in history to show up again and is an opportunity for people to get to know more about these artists. … Roy Orbison is about as good as it gets for male singers. His voice really carries the show. It’s so unique and special.”

Tudor says that by the end of the 90-minute show, fans have embraced the result. “Initially, the most difficult part is indoctrinating the audience to this. They wonder, ‘What’s a hologram?’ ” says Tudor, whose next project centers on an Amy Winehouse hologram. “Once the show starts and they are in the theater, they start singing along with the songs and are clapping for the hologram as if he’s there.”

For Alex Orbison, seeing his father perform again was very emotional.

“I ended up crying a lot,” he says. “It was so great to see they stayed true to his inner voice as a performer. And I loved seeing how much people still adored my dad, how much they still loved him.”