Piano Man
Celebrating the Music of Billy Joel
Phil Burton, Alinta Chidzey, Jess Hitchcock & Josh Piterman
Friday 14 & Saturday 15 November
Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall
On sale Monday 2 June at 10am
For more than 50 years, legendary singer, songwriter and pianist Billy Joel has made an indelible mark on the American songbook. With 33 top 40 hits, five Grammy Awards and more than 160 million albums sold worldwide, Billy Joel is one of the most successful artists of all time.
Following their critically acclaimed world premiere in Adelaide, a cast of powerhouse vocalists will join the MSO this November at Hamer Hall, to celebrate the legendary Billy Joel in Piano Man.
The five-star concert showcases the incredible versatility of stage and screen stars Phil Burton (Human Nature) making his MSO debut, Alinta Chidzey (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), genre-defying Indigenous singer-songwriter Jess Hitchcock (MSO’s Classic 100, Hopelessly Devoted), along with musical theatre sensation and star of the MSO’s An Evening on Broadway, Josh Piterman (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables).
Directed by Mark Sutcliffe (Hopelessly Devoted, What the World Needs Now) with Leonard Weiss conducting, Piano Man features showstopping new orchestral arrangements of Billy Joel classics by Nicholas Buc. “Buc’s arrangements are superbly done. Wisely, he doesn’t recompose Joel’s music so much as to elevate what is already present and implicit in the original piano part of each song, carefully handing out each strand to different sections of the orchestra to provide extra richness and expressive colour.” (In Daily SA)
The 23-song set list covers Billy Joel’s greatest hits including Just the Way You Are, She’s Always a Woman, New York State of Mind, Only the Good Die Young, Vienna and of course Piano Man.
‘5-Stars - It was a rather incredible experience to hear his songs reimagined for orchestra. The layer and texture of the Orchestra elevated the classic rock hits…to give them almost cinematic quality.’ Glam Adelaide
Piano Man is presented in association with Make My Mark.