Pianomen (& Women) at the Palace: All the songs you know and love to sing along to

MANCHESTER, NH – It’s only been two years since The Palace Theatre last staged its original high-energy musical production, “Pianomen,” but if you think you’ve seen it all – well, you ain’t seen nothing, yet.

This time around – the sixth time around in fact – there’s something completely new and different happening: In addition to paying tribute to some of the most recognizable and enduring rock’n’roll piano men of our time, the music of two iconic female singer/songwriters has been added – Carole King and Lady Gaga, which elevates the production with just the right shot of estrogen and energy (and I’m not just saying that as a middle-aged women low on both those elements.)

More on the addition of a piano woman in a minute.

This show was conceived, produced and directed by longtime Palace Theatre Artistic Director Carl Rajotte, and so there’s nothing else quite like this show, especially when it comes to musicals. There’s no plot to follow or character development to catch on to as you go on this two-hour journey; all you have to do is sit back, relax, enjoy and sing-along whenever the spirit moves you.

I attended opening night on Jan. 17 and scored a great seat near the front of the theatre. The place was packed and I noticed right away that attendees didn’t fit a particular age demographic, which makes perfect sense once the show gets underway. That’s because it spans 70 years of hits, and yet even the most casual music lover would recognize most if not all the featured tunes.

This was my first time seeing the show, and so I will admit that I went into it with no idea what was to unfold. My plan was to write down every song that was performed – not always an easy task in a darkened theatre, but my scribblings turned out to be mostly legible. The problem is the hits came so fast and furious that I am sure I missed a few along the way, but by my best count there were somewhere between 45 and 50 songs in total. Incredible!

Here’s how it went down.

Act 1 starts out with “Old Time Rock’n’Roll” focused on the music of Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Barry Manilow, taking us from the 1950s through the 1970s. Opening the show was Ge Enrique and John Abrams, whose piano gymnastics and energy set the stage. I figured it would be more of the same for the next two hours, which would have been pleasant enough, but then…

Timeless Chords, a tribute to Carole King, happened. Her solo debut album, Tapestry, shaped my Wonder Years, and not just because we have the same first name and wild hair. This is where we meet Michelle Rajotte, a welcome addition to the show, a masterful pianist and singer. That she happens to be the sister of the show’s producer and director is incidental; it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing justice to the role.

When I asked Carl Rajotte about it, I confessed to him that I assumed he was doing his sister a favor by casting her in the role; it turns out she is the one who did him the favor.

“I couldn’t find anyone for the role – and maybe two months ago I finally asked her if she was interested. It’s funny, because she is from Maryland and hates the winter and snow, but she was happy to do it – and yeah – she is amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of my little sister,” Rajotte says.

Michelle Rajotte ran through five of King’s hits including a few songs many in the crowd may not have attributed to King – who has been a prolific songwriter for decades – including “One Fine Day,” made famous by the Chiffons and “Locomotion,” a hit for Little Eva in the early 1960s and covered by all sorts of people, including King herself, although I grew up with the Grand Funk Railroad version.

But I digress…

Next, Dancers and Lovers, performed by Ge Enrique, included nine or 10 Stevie Wonder hits, and by this time, I realized that beyond the musical performers and the full band, the featured dancers – of which there are seven – were there to weave in and out of every set, with dance routines that hit somewhere between Solid Gold Dancers and Dancing with the Stars. Of note, one of the dancers, Peter Murphy, is a recent Ithaca College graduate who cut his singing and dancing teeth as a Palace Theatre youth performer. Needless to say, he was the shining star of the show to many of those who helped him along his journey, including Rajotte.

The final set before intermission, NY State of Mind, featured hit after hit by  Billy Joel. And I don’t know if it’s just because Joel was such a big part of my youthful soundtrack, or that it’s the masterful melancholy he builds into his musicality, but I got a little teary-eyed during the performance of the song, “New York State of Mind” – it’s the opening upper register tune, the longing in the lyrics, and the magnificent chord progressions that always hit me right in the heart. And just when I thought I was out of the emotional woods, “Just the Way You Are,” started and I had to reach over and hold my hubby’s hand – after 45 years of a roller coaster reality show called marriage, the message in that particular song is always sappy enough to make me cry. Good thing at that point the curtain went down and I could get up and stretch in anticipation of Act. 2.

With three more sets to go, I have to admit that it was the fifth set, “Art Pop,” featuring the music of Lady Gaga, that might have been my favorite, at least when it comes down to performances. Michelle Rajotte turned up the heat on this set – with her silver-sparkling-sequined cat suit and silver platform boots, she commanded the stage and woke up the crowd – first with a rousing rendition of “Born That Way,” followed by “Telephone,” “Just Dance, “Bad Romance,” then closing with “Shallow,” which evoked some audible gasps from the crowd when she hit and sustained the “I’m off the deep end, watch as I dive in…” part, shifting into vocal emotional overdrive with ease.

And while that was a trip in and of itself, it actually got the crowd prepped for what was next: Set 6, Rock Brilliance, as Ge Enrique became a high-voltage version of Freddie Mercury, and the crowd went wild. From the pulsing staccato of the opening bars of “Another One Bites the Dust,” to “We Are the Champions,” “Killer Queen” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Enrique hit the high notes and whipped everyone into a frenzy when he shed his canary-yellow leather jacket like only a rock star can.

Closing the show was “Eccentricity,” featuring Jon Abrams doing his best Elton John, delivering hit after hit including “Still Standing,” “Tiny Dancer,” and “Your Song,” ending with full-cast renditions of “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fightin’,” and “Take me to the Pilot – lighting up the stage with pianos, dancers and musicians.

As I soaked it all in and looked out across the crowd during the last few songs, it was hard to find someone not singing, bopping their head, tapping their foot, or clapping their hands high over their heads – it’s the music that lives inside all of us, and the Palace Theatre’s production of Pianomen & Women provides the perfect opportunity to let the songs pour out over you and fill you with nostalgia, joy, and the feeling that everything – like a Saturday Night according to Elton John – is all right, all right, all right.

Pianomen & Women continues at The Palace Theatre through Feb. 9. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 603-668-5588 or online at palacethreatre.org.