All New Pianomen at the Palace: Like having all your favorite performers on one stage

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Click through the beautiful opening night gallery
of photographs by Matthew Lomanno.

MANCHESTER, NH – If you missed opening weekend for The All New Pianomen at the Palace Theatre, don’t panic: there’s still plenty of time to catch this final show of the Citizens Bank 2014-2015 Performing Arts Series Season, which runs through June 20.

Musical Director and performer Garit Guadan returns to the Palace for this updated version of the high-energy crowd favorite show, featuring fellow piano man Kyle Martin. Together, these talented piano-playing men bring you hit after hit from some of your all-time favorite hit-makers, including Billy Joel, Freddy Mercury, Elton John and Stevie Wonder.

Garrit Guadan
Garrit Guadan

Guadan should be a familiar face to many Palace regulars as a repeat Palace performer, having been on stage before as part of  The Four Piano Men, British Invasion, and My Mixtape: Sounds of the ’80s. His resume is rounded out with countless off-Broadway credits, including “Christmas with the Crawfords,” starring Joey Arias, Project Runway’s Chris March, and Drag legends Sherry Vine and Flotilla DeBarge, and as a music firector and pianist with Emmy-award nominee Donna Drake; Tony award-nominee Christopher Sieber; Broadway’s Colleen Sexton, Todd Buonapone, Brian Charles Rooney, Ben Cameron, Matt Leher, Kate Pazakis, and YouTube star Miranda Sings, to name a few.

What makes this show “all new” is not only a fresh set of tunes, but the addition of new themed material, ranging from the ‘oldies but goodies” to some newer music, says Guadan.

“We decided to add a section of some old-time rock’n’roll, which runs the gamut, including Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as some ‘newer’ stuff from the ’70s and ’80s, like Barry Manilow, Phil Collins, Marc Cohn and Bruce Hornsby – stuff that would play to everybody,” says Guadan. “These are songs that everybody knows.”

The band features musicians local to New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and professional dancers from New York City, says Guadan, for a unique concert-style music review, definitely a tribute show to some of our generation’s most gifted artists.

The part of the show that gets personal for Guadan is the Queen segment.

“The first time we did Pianomen three years ago, and we were learning the Queen stuff,  I was listening to ‘Bicycle Race,’ and wondering how I knew every single word already, and that’s when I remembered that in my fifth-grade music class we did a whole study session about Queen.  It was all still there in my brain from when I was a kid, and that’s a testament to how timeless this music is,” Guadan said.

Similarly, the experience for the audience is always a celebration of the music they grew up with, he says.

“Last time we did the show people who came out were singing along and up and dancing in the aisles. People have such a good time because it makes you remember some of the best times of your life,” says Guadan. “And as performers, it’s such a collective experience, and really just like a fun jam session.”

As for who should come out and see the show – a loaded question, of course – Guadan says “anybody and everybody.”

“No matter who you are, I promise you’ll not only hear some stuff you love but maybe find new stuff you didn’t listen to growing up, and once you hear it you’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, this is really rockin’. That’s the goal,” Guadan says.

“It’s like putting all your favorite performers on a single stage and listening to them play their best tunes. [Palace Theatre Artistic Director] Carl Rojette has created an awesome concept – his original shows are always cool,” says Guadan. “And even though we stick to the playlist, every night is like a different show because with all the energy in the room, you never quite know what’s going to happen.”


Tickets are available (click here) for the following performances:

Friday June 12, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Saturday June 13, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Saturday June 13, 2015 2:00 p.m.
Sunday June 14, 2015 2:00 p.m.
Thursday June 18, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Friday June 19, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Saturday June 20, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Saturday June 20, 2015 2:00 p.m.

Tickets range from $15 to $45. Flex Subscriptions and Group Rates are available. For group rates contact the group sales office at 603-668-5588 x110 or email David Rousseau at davidrousseau@palacetheatre.org.

Click to watch a preview of the All New Pianomen

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!