{"id":32142,"date":"2022-10-24T15:21:44","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T22:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/how-wonderful-life-is-with-long-beach-symphony-pops-in-the-world"},"modified":"2022-10-24T15:24:13","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T22:24:13","slug":"how-wonderful-life-is-with-long-beach-symphony-pops-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/how-wonderful-life-is-with-long-beach-symphony-pops-in-the-world","title":{"rendered":"How Wonderful Life Is, With Long Beach Symphony Pops In The World"},"content":{"rendered":"

For that blue jean baby, L.A. lady, and all the tiny dancers out there, Long Beach Symphony is opening its 2022-23 Pops season with \u201cRemember When Rock Was Young: The Elton John Tribute<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d promising to captivate audiences with the signature sound and style of the famed pianist and singer.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong Beach Symphony is thrilled to present the greatest hits of the legendary and prolific, Sir Elton John, in this Pops Pride performance which also celebrates our LGBTQ+ community,\u201d said LBSO President Kelly Ruggirello.<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Maestro Eckart Preu, and starring renowned Elton John tribute artist Craig A. Meyer on the\u00a0piano and on vocals, the symphony will perform\u00a0a number of Elton John and Bernie Taupin\u2019s most beloved 1970\u2019s classics, as well as Tony winning Broadway hits, including\u00a0Can You Feel The Love Tonight\u00a0<\/i>from \u201cThe Lion King.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyer\u2014with, of course, the Rocket Man\u2019s signature sparkly shades and platform shoes\u2014considers himself as much musician as illusionist. With a background on Broadway, he\u2019s performed as \u201cAlmost Elton John\u201d for the past 15 years, starring in nearly 100 shows annually around the world, and is widely considered the next closest thing to the British superstar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lovingly call Almost Elton my superhero alter ego,\u201d he said. \u201cI step in a phone booth and walk out wearing a cape. I’m still Craig, but I’m also this other entity. It’s fun to step into somebody else’s heels for a while, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to picking a favorite song by Sir Elton John, Meyer said there\u2019s no such thing because he loves them all. Plus, he noted, the songs play differently depending on the unique energy of each crowd experiencing them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have generations of families at these shows, and they all have a different connection to the music and to a time in their lives that was important to them,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody has a different connection to the music, but it\u2019s all still very personal. I get to be a part of that magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be any easier for him to pick a favorite costume, but the shoes are always a crowd-pleaser.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a little girl about 3-years-old at a show,\u201d he said. \u201cShe came to the post show meet and greet to see my sparkly shoes \u2026 she had some too, and we compared. It was a great moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Elton John Tribute will rock the Long Beach Arena on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m., with the doors opening at 6:30 for indoor picnicking. There\u2019s also a dance floor. Individual concert tickets start at $30, three-concert sample packs start at $99 and five-concert season subscriptions start at $95.<\/p>\n

Long Beach Symphony sponsors include Farmers & Merchants Bank and Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg. The concert was organized in partnership with The LGBTQ Center-Long Beach, Long Beach Gay Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and the Schulzman-Neri Foundation.<\/p>\n

Tickets are available online now<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elton John Tribute Concert Oct. 29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":72166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32052],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[3245],"class_list":["post-32142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-sponsored-by-long-beach-symphony-orchestra","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32142"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=32142"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=32142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}