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Craig A. Meyer’s path as a triple-threat performer has taken him down many different roads — from Disney to Broadway, and a lot of points in between — but he never imagined he would end up as an Elton John tribute artist.
Now 17 years after moving to Atlanta, his concert, Remember When Rock Was Young, has him on the road all over the world as “Almost Elton John,” backed by the Rocket Band. On Saturday, he brings his show home to Georgia as he opens Buford Community Performing Arts Center’s summer season with a free concert.
Meyer discussed how he got into playing the Rocket Man with ArtsATL and what he has learned along the way.
ArtsATL: How long have you been starring in Remember When Rock Was Young?
Meyer: We’re in our 15th year of the show. When I started this project 15 years ago, before I had the band, when it was just me and tracks and the piano, I never dreamed that it would’ve lasted this long. I thought, you know, five years, maybe 10 years at most. But we’re in year 15 and the show is still fresh. I’m so grateful for what I get to do.
ArtsATL: Can you take us back to the beginning, to how you got started?
Meyer: I first moved to Atlanta 17 years ago, and I was performing, teaching, and vocal coaching. And Melody Knighton, who’s now a very dear friend of mine who does Lucille Ball and Dolly Parton [tributes], came into my studio to work on her Dolly Parton show. She said, “There’s gotta be somebody that you could be tributing.” And I really did not wanna go to the elephant graveyard of entertainment to become an impersonator. So I said no for two years.
And then after doing a couple of Elton John songs at an Atlanta Lyric Theatre benefit, I had a dozen people come up to me and say, “I really heard Elton in your voice. I heard it in your piano playing.” And because I taught myself how to play the piano with [the music of] Elton John, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow and Stevie Wonder, it did live in my hands. So I called up Melody, and we did a photo shoot and a demo reel. And we put together a website and sent it out to Melody’s 20 years of people in the industry.
ArtsATL: So from there, did you drop your other gigs to be Almost Elton John, as you called yourself?
Meyer: Starting out when this was brand new for me, it was literally a side hustle. I was still teaching full-time, doing shows at the Alliance Theatre [where he won a lead musical actor Suzi Bass Award in 2008 for its production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris] and doing TV and film work in Atlanta. It was a slow climb. But within 18 months I was doing my first show in Las Vegas and signed my L.A. agent that summer. And it just snowballed from there.
ArtsATL: So fast forward to today, now you have a band, and you’re touring internationally. What is your favorite moment of your concert?
Meyer: [Playing] “Your Song.” It comes penultimately towards the very end. [Up to this point] it’s been all flashy, and it’s a moment where it’s just me, the piano and the audience. It’s a very quiet, small moment. It was originally put in the show to kind of be the proof that I actually am a musician, actually playing the piano, actually singing, and that it’s not just some fakery, you know? Yes, the costume and makeup and everything is smoke and mirrors, but I’m an actual musician.
I’m not the best singer in the world. I’m not the best piano player in the world. But I know how to put on a show. And I learned that from the incredible people that I’ve had the privilege to work with — from my years working at Disney [performing at Disneyland and working with Disney songwriters on the Aladdin and The Lion King soundtracks] and from two years on the road [performing backup] with Barry Manilow and Frankie Valli, watching how they engage an audience, how they draw an audience in. And I wouldn’t be doing this show today if it hadn’t been for Barry’s generosity and for what I learned from him.
ArtsATL: What did you learn?
Meyer: Well, there were five of us supporting his Showstoppers Tour, and we each had a separate moment in the show that was built around us. I had two numbers, “It’s a Miracle” and “Mandy,” that we did in the style of [“76 Trombones” and the barbershop quartet from] The Music Man. On the tour, we played Madison Square Garden, Wembley Arena and Universal Amphitheatre, and when you hold the stage by yourself with 5,000, 10,000, 15,000 people watching you, it builds your confidence, you know?
We did about a week of shows at Wembley Arena. And the first day that we got into the arena, Barry said, “Come on, we’re going on a field trip,” and he walked us from the stage all the way to the back row of the arena. He said, “OK, now turn around.” And the stage was tiny, tiny, tiny. “The people who bought these tickets deserve the same show as the people who are sitting in the front row,” he said. I really appreciated the fact that Barry’s concern was for his fans and his people so that they could feel that we were throwing our energy all the way to the back of the house. So that’s what I go out and do every night.
ArtsATL: Could you ever see yourself “tributing” any other artists?
Meyer: I [recently premiered] my brand new My Life: The Music of Billy Joel show. But I’m not tributing Billy Joel like I do Elton. I’m doing Billy Joel music as Completely Craig A. Meyer.
ArtsATL: Do you foresee doing Almost Elton John for the rest of your career?
Meyer: You know, I’ll stay on this road as long as it will have me. I have other projects — I’m a serial entrepreneur. So I’m always forward-looking, but I stay in the moment. So as long as people are willing to have me throw on the spandex and the platform shoes, I’m happy to go out and do the show. I still love it. I still get a kick out of it.
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Sally Henry Fuller is a theater nerd and performing arts journalist with a passion for telling people’s stories. When she’s not interviewing artists, you can find her in a local coffee shop or watching a musical with her bearded husband.
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