Liberace-like talent, up close

By Joe Brown

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Chris Morris

Philip Fortenberry calls his splendid solo piano show “Liberace and Me,” but it’s hardly a case of pianist envy.

Fortenberry, who plays in the “Jersey Boys” orchestra at the Palazzo, has been the musical secret weapon for many shows on the Strip. And as he sketches the story of how a small-town boy became one of Las Vegas’ most respected and beloved musicians, he also makes a case for a showbiz legend’s musicianship and influence.

Presented three afternoons each week in the showroom at the Liberace Museum, “Liberace and Me” is a refreshingly modest show with outsized rewards. Locals can dash over, enjoy the 45-minute entertainment and be back at work with a song or two in their hearts.

The piano man’s face mirrors what his music expresses, and this intimate, simply structured program lets you observe a first-rate musician at work, up close and personal.

A little bit Schroeder, a little bit Rachmaninoff, Fortenberry takes his place at Liberace’s 9-foot mirrored Baldwin piano (with a raised Lucite lid) and begins with “Chopsticks” a la Lee, rolling through a series of ornately ornamented variations, from concert hall to rollicking barrelhouse saloon.

Between numbers, Fortenberry stands and speaks to the audience, and he’s a genial and gentle storyteller with a honeyed Mississippi accent.

“I was one of those dreamers,” he says, after a rhapsodic “Over the Rainbow,” introducing the tale of the day he was bitten by the piano bug.

“Imagine little 4-year-old me sittin’ in the dirt behind my parents’ house,” says Fortenberry, who was seized with the sudden urge to drop his toy trucks and run into the house to tickle out “Adeste Fideles,” “Downtown” and “everything I had ever heard at church and on the radio.” Fortunately, a neighbor named L’il Bit witnessed this musical miracle and summoned Fortenberry’s folks.

Before he made it to Broadway (on the hopes of a short-lived show called “Cleavage,” which was subtitled “A Titillating Musical Comedy”), Fortenberry built up his chops at the Edna Baptist Church. He still plays at churches in Las Vegas, and even when he’s playing a hymn, Liberace’s influence asserts itself.

Piano prowess earned him a 25-year career in Broadway shows and tours, including several Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, among them “Cats,” which Fortenberry confesses he “didn’t get.” A soulful rendition of “Gethsemane” from Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” received the afternoon’s most impassioned playing — suddenly the piano became an orchestra. Playing “Memory” from “Cats” in tribute to a departed friend, Fortenberry got visibly emotional and left more than a few audience members dabbing their eyes.

Fortenberry ends the show, as Liberace often did, inviting the audience to sing along to “I’ll Be Seeing You.” (On Tuesday afternoon I had the best seat in the house, right next to Robin Baxter from the cast of “Mamma Mia!” who hit all the high notes and added harmonies.

But the show’s centerpiece came just before the singalong, when Fortenberry literally played the audience. Gazing at us with slow absorption, he created an improvised “musical group portrait” on the spot.

And we sounded gorgeous.