"Chris says you'll find 'lots of little footballs' on the sheet music," Boucher laughs, referencing the long-bow-stroke whole notes that are mighty easy to sight-read.
Nor, Boucher emphasizes, is complicated classical music really the point. As with the music Joel and John originally wrote, the point is to entertain. To give people a great show. And, well, to let Boucher get back to rocking out.
"I sort of walked away from music when I turned 35," Boucher says. "I wanted Frotus Caper to be a big fat rock band, and I gave myself to 35 to make it happen, and then after that it would be a hobby. Well, I'm in my 40s now, but it's nice that Billy Joel and Elton John are pretty much fixed in the minds of the general public as middle-aged men. This show is a way to come back to being in a band."
Well, you know what they say: "Only the good die young."
Sam Pfeifle can be reached at sam_pfeifle@yahoo.com.
PIANO MEN: THE MUSIC OF ELTON AND BILLY | At the State Theatre, in Portland | May 7 | pianomenmusic.com
