Sing Along at Orlando`s Dueling Piano Bars

WHERE NOW Orlando
ENTERTAINMENT
Sing Along at
Orlando’s Dueling
Piano Bars
It’s been more than 50 years since New
Orleans musicians popularized the interactive, sing-along music show known as dueling pianos, a craze that’s since seeped into
cities like Orlando, now home to four dueling-piano venues. With sassy showmanship
and an endless arsenal of tunes from Billy
Joel to Billy Idol, these participative performances deliver unfaltering fun all night long.
—By Kristen Manieri
Gettin’ into the right rhythm at Howl at the Moon
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Entertainment
I-Drive
Howl at the Moon
Dive into this rowdy, boisterous venue for an outrageous good time perfect for the “drink-beer-by-the-buckets”
party crowd. Howl at the Moon doesn’t just suggest guests get off their butts and sing their guts out; it outright demands it. After a couple of Jell-O shots, most inhibitions are lost anyway. Armed with pianos, drums,
guitar and even trumpet, these maestros pit the crowd against each other with college fight songs and boysversus-girls showdowns for constant interaction that fuels the feisty festivities. This “piano bar with attitude” is
packed most nights by 9 with an all-ages crowd (21 and over) that lets loose like nowhere else in Orlando.
8815 International Drive, Orlando/407.354.5999, www.howlatthemoon.com
Baby Grands
Dueling Piano Bar
The historic Church Street District in downtown Orlando is home
to the recently opened Baby Grands, an upscale interpretation
of the dueling piano bar. At least four players rotate nightly on
the stage, best viewed from the plush VIP party booths lavishly
embroidered with “Baby,” the bar’s namesake pin-up girl. The
kitchen serves a steady supply of pub grub, and bartenders at
the 40-foot bar mix enormous, shareable, fish-bowl cocktails
and DIY vodka towers. Monday is open-mic night when the
musicians back Orlando’s burgeoning amateur talent.
54 W. Church St. Orlando/407.849.1911, www.babygrandsduelingpianos.com
“Baby” the pin-up girl
FROM TOP: ©Howl at the Moon, ©BABY GRANDS
Downtown
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where now Orlando
Universal CityWalk
Pat O’Brien’s
An authentic reproduction of the original legendary New Orleans piano bar, Pat O’Brien’s flaunts its bayou heritage with Cajun fare, famous
Hurricane cocktails and a brick-walled piano lounge that oozes an
“every-day-is-Mardi Gras” vibe. Guests can expect a rock-’n’-roll repertoire with a distinct Dixieland jazz flavor that’s true to Pat’s Bourbon
Street roots. Requests, which according to Pat O’Brien’s are most likely
to be “Piano Man” followed closely by “American Pie” and “Bohemian
Rhapsody,” are made by dropping tunes and tips on one of the copper-top pianos—invented so that coins would not dent the instruments. Don’t forget to wander outside to the courtyard bar and sip a
Fuzzy Leprechaun by the famous flaming fountain.
CityWalk, Universal Orlando/407.224.2100, www.patobriens.com
Disney’s BoardWalk
Jellyrolls
Named after late ragtime pianist Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Jellyrolls offers
a grown-up piano show with amazing
talent behind the ivories. The four players who rotate in twos onto the raised,
mirrored stage represent nearly eight decades of collective experience and a combined knowledge of literally thousands of
songs. Piano, tambourine and sometimes
harmonica lull the 21-and-up crowd with
a darkened room solo one minute and
then entice everyone into a raucous singalong the next. It’s a new and unexpected
FROM TOP: ©UNIVERSAL ORLANDO, ©Walt Disney World
performance each night, thanks to the
request-driven format. And, by the way,
requests are best received with a couple
of bucks, but the popcorn is free.
2101 Epcot Resorts Blvd., Lake Buena Vista/407.560.8770, www.jellyrolls.us
Jellyrolls is named
after the late, longtime ragtimer “Jelly
Roll Morton”
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