Jeff Burkett sits down at the piano and channels Elton John in the Pegasus Showroom, a small, intimate space tucked just off the Strip at Alexis Park Resort Hotel. He plays and sings the catalog himself rather than lip-syncing, running through the songbook that includes "Your Song," "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man," and "Bennie and the Jets," backed by a drummer and a rotating vocalist who fills out the harmonies. Between numbers, he talks a bit about the history behind each song, giving the night a storyteller's pace rather than a straight concert-hall run-through.
Burkett has been a working musician since 1981, trained at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, and has taken this Elton John tribute on the road both nationally and internationally before landing this room. The costume changes nod to Elton's flamboyant stage look without turning the show into a full-blown impersonation act — the focus stays on the piano and the voice. It's a tribute show, not an official Elton John production, but for anyone who grew up on these songs, hearing them played live on piano in a small room has its own kind of pull.