'Billy Joel Legacy: A Tribute Experience' sets 37-date tour, but nothing on Long Island or New York City
Actor-musician Ian Benjamin, right, will star as Billy Joel in a multimedia experience show tour, "The Billy Joel Legacy: A Tribute Experience." Credit: Randee Daddona; Angle Entertainment / Maple Tree Entertainment
A Billy Joel tribute concert is launching a 37-date tour this fall, but with no stop scheduled for Long Island or New York City.
Titled "The Billy Joel Legacy: A Tribute Experience," the tour launches in October and continues through November.
A news release cites the event’s producers as Right Angle Entertainment and Maple Tree Entertainment, whose credits include the tribute tours "The Simon & Garfunkel Stor" and :The Life and Music of George Michael." The Joel tribute is being described as a combination of "faithful live performances, stunning multimedia, and the remarkable stories behind the songs." Stepping into the role of Joel is an actor-singer named Ian Benjamin.
Joel was of course raised on Long Island and famously aligned himself with New York City throughout his recording career and beyond, notably setting a record for his 10-year residency at Madison Square Garden. Nevertheless, the closest that "The Billy Joel Legacy" will get to Joel’s lifelong stomping grounds are Stamford, Connecticut, on the tour’s launch date of Sept. 17 and Albany on Sept. 26.
Questions emailed to the tour’s representative were not answered. Joel’s publicist said that the tour was “unauthorized.”
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