5 Hand Piano Boogie at Disneyland

5 Hand Piano Boogie at Disneyland

Jamaica Bravo

Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth, if not for all the fun rides and yummy food, then definitely for the amazing performances you find in every corner.

Johnny May and Johnny Hodges are well known performers in the park.  Their specialty, the “four hand boogie,” always draws a huge crowd.  They have perfect rhythm and play their fast paced music in such a way, that it is hard to believe human hands are creating the music.

One one particular day, May and Hodges were performing for a crowd when an onlooker comes up to stand behind him.  Many of the onlookers were watching with rapt interest.  A small child leans against the piano and the look on her face says it all.  If she could join in she would.

This man could have just been trying to get a closer look at how the men were playing, but that wasn’t his intention at all.  About half way through their performance, the man cannot resist any longer and his hand darts out and suddenly he is playing.

This stranger could have taken a wonderful performance and destroyed it.  He obviously hasn’t been practicing with May and Hodges, but what happens is anything but a disaster.  This stranger takes their performance to a whole new level.

The man joined into their performance perfectly, but in true Disneyland fashion, this man’s dream performance happens and happens beautifully.  Listening to him play alongside May and Hodges, it’s as though he were meant to perform with them.  Faster and faster they play and the stranger matches them with every beat.

It’s rare that a sight like this can be seen anyway, so it is fitting that it would happy at Disneyland.  If you were as fascinated by this ragtime masterpiece, then please, SHARE the love and pass it on.