Dueling Pianos by Bonnie Mason and Billy Kraus
BONNIE MASON is a classically trained pianist and singer from Ozark, Alabama. After earning her degree in music from FSU in 2001, she traveled the country performing until she landed in Portland, Oregon in 2004, where she was trained to play DUELING pianos, a fun, all-request, sing-along show. It was at this club where she met and performed with Joel Mason, her recently deceased husband who has been one of StarVista’s well-loved performers for many years! You may recall seeing Joel Mason perform ZZ Twist, a tribute to ZZ Top, with Billy Kraus, her piano partner on this cruise!
Bonnie has performed all over the world, recorded many solo albums and has had the honor of playing alongside with famous acts such as Lionel Richie. She has been a popular Las Vegas entertainer in dueling piano bars since 2005, representing the Las Vegas Entertainment Industry in Washington, D.C. alongside Mayor Oscar Goodman in 2007. She has performed at NYNY, The Paris, Encore, Green Valley Ranch, Red Rock Casino, Caesar’s Palace, MGM Grand, Hard Rock Casino, just to name a few. She is currently at Las Vegas’ number 1 piano bar, Harrah’s Piano Bar, 4-5 nights a week, frequently with Billy Kraus! If you make a visit to Las Vegas, be sure to check out her schedule at www.bonniemason.net!
BILLY KRAUS hails from Cleveland Ohio where he was featured at the dueling piano bar, Howl at the Moon, in Cleveland from 1992 to 2005. During his career there, he was their lead performer and Entertainment Director from 1997 until 2005. From 2000 to 2004, Billy was an integral part the Brian & Joe Radio Morning show, a top rated morning show in Cleveland! He was an on-air personality as a musical guest and comedian, playing and singing original parody material and creating and performing comedy skits…..most of which were live and “off the cuff!
He is still well known in the greater Cleveland area as “The Piano Man.” This notoriety led to many appearances on local TV shows and he was the piano accompanist for the local “American Idol” type show “Cleveland Idol.”
In 2005 Billy moved to Las Vegas where he quickly became a requested, regular performer at the Paris dueling piano bar. He has been a mainstay on the strip ever since, playing at New York New York, Encore, Resorts World, Mandalay Bay and Planet Hollywood and many other popular resorts. He currently performs at the Harrahs piano bar 3-4 times a week, frequently with Bonnie Mason, whom he has been performing with since 2006!