Review: MAD HATTERS DUELING PIANOS at MAD House 101 Restaurant & Bar

Article written by Guest Writer Owen Dodd -- Ouachita Baptist University

The Mad Hatters Dueling Pianos gave us a night of laughs and nostalgia at MAD House 101 Restaurant Bar in El Dorado Thursday, June 5. I had never been to a dueling piano’s
performance, so I was in for a treat! I had no idea how much fun I would have. After a delicious, cheesy plate of the restaurant’s shrimp and grits—which will have me coming back for more all this summer—I sat down with Matteo and Ryan for a conversation I will never forget, and later, some musical entertainment that heightened my expectations for performers. I learned so much about the thriving yet niche world of dueling pianos; I also got a chance to indulge my curiosity about the essence of music (what it is, who it is for, and why it is so valuable to us. But we’ll save that for later; for now, I want to brag on El Dorado.

Many communities claim to care for the arts, but very few do so with the passion and
intent of El Dorado. Within five minutes of crossing the city limits, I started to see art facilities and historical monuments. Upon looking at El Dorado’s webpage, I found that El Dorado treats their culture and arts not as mere attractions, but as an imperative pillar in the identity of the community. This is in large part due to the Murphy Arts District, amorously dubbed “MAD.” They have so many exciting performances coming up, like Boosie, Josh Meloy, Jason D. Williams, Train, and The Avett Brothers. As for events that are happening at MAD House specifically, Jordan Sheppard, Trey Johnson, and the Boomer Hill Band will be performing there on July 17 th , July 19 th , and July 25 th respectively. Check out the calendar of MAD at www.eldomad.com for more. Having this context going into the night, I had very high hopes; I wanted to see what El Dorado had to offer. I got what I wanted and more.

Occasionally, I get to have a conversation that stays with me for weeks on end. The topic
varies, but the feeling of significance is exact and rare. This is the kind of conversation I had
with Matteo Ellis and Ryan Jackson, The Mad Hatters. When they sat down, they made the interview feel like a conversation, and I instantly knew that they love what they do. During the day, Matteo and Ryan wear many hats: Matteo maintains a piano bar called “Willie D’s,” located in Little Rock. Ryan has his own piano tuning business—which, after several piano tuning seminars at OBU, I have discovered is no walk in the park.

They both emphatically agreed that music was their plan from the beginning. They both
expressed that, although they didn’t expect to perform as a duel pianist when they were younger, they couldn’t “imagine a different profession than that of music.” Matteo poetically said that “performing, entertaining, is like oxygen or food for me.” Although I am unsure if he meant his figure of speech to reach so deep, I found this simile particularly interesting because it entails that, like breathing, it is a voluntary observance. When most people dramatically say something is “a part of them,” they really mean to say, “I’ve been doing this for so long that it would be weird to wake up and not do it.” However, with the Mad Hatter’s I gathered something more than that sort of silly sentimentality. Like I said earlier, it is a voluntary observance, meaning they take this side of them everywhere they go, even if they may not always be aware of it. It’s not some hobby or some religion they forget about occasionally; it’s a habit, an instinct.

This claim, although strange, was unarguably supported when the Hatters walked on
stage. By 7:30, they had the crowd out of their shell, hollering and laughing with each other on a late Thursday night. They started off with slower ballads, but eventually they were jumping straight into Sweet Caroline. The crowd, as always, went crazy for this one. Something I wasn’t expecting was interaction with the audience. During our time talking, the performers emphasized the interaction with the audience as a vital part of a duel pianos performance. And, indeed, it seemed to me that audience interaction was not only an important part of this performance, but paramount to the audience’s enjoyment. I’d even go as far to say that the audience interaction as well as being attentive to feedback from the audience—how high or low the energy is—is just as important as the music itself. Several times throughout the night, Matteo used a flashlight to point at people in the crowd, jokingly hounding members of the audience for being on their phones.

To those readers that may be skeptical of the effect this may have, I noticed that the
audience even recognized the interactive element of the setting. When a group seated in the middle of the restaurant had left for the night, the Hatters jokingly invited the remaining guests to move from the tables they were at and come closer to the stage. I thought to myself, do they really think that people will actually move tables? Surely not… To my surprise, people did move tables! It didn’t take long for the crowd to start talking back to them, even while they were singing. I was pleasantly surprised.

At first, this effect on the audience seemed interesting and unexpected to me, but after
some thought, I realized that this was the only logical conclusion: people who had already
finished their meals simply wanted to stay and sing along to songs they knew so well. A
particularly enthused couple sat in the middle of the restaurant in front of the stage, and they were singing when I left! This sort of environment, one that feels exceptionally liquid and candid, I think is a side of music that is to be explored thoroughly and lovingly. The impromptu, messy nature of a live restaurant performance, especially that of a dueling pianos comedic setting, seems to remind us of who we are: neighbors, friends, and family. It seems that the community of El Dorado does a good job of remembering such things.

And, although the audience’s perception of the environment may be a little bit chaotic,
the musician has a different perspective. While the Hatters and I ate our dinner, they explained to me that there is a very exact formula for creating such an environment for an audience. Choices, such as instrumentation, tempo, mood, and tone of repertoire are vital to the creation of a lively experience. However, I noticed one special consideration that the Hatters take into account with great attention: audience demographic. They constantly monitor the crowd to find those kinds of music that will bring them out of their shells. The key here, they told me, is typically age. They aim to identify what artists the audience may have been hearing in high school and college, those songs that will take them and their friends back to those nostalgic days of endless summer.

They were transparent in telling me that sometimes such a “dopamine trigger” takes
patience to find. While I did not realize it at first, after some reflection driving home, I couldn’t help but agree. I realized that some of these triggers have been ravaged by popular media non-stop; think of every time you’ve heard a classic in an advertisement or movie. Often, our industries exploit those works which greatly influence our culture to get one last drop of profit. Of course, this is no one person’s fault, but the effect is still there. Those catchy songs that we loved generations ago seem to devolve; media incessantly memorializes it until we find it an ironic, annoying thing that just can’t seem to die.

In other words, the Hatters can’t just get on stage and play some gimme songs to get paid.
They have a repertoire of over “1500 songs” to select from based on their audience. Interestingly enough, I noticed that those songs which I did not know so well all found their crowd in MAD House. For one song, there was a table which perked up in the back. For the next, a trio off to the left lit up. The night continued in this manner, little bursts of love from all around the restaurant, like memory popcorn. It was not until further reflection that I realized this was the point when the Hatters were hitting little dopamine triggers all over the place. Although I was not familiar with them, the crowd certainly was.

In that moment, it seemed to dawn on me that there were some members of the crowd,
laughing and singing along with friends, who were reliving the best moments of their lives. Of these individuals, a family of five stood out to me. They were sitting near a window on the left wall, and they had been having a mild, reserved night eating their food—that is, until our Hatters queued up a special song that, it seems, was picked just for them. I couldn’t tell you the name of the song, but I know what it meant to those two parents. They instantly lit up and started singing louder than anyone near them. I found it hilarious that their three daughters, who looked as if they were still in high school, were all critically embarrassed by their parents singing—I won’t lie, the parents’ singing was horrendous. However, I imagine that they found an ironic moment of self-reflection in the lyrics of that beloved song: they, having remembered those memories, likely recalled similar, separate memories of being embarrassed by their parents’ nostalgia when they were younger. I’d like to imagine that, after they came to such a connection, they sang even louder, so as to embarrass their kids even more. It was a spectacle I am thankful to have witnessed.

At this point in the night, most people were done eating, and the Hatters were having fun
interacting with the crowd while playing some upbeat tunes that were either requests or part of the Hatters’ set for the night. I remember distinctly getting a picture of Ryan playing a harmonica on Piano Man. He saw me before I took the picture, and I presume he thought this was hilarious. He started laughing heartily, and of course, I had to put the picture in the article. This is by far one of my favorites from the night.

As mentioned before, the Hatters have exacted the process of audience interaction and
prompting as well as selecting the songs for the target demographic. Their fluidity isn’t just
notable: it’s remarkable. And, of course, don’t forget the extensive repertoire they’ve accumulated. After a decade of piano lessons, I can testify; they remember a lot of music. The Hatters, though, humbly told me of the history behind this niche. They explained to me that they had “built on the shoulders of giants” so to speak. This entertainment, although in its infancy and growing quickly, had to be chartered by those who came before them for decades.

In that moment, I saw the Hatters as musicians who see the culture as something which
has been passed on to them to push forward. They are thankful for those who came before and excited for those who will succeed them. In many ways, I feel that this part of the interview reshaped my perspective of performance in general. I can’t wait to bring this mindset to my classical performance courses at my college. In other words, the Hatters revitalized my pride and love for musical culture.

In a world increasingly shaped by screens and streaming, it’s easy to forget the magic that
happens when music brings members of a community together. However, on nights like this in El Dorado, connection was paramount. The Mad Hatters reminded us that performance isn’t about entertainment—it’s about presence, risk, and joy shared in real time. Their show didn’t just fill the room with sound; it filled it with memory, laughter, and something rare: true communion between artist and audience. If you ever need proof that music still has the power to bring people to life, you’ll find it in places like MAD House—where the lights are warm, the crowd is loud, and the pianos never stop singing. Be sure to check out the Murphy Art’s District’s Calendar for upcoming performances that will absolutely make your summer, as well as MAD House for a delectable meal. For more stellar performances from the Hatters, visit Willy D's, Matteo’s own Piano Bar.

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