Playing Elton John is a mission for the fashion designer/singer

When Tom Cridland had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Sir Elton John, the conversation wasn’t about the pop music icon’s successes, his flamboyant costumes or his career.

It was about his recovery from alcoholism.

“It all happened in a flash. It probably lasted five to ten minutes, who knows, but it felt like two seconds,” Cridland recalls. “It was a big moment and it’s not something you can aim for or expect as a fan. He’s one of those people who is so famous that he’s constantly bugged and harangued, so it was an honor to have a unique conversation with him.

The singer-pianist not only inspired Cridland’s sobriety, but was also behind her tribute act, which stops at the Century II Mary Jane Teall Theater Friday night.

The 33-year-old British fashion designer says he finally gave up alcohol in 2017.

“There were several turning points,” he said in an interview in April, before his originally scheduled concert in Wichita. “Falling down the stairs, cutting my face open, knees open, putting myself in a vulnerable position and being attacked, drinking so much I would be bedridden for days, passing out hundreds of times. The physical and mental damage was truly extreme.

Already a fan of Elton John’s music, Cridland developed a closer relationship when the singer’s drummer, Nigel Olsson, became a fan of his fashions.

“I became even more in love with the music and obsessed with the music and the way they played it live,” he said. “It was something to hold on to and a source of hope, comfort and soul when I was giving up alcohol and feeling very empty.”

Elton John, Cridland said, has been sober since the early ’90s.

“He continued to tour and be a larger-than-life character and that’s what I found very inspiring about Elton himself,” he said.

It was Cridland’s wife, he said, who told the singer he was the inspiration for her husband’s recovery.

Cridland was content being a fashion designer and Elton John fan until the pandemic, when he learned to play the piano and made his debut at a New Orleans bar in January 2022.

“It was a way to stay sober, because I almost started drinking again during lockdown,” he said. “But it’s become much more than that.”

It’s been a challenge, Cridland said, to play the piano with the precision that John does when imitating the singer.

“Both are very difficult, especially at the same time. But I love doing it, but as with all musicians and singers, the key is to focus on what you need to do and aspire to get better every day. I find my mind is most at ease when I do everything I can and work as hard as I can,” he said. “Otherwise, you’ll feel like there’s an endless ocean of improvements waiting for you.”

Although Cridland plays songs from all eras of Elton John’s career, he says he prefers the musician’s work from the 1970s.

His favorite non-iconic greatest hits songs include “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” “Burn Down the Mission,” “Take Me to the Pilot,” and “The One.”

“There’s an abundance of good songs to choose from,” Cridland said. “We always try to play the greatest hits every night.”

Although he takes the stage wearing glasses and sparkly Elton John-inspired shoes, Cridland said he doesn’t make any costume changes, which would take up time that could be spent playing two or three songs.

“I like being a larger-than-life character on stage and being flamboyant,” he said, “but it’s also a very music-driven show.”

TOM’S TRIBUTE TO ELTON

When: 7 p.m. Friday October 4

Or: Mary Jane Teall Theater, Century II, 225 W. Douglas

Tickets: $25 to $40, at the Century II box office, selectaseat.com or 316-755-7328