Poster advertising The Classical Phyllis Diller in the Superstar Theatre at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Phyllis Diller performed in Las Vegas in January 1974. This advertisement was in Variety magazine on page 153 on January 9, 1974. The advertisement lists several of the symphony orchestras with which she performed as a solo pianist in 1973 and 1974.

Diller, while known for her stand-up comedy, was also an accomplished pianist. After graduating high school, Diller studied piano for three years at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music (at Columbia College Chicago), but eventually decided against a career in music. From 1971 to 1982 Diller performed with over 100 symphony orchestras across the United States and Canada in a show called The Symphonic Phyllis Diller. During these performances she would seriously perform pieces by Beethoven, Bach, and others as a solo pianist with an orchestra while integrating comedic elements.