SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Let It Be
By Simon Saltzman
|
Let me hear you scream .— shouted out by one of the musicians
|
James Fox
(Photo credit: had Batka) |
Fans will probably never get enough of the Beatles canon to satisfy them so that this unrelenting, commendably reverential, discharge of song after song without any patter to speak of is tailor-made to that need. The need is certainly met, as attested to by the amount of screaming, shouting, waving and singing along that accompanied the impersonators.
In keeping with Loveridge's review, the concert here, as it was in London under the direction and musical supervision of John Maher, is also preceded by projections on the curtain of a number of TV monitors. These are a changing montage of test patterns, news flashes, scenes from old television series, and, indeed, cigarette commercials, some of which are likely to be familiar to those watched by American TV watchers (of a certain age). Canned screaming accompanies the rise of the curtain to reveal the Beatles in their black suits at the start of their career in The Cavern in Liverpool.
I did notice that John Brosnan who was in the original London show is repeating his assignment in New York. He seemed a little remote, but played his guitar with the required virtuosity. Covering for the Fab Four were Graham Alexander, Ryan Coath and Chris McBurney, all of whom displayed a little more verve during the performance. In general, these musicians play throughout in the familiar style and manner that we know and love and that will be repeated as the show progresses chronologically from venue to venue, from one phase to another and song to song.
Things do pick up visually with their tremendous success appearing on TV's The Ed Sullivan Show and with their appearance at Shea Stadium and into their later career. Production values happily begin to assuage our fear that black and grey will be the dominating palette. Switching from beige Nehru jackets to the colorful fantastical military outfits for the Sergeant Pepper episode does not, however, change my response to these talented young men as able enough to fill their shoes with a perfunctory persuasion.
Future audiences probably won't be concerned that the staging of the concert is basically static. It's not that the performers seemed bored, only that they give us only minimum indications that there are personalities hidden behind the guitars. A fifth musician Ryan Alex Farmery mostly unobtrusively contributed musical embellishments on a synthesizer. The only imaginative touches could be said to be entrenched in the special effects, mostly with overhead flashing red, white and blue headlights and psychedelic projections. A machine poured smoke on the stage for "Strawberry Fields." Since they weren't supposed to be wading in the La Brea Tar Pits, it didn't make any sense.
The Beatles canon is indeed, rich and bountiful and has been savored in a number of shows beginning with Beatlemania and more recently with Rain. I can only add that "When I'm 64," remains among my favorites as it was for many members of the audience who were invited to get on their feet and sing along. If you love the Beatles and their music and are inclined to "Twist and Shout" then Let It Be might well be the "Magical Mystery Tour" through Beatleland you have been waiting to take.
|
Let It Be Direction and Musical Supervision: John Maher Cast: Do not play characters: Graham Alexander - Bass, Piano, Lead Vocals, Guitar; John Brosnan - Guitar; Chris McBurney - Drums; Ryan Coath - Guitar, Lead Vocals, Piano; Ryan Alex Farmery - Keyboards, etc (in the back) Set Designer: Tim McQuillen-Wright US Lighting Designer: Jason Lyons Sound Designer: Gareth Owen Video Designer: Duncan McLean Original Video Designs: Darren McCaulley & Mathieu St. Arnaud Costume Design: Jack Galloway Production & Creative Director: Scott Christensen Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street (212) 239 - 6200 Tickets: $79.00 - $135.00 with $30.00 general admission for the Second Balcony. Performances: Monday at 8pm, Tuesday at 8pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm and 7pm. Beginning September 3, Tuesday evening performances will be at 7pm. From 07/16/13 Opened 07/24/13 Ends 12/29/13-- run shortened, show now closing 9/01/13 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 07/23/13 . |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
Book of Mormon -CD