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Theater: The Beatles On Broadway! (IfOnly)
LET IT BE **
ST. JAMES THEATRE
I've never quite understood the appeal of tribute bands. If John Fogerty is around
(and now willing to play CCR songs), why would you go see a covers act? Eventhough ABBA won't tour ever again, it seems, why check out someone in sillycostumes aping the act? Mamma Mia I understand -- you enjoy the songs, the show
is silly and no one is actually pretending to be ABBA. And ironically, the closer theyget to the real thing, the less satisfying it proves to be. If you really love a band, themost satisfying cover is one that reveals a new twist on a beloved classic, not acareful imitation of the original.
Nonetheless, any band big enough and popular enough is bound to inspire tribute
bands, whether you're Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin or whomever. Seeing a Beatlestribute in the 1970s was just sad, since all the lads were still around. But now that twoare gone and a reunion is an impossibility, I guess something like Let It Be makes
more sense. Sure you could -- and should -- catch Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr
on their victory laps. But if you long for a Beatles reunion and you've already watched
A Hard Day's Night and Anthology repeatedly, what's the harm in heading to
Broadway and catching this concert cum tribute? None, really, though I think you'd
have more fun spending the money on a Mono boxed set and diving into their musicon your own.
You won't be surprised at the set-up when the curtain rises. Brick walls and a rough
feel let you know you're in the Cavern Club. The low-rent scenic design by TomMcQuillen-Wright (who was probably given about a $50 budget, so let's not blamehim) doesn't get any better. The Ed Sullivan Show is hinted at by some arrows, Shea
Stadium by a police barricade in the background and so on. Some kudos for thesound design by Gareth Owen; the modest flubs (a microphone not coming up at thebeginning of a line) let you know the actors were performing live, though sometimesaping the playing of their instruments and often sweetened by backing tracks and analmost constant murmur of applause.
For the first act, the proceedings were perfunctory and obvious. The lads did a few
songs, jumped forward a year or two in time (while banal commercials and other clipsset the tone for the era) and then did some more. It was very rote and my reaction
was the exact obvious of what I expected. I assumed I would be shrugging at first and
slowly won over a bit simply because the songs are so great. (I'm no trivia expert, but
a serious fan nonetheless of the greatest band of all time.) In fact, the simple early
songs were the easiest to get across. As the tunes grew in complexity and emotionaldepth, the actors on stage were more and more out of their depth. The between songbanter was harmless if so derivative it could have been written on auto-pilot. By thetime of Sgt. Pepper, they seemed adrift and the pre-recorded arrangements
mimicking orchestras and the like sounded tinny and forced.
But it's the Beatles. A ripple of pleasure went through the crowd just at the mention of
"Yesterday" and, by God the songs are good even if the performances were so-socopying of brilliant originals. Still, I wasn't looking forward to the second act.May 13, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view ยป
Posted: 08/02/2013 4:07 pm
Then a curious thing happened. They dumped the lock-step chronological approach
and the lads came forward for an acoustic set. There were Paul (Graham Alexander,by far the strongest voice), George (John Brosnan, modest of voice but delivering anote-perfect solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" that was the musical highpoint), and John (a far too clownish Reuvon Gershon; his singing started out weaklybut got stronger towards the end). So there they were at the front of the stage, allholding guitars. Paul sang "Blackbird" then John sang a song and then George and soon. You didn't know what song was going to come next because they jumped backand forth in the catalog. It surely didn't matter what song they sang because actualduds practically don't exist in their body of work (some minor B sides and a few tuneson Yellow Submarine aside). The show wasn't trying to duplicate the original
arrangements so much for that brief section. And for a moment, I actually thought,
gee, what if the Beatles had toured again and did an acoustic set and they just did this
song and that song, trading tunes back and forth? How great would that be? It was a
brief daydream, a glimpse of what would never be and for just a second I enjoyedmyself.
Then it was back to the note for note renditions of classic songs. I wouldn't
underestimate the challenges they faced in singing and performing many of these
numbers. It certainly sounds kind of sort of like the Beatles in a way, if you squint and
don't pay too much attention. It just isn't very fun to hear a pale shadow of an originalrather than just play the original itself. Far better for a real tribute band to take a cuefrom that unplugged moment. Do a Beatles tribute that avoids imitation and actuallycreates fresh arrangements. What if the Beatles had gone on MTV and did a show?What would it sound like? How could they put a fresh spin on their songs?
Of course, the Madame Tussauds tendency of a show like this is not for originality but
a Xerox copy, one that has some smudges but allows people who can't ever see theoriginal get an idea of what it was like. I suppose, though The Beatles In Mono boxed
set would be far more satisfying and turn any casual listener into a real fan.
THE THEATER OF 2013 (on a four star scale)
The Other Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus No. 7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life And Times Episodes 1-4 **
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The Jamme r ***
Blood Play ** 1/2
Manilow On Broadway ** 1/2
Women Of Will ** 1/2
All In The Timing ***
Isaac's Eye ***
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Musical Mystery ** 1/2
The Mnemonist Of Dutchess County * 1/2
Much Ado About Nothing ***
Really Really *
Parsifal at the Met *** 1/2
The Madrid * 1/2
The Wild Bride at St. Ann's ** 1/2
Passion at CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The Revisionist **
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ***
Rock Of Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old Hats ***
The Flick ***
Detroit '67 ** 1/2
Howling Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit The Wall *
Breakfast At Tiffany's * 1/2
The Mound Builders at Signature *
Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike *** 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Totem ***
The Lying Lesson * 1/2
Hands On A Hardbody *
Kinky Boots **
Matilda The Musical *** 1/2
The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream ***
Motown: The Musical **
La Ruta ** 1/2
The Big Knife *
The Nance ***
The Assembled Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll & Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly Modern Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The Testament Of Mary ** 1/2
The Drawer Boy **
The Trip To Bountiful ***
I'll Eat You Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This Side Of Neverland ***
A Public Reading Of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death Of Walt Disney ***
Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812 ***
Colin Quinn Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A Family For All Occasions *
The Weir *** 1/2
Disney's The Little Mermaid **
Far From Heaven **
The Caucasian Chalk Circle **
Somewhere Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons To Be Happy **
STePz *** 1/2
The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare In The Park) ***
Roadkill ** 1/2
Forever Tango ***
Monkey: Journey To The West ** 1/2
The Civilians: Be The Death Of Me ***
NYMF: Swiss Family Robinson **
NYMF: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents The Brontes * 1/2
NYMF: Mata Hari in 8 Bullets ***
NYMF: Life Could Be A Dream **
NYMF: Mother Divine **
NYMF: Julian Po ** 1/2
NYMF: Marry Harry **
NYMF: Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist ** 1/2
NYMF: Castle Walk ***
NYMF: Crossing Swords ***
NYMF: Bend In The Road *** 1/2
NYMF: Homo The Musical no stars
NYMF: Volleygirls *** 1/2
Murder For Two **
Let it Be **
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's
best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a
physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week inevery category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of theway. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every
category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast
that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features topjournalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit
Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity
interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on
iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that
he will be writing a review. All productions are in New York City unless otherwise
indicated.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
LET IT BE **
ST. JAMES THEATRE
I've never quite understood the appeal of tribute bands. If John Fogerty is around
(and now willing to play CCR songs), why would you go see a covers act? Eventhough ABBA won't tour ever again, it seems, why check out someone in sillycostumes aping the act? Mamma Mia I understand -- you enjoy the songs, the show
is silly and no one is actually pretending to be ABBA. And ironically, the closer theyget to the real thing, the less satisfying it proves to be. If you really love a band, themost satisfying cover is one that reveals a new twist on a beloved classic, not acareful imitation of the original.
Nonetheless, any band big enough and popular enough is bound to inspire tribute
bands, whether you're Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin or whomever. Seeing a Beatlestribute in the 1970s was just sad, since all the lads were still around. But now that twoare gone and a reunion is an impossibility, I guess something like Let It Be makes
more sense. Sure you could -- and should -- catch Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr
on their victory laps. But if you long for a Beatles reunion and you've already watched
A Hard Day's Night and Anthology repeatedly, what's the harm in heading to
Broadway and catching this concert cum tribute? None, really, though I think you'd
have more fun spending the money on a Mono boxed set and diving into their musicon your own.
You won't be surprised at the set-up when the curtain rises. Brick walls and a rough
feel let you know you're in the Cavern Club. The low-rent scenic design by TomMcQuillen-Wright (who was probably given about a $50 budget, so let's not blamehim) doesn't get any better. The Ed Sullivan Show is hinted at by some arrows, Shea
Stadium by a police barricade in the background and so on. Some kudos for thesound design by Gareth Owen; the modest flubs (a microphone not coming up at thebeginning of a line) let you know the actors were performing live, though sometimesaping the playing of their instruments and often sweetened by backing tracks and analmost constant murmur of applause.
For the first act, the proceedings were perfunctory and obvious. The lads did a few
songs, jumped forward a year or two in time (while banal commercials and other clipsset the tone for the era) and then did some more. It was very rote and my reaction
was the exact obvious of what I expected. I assumed I would be shrugging at first and
slowly won over a bit simply because the songs are so great. (I'm no trivia expert, but
a serious fan nonetheless of the greatest band of all time.) In fact, the simple early
songs were the easiest to get across. As the tunes grew in complexity and emotionaldepth, the actors on stage were more and more out of their depth. The between songbanter was harmless if so derivative it could have been written on auto-pilot. By thetime of Sgt. Pepper, they seemed adrift and the pre-recorded arrangements
mimicking orchestras and the like sounded tinny and forced.
But it's the Beatles. A ripple of pleasure went through the crowd just at the mention of
"Yesterday" and, by God the songs are good even if the performances were so-socopying of brilliant originals. Still, I wasn't looking forward to the second act.May 13, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view ยป
Posted: 08/02/2013 4:07 pm
Then a curious thing happened. They dumped the lock-step chronological approach
and the lads came forward for an acoustic set. There were Paul (Graham Alexander,by far the strongest voice), George (John Brosnan, modest of voice but delivering anote-perfect solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" that was the musical highpoint), and John (a far too clownish Reuvon Gershon; his singing started out weaklybut got stronger towards the end). So there they were at the front of the stage, allholding guitars. Paul sang "Blackbird" then John sang a song and then George and soon. You didn't know what song was going to come next because they jumped backand forth in the catalog. It surely didn't matter what song they sang because actualduds practically don't exist in their body of work (some minor B sides and a few tuneson Yellow Submarine aside). The show wasn't trying to duplicate the original
arrangements so much for that brief section. And for a moment, I actually thought,
gee, what if the Beatles had toured again and did an acoustic set and they just did this
song and that song, trading tunes back and forth? How great would that be? It was a
brief daydream, a glimpse of what would never be and for just a second I enjoyedmyself.
Then it was back to the note for note renditions of classic songs. I wouldn't
underestimate the challenges they faced in singing and performing many of these
numbers. It certainly sounds kind of sort of like the Beatles in a way, if you squint and
don't pay too much attention. It just isn't very fun to hear a pale shadow of an originalrather than just play the original itself. Far better for a real tribute band to take a cuefrom that unplugged moment. Do a Beatles tribute that avoids imitation and actuallycreates fresh arrangements. What if the Beatles had gone on MTV and did a show?What would it sound like? How could they put a fresh spin on their songs?
Of course, the Madame Tussauds tendency of a show like this is not for originality but
a Xerox copy, one that has some smudges but allows people who can't ever see theoriginal get an idea of what it was like. I suppose, though The Beatles In Mono boxed
set would be far more satisfying and turn any casual listener into a real fan.
THE THEATER OF 2013 (on a four star scale)
The Other Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus No. 7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life And Times Episodes 1-4 **
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The Jamme r ***
Blood Play ** 1/2
Manilow On Broadway ** 1/2
Women Of Will ** 1/2
All In The Timing ***
Isaac's Eye ***
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Musical Mystery ** 1/2
The Mnemonist Of Dutchess County * 1/2
Much Ado About Nothing ***
Really Really *
Parsifal at the Met *** 1/2
The Madrid * 1/2
The Wild Bride at St. Ann's ** 1/2
Passion at CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The Revisionist **
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ***
Rock Of Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old Hats ***
The Flick ***
Detroit '67 ** 1/2
Howling Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit The Wall *
Breakfast At Tiffany's * 1/2
The Mound Builders at Signature *
Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike *** 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Totem ***
The Lying Lesson * 1/2
Hands On A Hardbody *
Kinky Boots **
Matilda The Musical *** 1/2
The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream ***
Motown: The Musical **
La Ruta ** 1/2
The Big Knife *
The Nance ***
The Assembled Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll & Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly Modern Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The Testament Of Mary ** 1/2
The Drawer Boy **
The Trip To Bountiful ***
I'll Eat You Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This Side Of Neverland ***
A Public Reading Of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death Of Walt Disney ***
Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812 ***
Colin Quinn Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A Family For All Occasions *
The Weir *** 1/2
Disney's The Little Mermaid **
Far From Heaven **
The Caucasian Chalk Circle **
Somewhere Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons To Be Happy **
STePz *** 1/2
The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare In The Park) ***
Roadkill ** 1/2
Forever Tango ***
Monkey: Journey To The West ** 1/2
The Civilians: Be The Death Of Me ***
NYMF: Swiss Family Robinson **
NYMF: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents The Brontes * 1/2
NYMF: Mata Hari in 8 Bullets ***
NYMF: Life Could Be A Dream **
NYMF: Mother Divine **
NYMF: Julian Po ** 1/2
NYMF: Marry Harry **
NYMF: Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist ** 1/2
NYMF: Castle Walk ***
NYMF: Crossing Swords ***
NYMF: Bend In The Road *** 1/2
NYMF: Homo The Musical no stars
NYMF: Volleygirls *** 1/2
Murder For Two **
Let it Be **
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's
best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a
physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week inevery category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of theway. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every
category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast
that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features topjournalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit
Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity
interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on
iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that
he will be writing a review. All productions are in New York City unless otherwise
indicated.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz