By the 1970's the world missed The Beatles. The Fab Four had broken up and no longer made music together, and were pursuing solo careers. Four other men have decided to fill the void by performing a loving tribute to the band with their show Beatlemania Now! This multi-faceted show not only takes the audience through the popular songs of The Beatles, but immerses them in the past.
The show begins with screens showing an old cigarette commercial; the announcer talks about how amazingly smooth one brand of cigarettes is compared to the competition. After that, pictures from the early 1960s flash on the screen: John F. Kennedy shakes hands with ecstatic people, The Flintstones and The Munsters show off their family portraits, and Martin Luther King, Jr. marches down crowded streets. The audience was also reminded that The Beatles had performed in New Orleans this very weekend in 1964 to make this show especially fun.
The music begins as you are brought to Ed Sullivan's stage where The Beatles performed a hugely popular set to screaming young women; footage of these swooning girls is shown on the screen. Beatlemania Now! performs "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "A Hard Day's Night," and "8 Days A Week" with the joyful nature indicative of the early Beatles.
After a few songs, the band changes as the years pass. The hippies are coming and The Beatles entered a more colorful era with the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, and, eventually, the Yellow Submarine albums. The screens show psychedelic cartoons and animations for "I Am the Walrus," and the audience is asked to participate in singing "All You Need is Love."
As the 60's draw near to the 70s, Beatlemania Now! changes a few more times to illustrate the changing musicians; Paul McCartney stuck with neat suits and ties, while George Harrison wore earthy toned casual clothes as he became ensconced in his burgeoning solo career. No matter how different they became, they still wrote and performed fantastic music like "Come Together," "Here Comes the Sun," and "Lady Madonna."
Beatlemania Now! doesn't miss a beat retelling the tale of one of the world's most beloved bands.
