Strawberry Fields Forever...

[Natalie 2]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 10:09am

I just had the extreme pleasure of watching the former members of the Broadway musical "Beatlemania" in a performance at BB King's last night. Playing on vintage instruments and though a vintage sound system (sometimes which fed back in a very vintage-like manner), the four lads from New York did a sublime job of impersonating the four lads from Liverpool and bringing audience members back in time with them to enjoy the music that will live forever. The show started with the four men (Tony Garofalo as John, Billy J. Ray as Paul, Mark Vaccaccio as George and Gerard Barerine Jr. as Ringo) take the stage as the Beatles did in the early concerts at the height of Beatlemania fame. Each member of the crew captured the mannerisms of the individual Beatles and every vocal intonation was aped perfectly. The claim to fame for this group is "close your eyes...you won't believe your ears" and although time may have changed the appearances of these men into older depictions of their heros, the harmonies and vocal intonations did not. As a die-hard Beatles fan, I was transfixed.

After the intermisison, the men came back in Sgt. Pepper costumes and although they didn't play any of the music from the album (concentrating instead on the Magical Mystery Tour album), here is where the audience seemed to truly link into the music. Whereas, in the first act, it was all about the old standards: "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Twist and Shout"...the second half offered such gems as "Penny Lane" and "I Am the Walrus." Midway through the second half they changed once again into the visages that made them famous during their twilight years as the Beatles...Paul in his t-shirt, George with his long hair and beard and John in his long hair and circular-rimmed glasses.

I can't say enough about this show...I did indeed close my eyes and imagine what my parents must have gone through when the Beatles played Shea Stadium and were on the Ed Sullivan show and the disappointment when the show was over, just like our parents were crushed when the Beatles split up.

I highly recommend anyone who has ever loved a Beatles song to check this group out. They are playing this Friday at the Saloon at York Avenue between 83 and 84th streets. For more information, click on their link:
http://www.strawberryfieldsthetribute.com

Just imagine if they were together today...the messages they would convey...

[Natalie 2]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 11:43am

Bump for the Beatles!