StrawberryShorty
Dec 29, 2002, 09:13 PM
http://www.billingsgazette.com/enjoybillings.php?display=rednews/2002/12/27/build/enjoybillings/20-beatles.inc
Symphony showcases Beatles New Year's Eve
There hasn't been an Elvis sighting lately, but the Beatles are making a pair of appearances New Year's Eve.
Not John, Paul, George and Ringo. That would stretch the bounds of credibility.
But the "Fab Four" spirit will live on the Alberta Bair Theater stage, thanks to a popular look-and-sound-alikegroup. Beatlemania's four musicians and singers began impersonating the Beatles last year in Los Angeles. They've been touring the world and getting raves since, including a stint on Broadway.
"We think it will appeal to those people who grew up with the Beatles," says Rina Reynolds, executive director of the BSO. "It's a nostalgia concert, well played, with all the Beatles favorites."
On tap are all the inventive tunes that made the Beatles' varied and memorable string of hits: "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Am the Walrus," "Here Comes the Sun," "All You Need is Love," "Strawberry Fields," "Hey Judge" and others, says Reynolds.
Because of last year's smash success with the Elvis show, there will be two shows at the ABT, at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The late show will conclude with plenty of time to convene with loved ones in a home or favorite nightspot, Reynolds says.
The original Fab Four made their United States debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" to screaming teenagers and skeptical parents, in February 1964.
Throughout their career, they often recorded with classically trained symphony orchestra musicians. Many of their songs made use of rich strings and horn riffs.
The production is called "Classical Mystery Tour - a Tribute to the Beatles," and features original members of the Broadway and Los Angeles sensation doing their "Beatlemania" tribute.
Last November's Classical Mystery Tour concert at the Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles was a hit with both critics and fans. The Los Angeles Times called the show "more than just an incredible simulation...the swelling strings and soaring French horn lines gave Saturday's live performance a high goose-bump quotient...the crowd stood and bellowed for more."
The Fab Four musicians in Classical Mystery Tour look and sound just like The Beatles, Reynolds promises. "But Classical Mystery Tour is more than just a rock concert," she says, "because few people have had the opportunity to hear the fully orchestrated Beatles tunes, just as they were conceived."
The show presents 20 Beatles tunes sung, played and performed exactly as they were written, and enhanced with orchestral accompaniment. Audiences will hear "Penny Lane" with a live trumpet section and experience the haunting beauty of "Yesterday" with an acoustic guitar and string quartet.
The rock/classical blend will be heard on the hard edged "I Am the Walrus." From early Beatles music on through the solo years, Classical Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles, Reynolds promises. "It's the Beatles like you've never heard them: totally live."
Classical Mystery Tour features Jim Owen (John Lennon) on rhythm guitar, piano, and vocals; Tony Kishman (Paul McCartney) on bass guitar, piano, and vocals; David Brighton (George Harrison) on lead guitar and vocals; and Chris Camilleri (Ringo Starr) on drums and vocals. Martin Herman conducts the Billings Symphony Orchestra.
"We really make an effort to sound exactly like the originals," explains Owen, a lifelong Beatles fan, as are the other three Beatlemania members.
Three costume changes keep the show authentic as the singers evolve from their early look to Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road periods.
The orchestral score brings home the original sound, "right down to every note and instrument and harmony that was used on the original recording," Owen says. "On 'Got to Get You Into My Life,' we have two tenor saxes and three trumpets. For 'A Day in the Life,' there's an orchestra crescendo."
With the recent success of The Beatles Anthology and The Beatles 1 Album, the demand for Beatles material is greater than ever, Owen says.
"Many Beatles fans never had the opportunity to experience a live Beatles show," he believes.
Because each show can accommodate nearly 1,500 people, the BSO hopes for full houses with 3,000 viewers.
If you go
Tickets for Classical Mystery Tour are $55, $45 and $35. Curtain times on New Year's Eve are 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at the ABT. Call (406) 256-6052.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
Symphony showcases Beatles New Year's Eve
There hasn't been an Elvis sighting lately, but the Beatles are making a pair of appearances New Year's Eve.
Not John, Paul, George and Ringo. That would stretch the bounds of credibility.
But the "Fab Four" spirit will live on the Alberta Bair Theater stage, thanks to a popular look-and-sound-alikegroup. Beatlemania's four musicians and singers began impersonating the Beatles last year in Los Angeles. They've been touring the world and getting raves since, including a stint on Broadway.
"We think it will appeal to those people who grew up with the Beatles," says Rina Reynolds, executive director of the BSO. "It's a nostalgia concert, well played, with all the Beatles favorites."
On tap are all the inventive tunes that made the Beatles' varied and memorable string of hits: "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Am the Walrus," "Here Comes the Sun," "All You Need is Love," "Strawberry Fields," "Hey Judge" and others, says Reynolds.
Because of last year's smash success with the Elvis show, there will be two shows at the ABT, at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The late show will conclude with plenty of time to convene with loved ones in a home or favorite nightspot, Reynolds says.
The original Fab Four made their United States debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" to screaming teenagers and skeptical parents, in February 1964.
Throughout their career, they often recorded with classically trained symphony orchestra musicians. Many of their songs made use of rich strings and horn riffs.
The production is called "Classical Mystery Tour - a Tribute to the Beatles," and features original members of the Broadway and Los Angeles sensation doing their "Beatlemania" tribute.
Last November's Classical Mystery Tour concert at the Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles was a hit with both critics and fans. The Los Angeles Times called the show "more than just an incredible simulation...the swelling strings and soaring French horn lines gave Saturday's live performance a high goose-bump quotient...the crowd stood and bellowed for more."
The Fab Four musicians in Classical Mystery Tour look and sound just like The Beatles, Reynolds promises. "But Classical Mystery Tour is more than just a rock concert," she says, "because few people have had the opportunity to hear the fully orchestrated Beatles tunes, just as they were conceived."
The show presents 20 Beatles tunes sung, played and performed exactly as they were written, and enhanced with orchestral accompaniment. Audiences will hear "Penny Lane" with a live trumpet section and experience the haunting beauty of "Yesterday" with an acoustic guitar and string quartet.
The rock/classical blend will be heard on the hard edged "I Am the Walrus." From early Beatles music on through the solo years, Classical Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles, Reynolds promises. "It's the Beatles like you've never heard them: totally live."
Classical Mystery Tour features Jim Owen (John Lennon) on rhythm guitar, piano, and vocals; Tony Kishman (Paul McCartney) on bass guitar, piano, and vocals; David Brighton (George Harrison) on lead guitar and vocals; and Chris Camilleri (Ringo Starr) on drums and vocals. Martin Herman conducts the Billings Symphony Orchestra.
"We really make an effort to sound exactly like the originals," explains Owen, a lifelong Beatles fan, as are the other three Beatlemania members.
Three costume changes keep the show authentic as the singers evolve from their early look to Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road periods.
The orchestral score brings home the original sound, "right down to every note and instrument and harmony that was used on the original recording," Owen says. "On 'Got to Get You Into My Life,' we have two tenor saxes and three trumpets. For 'A Day in the Life,' there's an orchestra crescendo."
With the recent success of The Beatles Anthology and The Beatles 1 Album, the demand for Beatles material is greater than ever, Owen says.
"Many Beatles fans never had the opportunity to experience a live Beatles show," he believes.
Because each show can accommodate nearly 1,500 people, the BSO hopes for full houses with 3,000 viewers.
If you go
Tickets for Classical Mystery Tour are $55, $45 and $35. Curtain times on New Year's Eve are 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at the ABT. Call (406) 256-6052.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.