Beatlemania (musical)

Infobox Musical
name= Beatlemania


caption=
music= The Beatles
lyrics= The Beatles
book=
basis= The life of The Beatles
productions= 1977 Broadway
awards=

"Beatlemania" was a Broadway musical revue focused on the life and music of The Beatles. Advertised as "Not the Beatles, But an Incredible Simulation", it ran from 1977 to 1979 for a total of 1006 performances. It was nominated for the 1978 Tony Award for "Best Lighting Design" by designer Jules Fisher.

History

Originally conceived and produced by Steve Leber and David Krebs, Beatlemania began previews on May 26, 1977 in Boston, moving one month later to New York City's Winter Garden Theatre and ran until October 17, 1979 for a total of 1006 performances. After October 17, 1979, the "Beatlemania Bus and Truck tour" began, running until 1983 and touring across the United States and worldwide. A lawsuit by the Beatles company "Apple Corps LTD" officially ended the show for a period of time but revival tours still continue today.

At its peak, "Beatlemania" had several permanent shows in several cities around the world and several semi-temporary shows in many more cities in the U.S and the rest of the world.

As the show expanded in its formative years over 50 original cast members formed 10 bunks (or casts of a single set of four). As the New York show continued its run, shows were opened in Los Angeles, Chicago, Cincinnati, and London. Short term tours of Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa were produced after 1982 and revival tours continue today.

During its New York run, the show moved to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and finally the Palace Theatre.

Beatlemania: The Album

In 1978, "Beatlemania" released a self-titled soundtrack to the show which included contributions from the first and second cast of performers from the show (as well as a few additional off stage keyboardists and musicians). Released on Arista Records in 1978, the album received warm audience reaction even placing on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks before falling into vinyl obscurity. Tracks from the album included most but not all of the original show's songlist and several of the tracks were either re-recorded entirely or partially re-recorded in the studio. Cast members that appear on the album include Mitch Weissman, Alan Lebeouf, Joe Pecorino, Randy Clark, Les Fradkin, Tom Teeley, Justin Mcneill, and Bobby Taylor.

Beatlemania: The Movie

After four years of production USA videos productions took an interest in making a film version of the "Beatlemania" stage show. After a brief contract negotiation, "Beatlemania: The Movie" began production in 1980 (shortly before the death of John Lennon). The film's cast featured Mitch Weissman (bass guitar), David Leon (rhythm guitar), Tom Teeley (lead guitar), and Ralph Castelli (drums). The reactions to "Beatlemania: The Movie" were cold and plans for a followup film were immediately shelved after several poor reviews of the way the film was produced (several critics complained of the film being too art based and not worthy of being associated with the stageshow "Beatlemania").

Cast members

The first 50 cast are known as "Original" cast members (however it is often thought that only the first four should be regarded as such)

(Rhythm guitar)

Joe Pecorino, Michael Palaikis (deceased), Randy Clark, David Leon, Marshall Crenshaw, Mark "Farquar" Vaccacio, Peter McCann, Bob Williford, Robert Wirth,Jim Riddle (deceased), Steve Landes,Neil Harrison.

(Bass guitar)

Mitch Weissman, Alan LeBoeuf,Lenie Colacino, Glen Burtnick, Reed Kailing, Tony Kishman, Joey Curatolo, Jim Odom, David Grahame, Don Linares,Jim Cushing, John Redgate, Billy J. Ray, David Catlin Birch.

(Lead guitar)

Les Fradkin,Tom Teeley, Rob Laufer, P.M. Howard, Richie Gomez, Jimmy Pou,Bob Miller, Peter Santora, Chris Gavin,Joe Bithorn, Richi Ray, Andre Barreau.

(Drums)

Neil Floyd,Justin McNeil, Bennett Gale, Bobby Taylor, Ralph Castelli, Sy Goraieb, Bobby Forte, Al Sapienza, Rick Bloom, Louie Colucci, Phil Lomedico, Jack Ehrenreich, Jack Lee Elgood.

Post 1984 cast members

Casts and Casting became independent after 1984 as revival and current casts toured under nomenclatures such as "The Broadway Cast of Beatlemania", "The Cast of Beatlemania", "Beatlemania Now", "Rain", "Beatlemania Again", "The Return of Beatlemania", "Classical Mystery Tour", "The Fab Four", etc.

Cast members (those not part of the first run of "Beatlemania" but those whom have performed consistently with its cast members and/or in a revival or current touring cast include:

(Rhythm guitar)

Carlo Cantamessa,John Banner,Scot Arch,Jim Owen,Lucien Nocelli,Ron McNeil,Frank Canino,Mark Benson,Michael Gagliano,Marty McGowan,Jimmy Pappas.

(Bass guitar)

Gary Grimes,Alex Smith,Jim Miller,Ricky Vacca,Ardy Sarraf,Frank Mendonca,Dominic Williams,Andrew Hill,Todd Rainey,David Fury,Michael Gallant,Sean Bryan,Jim Caprio.

(Lead guitar)

David Johns,Jon Perry,Jim Filgate,Jess Banner,Colin Davidson,Marty Scott,David Brighton,Michael Amador,Gavin Pring,Glenn McCallum,John Brosnan.

(Drums)

Michael Bellusci,Joe Nocco,Rolo Sandoval,Joe Bologna,Eric Smith,Mike Naimoli,Sean Bryan,John Delgado,Carmine Grippo,Stephen J. Arti.

Cultural references

In a Weekend Update segment of "Saturday Night Live", Dan Aykroyd announced the debut of a new musical called "Beatlemaniamania", which he described as "not Beatlemania but an incredible simulation."

External links

* [http://beatlemaniaalumni.com/ Beatlemania Alumni.com]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=1881 IBDB listing]
* [http://www.beatlemanianow.com]
* [http://www.beatlemaniaagain.com]
* [http://www.castofbeatlemania.com]
* [http://www.rainthebeatlesexperience.com]
* [http://www.1964thetribute.com]