Reviewed by Kathryn Harrison
Monday night (3 September 2018) saw the opening night of Let It Be, a celebration of The Beatles music, at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre. Unsurprisingly the Empire was packed full in anticipation of this brilliant night of music. There was a wide range of ages in the audience, from young children possibly being introduced to The Beatles for the first time, people like myself who have grown up listening to our parents playing Beatles music, to an older generation who remember and possibly saw The Beatles first time round.
The first half of the show began with earlier Beatles hits such as She Loves You and I Wanna Hold Your Hand before re-enacting The Beatles legendary Shea Stadium gig with classics including Help, I Feel Fine and Twist and Shout. To close the first half we were treated to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band complete with the colourful costumes and the brilliant songs, With A Little Help From My Friends, Strawberry Fields Forever and my favourite When I’m 64 amongst many many others. In between sets there were four big screens showing adverts and news stories from the era which really helped date the music as well as providing a few laughs.
Later in the Beatles career they produced and released many songs that were never performed live so the second half of the show was an imagining of what one last concert could have been like. This set included songs from the group as well as some of their solo music. Lots of wonderful songs including Got To Get You Into My Life, Black Bird, While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Imagine. Far too quickly the show came to a finale with the whole audience on their feet singing along to Hey Jude, a brilliant way to end a fantastic night.
The band were Emanuele Angeletti as Paul McCartney, John Brosnan as George Harrison, Ben Cullingworth as Ringo Starr and Michael Gagliano as John Lennon. On stage musical support was also provided by Michael Bramwell. All the cast were phenomenal, singing and playing the instruments live just as The Beatles would have done.
It was disappointing to not hear some of my favourite songs such as Yellow Submarine, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds amongst others but with such an extensive back catalogue it would be impossible to include everything.
Overall this was a fun evening with the Fab Four that newcomers to The Beatles will enjoy just as much as long time fans.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £12 to £41 (plus £3.65 transaction fee).
Let It Be is at the Liverpool Empire from 3-8 September 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/liverpool or call the box office on 0844 8713017.
Liverpool Empire Theatre, Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 1JE | 0844 8713017
