Beatlemania was a
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
revueA revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
focused on the music of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
as it related to the events and changing attitudes of the tumultuous Sixties. A "Rockumentary", advertised as "
Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation", it ran from 1977 to 1979 for a total of 1006 performances.
Beatlemania was a
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
revueA revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
focused on the music of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
as it related to the events and changing attitudes of the tumultuous Sixties. A "Rockumentary", advertised as "
Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation", it ran from 1977 to 1979 for a total of 1006 performances.
History
Originally conceived and produced by Steve Leber and David Krebs,
Beatlemania began previews on May 26, 1977 in Boston. It premiered on
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the
Winter Garden TheatreThe Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown Manhattan.-History:The structure was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt in 1896 to be the American Horse Exchange....
on May 31, 1977, (after previewing from May 26) and ran until October 17, 1979, for a total of 1006 performances. During its New York run, the show moved to the
Lunt-Fontanne TheatreThe Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 205 West 46th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre, in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse, on...
and finally the
Palace TheatreThe Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre was built by Martin Beck a California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario. The project experienced a number of business problems before...
. The production was nominated for the 1978
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Lighting Design by designer Jules Fisher.
After closing on Broadway, 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 CorpsApple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...
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. An updated song, "With the Beatles", was created as a tribute to the musical in 1983.
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.
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 five additional off stage musicians - keyboards; violin; cello; sax/flute/recorder; trumpet/picollo trumpet). Released on
Arista RecordsArista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
in 1978, the album received warm audience reaction even placing on the
Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
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, Joe Pecorino, Les Fradkin, Justin Mcneill, Randy Clark, Reed Kailing, P.M. Howard and Bobby Taylor.
Beatlemania: The Movie
After three years of production USA Video 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 late 1980 (shortly before the murder 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
Because of the vocal strain (especially for "Paul") involved in doing 10 or more shows per week, each production utilized two (2) casts or "Bunks' as they were dubbed by Musical Director Sandy Yaguda. The Original Broadway production featured Bunk 1 (Mitch Weissman, Joe Pecorino, Les Fradkin and Justin McNeill) and Bunk 2 (Randy Clark, Reed Kailing, P.M. Howard and Bobby Taylor). Subsequent cast members of the Leber-Krebs production are known as "Original" cast members, as the show expanded with several touring casts. However, it is common practice for Beatles Tribute bands to promote themselves falsely, as "Original Broadway Cast".
John Lennon
- Joe Pecorino
- Randy Clark
- Michael Palaikis
- David Leon
- Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
- Mark "Farquar" Vaccacio (deceased)
- Peter McCann
- Bob Williford
- Robert Wirth
- Jim Riddle (deceased)
- Steve Landes
Paul McCartney
- Mitch Weissman
- Reed Kailing
- Lenie Colacino
The Cast of Beatlemania is a U.S. Beatles' tribute band formed in 1980. The Cast is one of longest running Beatles' tribute band in the world. The group currently features Lenie Colacino, a former cast member of the 1977 Broadway musical Beatlemania. The group has performed in all contiguous U.S...
- Alan LeBoeuf
- Glen Burtnick
Glen Burtnik is a singer, songwriter, entertainer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a former member of Styx.The spelling of his name has changed a few times over the years .Burtnik appeared in the Broadway production of Beatlemania as Paul McCartney,...
- Tony Kishman
Tony Kishman is an American bassist, most noted for his work with Wishbone Ash and in the musical Beatlemania.-Early career:Kishman began his musical career playing in cover bands in the Tucson, Arizona area. While playing lead guitar in a band in South California, his booking agent – Fred...
- Joey Curatolo
- Jim Odom
- David Grahame
- Don Linares
- Jim Cushing
- John Redgate
- Billy J. Ray
George Harrison
- Les Fradkin
Les Fradkin is a guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known for being a member of the original cast of the hit Broadway show Beatlemania...
- P.M. Howard
- Tom Teeley
- Rob Laufer
- Richie Gomez
- Jimmy Pou
- Bob Miller
- Peter Santora
- Chris Gavin
- Joe Bithorn
- Richi Ray
Ringo Starr
- Justin McNeil
- Bobby Taylor
- Bennett Gale
- Louie Colucci
- Ralph Castelli
- Sy Goraieb
- Bobby Forte
- Al Sapienza
Al Sapienza is a prolific American actor, who has had numerous roles in television, stage and film productions. He is most well known for his role as Mikey Palmice on the HBO series The Sopranos. He played the role of Dr...
- Rick Bloom
- Phil Lomedico
- Neil Floyd (left the show after the 2 weeks of preview performances)
- Gemma Press
Post-1984 Cast
Casts and casting became independent after 1984 as revival and current casts tour under many different Beatle-related nomenclatures.