Beatles fans can recapture the excitement of the 1960s when Beatlemania Now! bursts onto The Ritz Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27.
This live musical tribute to the Fab Four includes Scot Arch (John Lennon), guitars, keyboards and vocals; Eric Smith (Ringo Starr), drums, percussion and vocals; Chris Colon (George Harrison), lead guitars and vocals; and Burt
Glennick (Paul McCartney), left-handed bass guitar, keyboards and vocals.
An email interview with Arch revealed band members have come and gone over the years, but those listed above are the current musicians who play every show.
"We've been touring and performing for more than 10 years," Arch said. "I'm the founder/producer/all-around-big cheese kind of a guy."
The performers give note-for-note renditions of classics from the Beatles' entire career, including songs the Beatles never performed outside the recording studios. The musicians are framed against a video backdrop of images of the turbulent decades in which the Beatles played a role, including space exploration, street protests and flower power.
"The video clips and other things shown on the big screen are scenes and images of the '60s which, by the way, were very influenced by the Beatles. The world followed their fashion cues. They changed the sound of modern music. They were the first 'boy band' loved," Arch said. "Most of the clips tie in in some way with the songs being played."
The show covers 22 hits, such as "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Here Comes the Sun," "Come Together," "All You Need Is Love," "Sgt. Pepper," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "Hey Jude," "Let It Be," "Penny Lane" and a tribute to Lennon's later solo work, "Imagine."
A few recorded tracks are used for sounds the band cannot reproduce.
"We perform the show on between 15 and 20 guitars (and bass guitars ). ... those same models in the same finishes, as well as the Ludwig drum kit and the guitar amps, as used by the Beatles, so that they not only look like the instruments they were seen with on stage and in photos, etc., but sound like them as well," Arch said.
Tickets range from $10 to $35. For tickets or information, visit www.ritztheatre.org, stop at 30 S. Washington St., or call (419) 448-8544.
