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CONNECTICUT CRITICS CIRCLE |
She Loves You! More Concert than Theater By Bob and Karen Isaacs They're back! And you need to rush down to get tickets-if any are available-for a terrific tribute to the Beatles. We're talking about a wonderful presentation by four talented men at Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theater that has been dark, except for its outstanding children's theater, for two years. To rejuvenate the DCT, Producer Hugh Hallinan and artistic director Susan Hallinan, have brought in She Loves You! a tribute to the Beatles that encompasses the years 1964 to '69. To do this, they've strung together in close to chronological order more than 30 songs beginning with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and continuing through "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Hey, Jude." The production, under the direction of Andrew Empson, uses newsreel, television and photos ranging from the Beatles' appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964 to dozens of concerts, clips from Beatles films and appearances. The four men - Alan LeBoeuf (Paul McCartney), David Leon (John Lennon), John Brosnan (George Harrison), Carmine Grippo (Ringo Starr) - capture the Beatles sound and look almost perfectly. Grippo by the way is a New Haven native now living in LA. The staging is relatively simple: Paul, George and John in front with Ringo and his drums in the back, but Empson additionally presents the quartet with appropriate hair styles, facial hair, and costumes that reflect each stage of the Beatles. While this may be more tribute concert than theater-there is little dialogue and no real story-the audience obviously loved every minute and re-experiences the half decade. Many were seen lip-syncing the songs. Is there an outstanding number? Hard to say. Each person will discover his or her favorite although two of our favorite songs - "When I'm Sixty Four" and "Rita, the Meter Maid" were omitted. But practically everything else is there and given full expression. If you lived through the Beatle era or are just familiar with it, you will enjoy She Loves You! She Loves You! is at the Bridgeport Downtown Cabaret Theater, 262 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport, with performances through April 13. For tickets call 203-576-1636 or online at www.DowntownCabaret.org. Appeared in Shore Publications April 3. |