BWW Previews: RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY is Coming to Riverside's Fox PAC.
By: Audrey Liebross Mar. 11, 2015
Lucky fans in the Riverside, California area will have the opportunity at 7:30 p.m. on March 25th and 26th, 2015 to see and hear the Beatles in their heyday during two performances at the Fox Performing Arts Center (Fox PAC) of RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY.
Of course, the Beatles broke up before many of their current fans were born, and, sadly, John Lennon and George Harrison died decades ago. But the members of the band Rain, talented musicians in their own right, have studied the Beatles for twenty years and tour in concert, playing only Beatles music, and emulating the Beatles' style, key, rhythm, and harmonies, note for note. The family-friendly 2015 tour includes new songs and updated sets with high-definition screens and multimedia content - equipment that the actual Beatles could only have dreamed about.
Rain has been together, studying the Beatles and performing their music for twenty years - longer than the Beatles themselves were a band. All the music is performed live, with no pre-recorded tapes or sequences. Today, Rain has a repertoire of over 200 Beatle songs that they rotate at their concerts. Some of these pieces are so complex that the Beatles never performed them live, and included them only on their albums, where they could correct mistakes in a recording studio.
Short of plastic surgery, the members of Rain do everything possible to replicate the look of their particular Beatle, even, for righties portraying Paul McCartney, learning to play the bass and guitar left-handed.
Broadway World caught up with Paul Curatolo (Paul McCartney), who sings and plays bass, piano, and guitar, and asked him by email about how he got involved with the band and how he transforms himself into Paul M.
Paul C. told us that he taught himself the drums at age ten. He then learned guitar and piano, and began writing and recording his own music. At the age of fourteen, he became a member of the pop band "Wayward," and recorded five albums with them.
Paul C. has an unusual family connection to Paul M.: Paul C.'s father, Joey Curatolo, also plays Paul M. Paul C. said, "I've grown up watching my father portray Paul McCartney with RAIN. He asked me one day if I would be interested in training for the part and the rest is history." He told BWW that the preparation work to sound like Paul M. in singing and speaking required "a lot of one on one training with Joey Curatolo [his father]."
When there's a news story about the Beatles or Paul C. hears a Beatles song, he admits to paying more attention than before he took on the role. He also admits an obsession with the Beatles, that shows no sign of going away. He said that, since he began working with Rain, "my obsession has only grown stronger!"
We asked if Paul C. thought he looked like Paul M. He answered tantalizingly, "My transformation into his likeness is all the fun!"
RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY will appear at the Fox PAC for two performances, at 7:30 on Wednesday, March 25th and Thursday, March 26th, 2015. Ticket prices range from $52.50 to $82.25, including fees. The Fox PAC is located at 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501, Phone: 951-779-9804, about 120 miles from San Diego, 70 miles from parts of the San Fernando Valley and West LA, 57 miles from Long Beach, 55 miles from Palm Springs, and 45 miles from Anaheim. For tickets and more information, go to http://www.riversidelive.com/ .
Photo Credit: Cyllavon Tiedemann
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