Softley & Jeffreys' Beatles-Inspired BACKBEAT Makes West End Debut in Sept.; David Leveaux Directs

Karl Sydow has announced that Backbeat - the stage adaptation of the 1994 film by Iain Softley on the birth of the Beatles - will be rock & rolling its way to London's Duke of York Theatre for its West End premiere this October.

Backbeat, the stage production that received its world premiere at Glasgow's Citizen's Theatre in 2010, is co-written by Iain Softley and Stephen Jeffreys, produced by Karl Sydow, with musical direction by Paul Stacey. The award-winning director David Leveaux will direct the West End production. Backbeat will open on 10 October at the Duke of York Theatre with previews in September. 

Karl Sydow comments: "Backbeat at the Duke Of York Theatre will allow people the experience of being at the birth of the Beatles. It tells a story that many music fans may not know, set to a musical backdrop that absolutely defined the early 60s. Next year will mark 50 years since the Beatles released their first single, and I am proud to be bringing their early days to life in the West End."

Backbeat is the story of how The Beatles ‘became' The Beatles - when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe embarked on their journey from the famous docks of Liverpool to search for success in the seedy red light district of Hamburg. There they worked eight days a week, in the clubs of the tawdry Reeperbahn, performing rock ‘n' roll covers night after night.

All time rock ‘n' roll classics that the Beatles cut their teeth with - ‘Twist & Shout', ‘Rock & Roll Music', ‘Long Tall Sally' ‘Please Mr Postman' and ‘Money' - are all performed live on stage in Backbeat.

It was the compelling triangular relationship between the band's original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, the striking German photographer Astrid Kirchherr with whom he fell in love, and his best friend John Lennon, which became an intrinsic part of the Beatles' story - and put them on an unstoppable trajectory onto the world stage.

Stuart's struggle between his best friend and the band, Astrid and his art, makes Stuart the troubled focus of Backbeat. His death, aged only 22, in the same year that the Beatles appointed Brian Epstein as manager, signed to Parlophone Records by Sir George Martin, and released their first single ‘Love Me Do', adds to the poignancy of this remarkable and vivid portrait of the early 1960's.

Booking period is from Saturday 24th September 2011 until Saturday 24th March 2012

Performance schedule is Monday 7.30pm, Tuesday 7.30pm, Wednesday 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Thursday 7.30pm, Friday 7.30pm, Saturday 2.30pm and 7.30pm, with the first performance Saturday 24th September. Official Opening night is Monday, 10th October.

 

Tickets are now on sale from www.atgtickets.com/backbeat / 0844 871 7623.