George Harrison

Something About George

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Reviewed by Nikki Cotter

Opening Night verdict ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The world’s fascination with the Beatles has never waned, and while our appetite for the fab four as a group is well catered for, individual stories, particularly George Harrison’s are much harder to come by. Thankfully Something About Productions, made up of theatre producer Bill Elms, writer and musician Jon Fellowes and singer songwriter Gary Edward Jones have combined forces once again following on from their hugely popular first offering, Something About Simon, to give George Harrison his moment in the spotlight.

Written by Jon Fellowes and co-produced by Bill Elms and Gary Edward Jones this is a true celebration of the ‘quiet’ Beatle, lucky for us the multi-talented Daniel Taylor who portrays George has plenty to say. Taking centre stage, Taylor, dressed all in black gives a lovingly curated performance. Acting as both narrator and vocalist this isn’t a tribute act but a genuine homage to the music legend, sensitively directed and brilliantly delivered.

Taylor is supported by an incredibly talented band made up of Joe Smithson (MD, guitar and vocals), Callum MacMillan (percussion/drums), Tom Kinton (bass guitar and vocals) and James Breckon (keyboard and vocals) who together really bring Harrison’s story to vibrant life while Jamie Jenkins’ huge video projections play out behind them adding context and artistry to the piece.

Harrison’s incredible talent is celebrated amongst anecdotes and narrative about the man himself, the stories Taylor shares adding further warmth and depth to this impressive production with Taylor drawing on his versatile acting skills adding humour and authenticity throughout. It’s clear for many of the audience it’s the music that they came here for and that’s delivered in abundance in two superb sets. We hear solo material, Beatles classics and are even treated to stunning vocal harmony numbers form Harrison’s time with the Travelling Wilburys.

From the releasing of Harrison’s debut album All Things Must Pass to his relationships with Pattie Boyd and Olivia Harrison, his spiritualism and charitability to his sad and untimely death this well-crafted production tenderly and affectionately details it all interwoven between a pitch perfect delivery of Harrison’s back catalogue. Stories are shared with enthusiasm with Taylor often recreating the voices of characters who featured heavily in Harrison’s life, his voicing of the quiet Beatle himself is uncanny and delivered with real passion. Each story adding to the next to offer the audience a full and complete biography of Harrison’s post Beatles life.

This show is a must not just for Beatles fans but for music fans alike, enormously entertaining with outstanding delivery and incredible musicianship, superb.

Something About George is currently touring the UK and Ireland, dates and further information can be found her here.

Let It Be

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LIB 2

Opening Night verdict ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed by Matt Forrest

Direct from London’s West End Let It Be, has been on a magical mystery tour across the UK for quite some time now, the final stop off is the Manchester Opera House.

Chronicling The Beatles meteoric rise from their humble beginnings at Liverpool’s now world-famous Cavern Club through to global superstardom. We taken on a journey through a 40 song back catalogue of some John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s finest works including legendary sets from The Royal Varity Show, Shea Stadium and the Apple roof top gig.

Opening rather cheekily with four analogue television sets placed in the corners of the stage: they’re playing adverts and songs from the era. ‘The Fab Four’ arrive on stage and immediately launch into She Loves You, followed by I Wanna’ Hold Your Hand, which immediately has the crowd singing along. As demonstrated in the Shea Stadium section The Beatles famously quit touring because they couldn’t hear themselves play, based on the audience reaction tonight I can see why: most the tunes played tonight had the audience belting them out as if they on stage with the band: the more up-tempo numbers seeing them dancing in the aisles.

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The cast are on great form: Emanuele Angeletti (Paul McCartney) John Brosnan, (George Harrison) Ben Cullingworth (Ringo Starr) and Michael Gagliano (John Lennon) do a fine job in brining the boys to life. Some would argue that this would be one of the easiest gigs on the planet but if you get it wrong I’m sure you’d know about It! Luckily these talented performers manage to not only bring the music to life but also show the personalities within the band off as well. From George Harrison’s shyness, Ringo’s playfulness, to Lennon’s over-the-top show man (which can be a little grating at times,) there are subtle character traits throughout, at one point Angeletti performs minus his shoes!

One minor quibble are the accents: they are a bit all over the place and can be a little distracting, but you cannot fault them on the vocals and musicianship. The Beatles had George Martin as their 5th member and the cast of ‘Let It Be’ are no different with musical director Daniel Weiss joining them on keyboards.

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Those expecting a slice of musical theatre or a musical jukebox show may need to temper their expectation: this show is a concert only with plenty of theatrical elements including some great authentic costumes, and high-end production values.

The second half poses a what if question: that being what if the band reformed to play live on John Lennon’s birthday. We are treated to more Beatles hits as well as few from their solo offerings which included: My Sweet Lord, a haunting version of Imagine and a full throttle rendition of Live and Let Die. For me I loved this bold attempt to freshen up the act, whilst some audience members weren’t as keen, maybe it was a lack of familiarity with the material. The show soon gets back on familiar territory with a blistering encore of Back in the USSR, Let It Be, and Hey Jude, which had everyone on their feet and rattling their jewellery.

Overall this was a great show what it lacks in emotional depth it makes up for in sheer entertainment. Let It Be will have you singing and toe-tapping away all night long.

Let It Be is on at the Manchester Opera House until Saturday 27th October tickets available here.