Beatles tribute show Let It Be heads for Southampton

As Reuven Gershon – the show’s John Lennon – says, changes have been built into it all for this latest outing; you can expect a few surprising rarities to turn up in the set.

Reuven has been with the show since it started four years ago in the West End: “It’s very special. I have always been a lifelong Beatles fan and Beatles enthusiast. To be able to play John on stage every night is just fantastic.”

Reuven became John partly out of preference, partly out of physicality: “I couldn’t play Paul because I don’t have the vocal range and obviously he is left-handed. But there was always something that drew me to John. He has got the reputation as the attractive, cool Beatle. I think he is the man’s man. Paul McCartney is the ladies’ man. Lennon is the man’s man. The image is as a cocksure, self-assured, witty, cool, stylish, young man, but below that you had all the complexities, all the insecurities, all the temperament of the great artist.

“People have been debating and discussing ever since they arrived on the scene why they had such a great impact. They were just a one-off. There was nothing like them before. They were in the right place at the right time, and they had this wonderful chemistry between them, just these great talents coming together. Everything they did was new.

“They were singing their own songs; they were speaking in regional accents: and they were a group, the four of them, not like Cliff and the Shadows or Gerry and the Pacemakers. And they were constantly pushing the boundaries. Also they were irreverent. They were cheeky.

“Nobody has ever achieved what they achieved in such a short space of time. Someone described the 60s as being like Christmas every day. The period of the 60s was a period of great social change, and they were in the vanguard. They said themselves many times that they were not leading it, that they were just representing what was going on… but they were leading it as well.”

Let It Be celebrates the music of the world’s most successful rock ‘n’ roll band in a spectacular concert charting the band’s meteoric rise from their humble beginnings in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, through the height of Beatlemania, to their later studio masterpieces. They were just boys from Liverpool who went on to change the world.

Let It Be is packed with more than 40 of The Beatles’ greatest hits including Twist and Shout, She Loves You and Drive My Car, as well as global mega hits Yesterday, Hey Jude, Come Together and, of course, Let It Be.

Producer Jeff Parry, of Annerin Productions, said: “We’re incredibly proud to announce Let It Be’s biggest tour to date. We are extremely excited to bring the show to Mayflower Theatre, and we’re sure Southampton audiences will be on their feet – dancing, singing and very much being part of the concert.

“It’s more than 50 years since The Beatles released their first single, yet the band still continue to win new generations of fans. The songs still feel fresh and vibrant which is testament to the Fab Four’s music and talent. Let It Be is helping to keep the story and songs of the band alive and charm new fans. Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you tickets to the hottest show on tour.”

Tickets on 02380 711811 or online at mayflower.org.uk.