BWW Review: The Beatles Experience with RAIN Rocks at Waterbury's Palace

RAIN. Photo by Cyllavon Tiedemann

THE BEATLES EXPERIENCE WITH RAIN
The Palace Theatre, Waterbury

A Quick-Hit Review
By Lauren Yarger

What's It All About?

The Fab Four, or at least four look and sound-alikes, recreate The Beatles experience through the decades. Starting with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and hits like "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Hard Day's Night," the shows vocalist/instrumentalists* Mark Lewis (keyboards, percussion), Joey Curatolo (vocals, bass, guitar, piano), Joe Bithorn (vocals, lead guitar, guitar synthesizer), Ralph Castelli (vocals, drums, percussion) and Steve Landes (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica) take us on a journey through heavier rock numbers and Viet Nam war numbers like "Let it Be" and "All You Need is Love." Video clips of the Beatles, their fans, TV commercials and other images are shown on two large monitors either side of the stage. They, costumes and a center backdrop indicate changes through the decades.

What are the highlights?

If you're a Beatles fan, you'll enjoy the music-jammed two and a half hours (with an intermission). The music and vocals are good. It's the next best thing to seeing Paul, George, John and Ringo in person. Four generations were represented in the audience who sang and clapped along with the music.

What are the lowlights?

Rude audience members who talk loudly throughout or videotape the action (ushers turned a blind eye to people holding phones or cameras up to record the event).

More Information:

RAIN's musicians have mastered a repertoire of more than 200 Beatles songs. * Individual performers may vary by performance.

Tickets $65, $55, and $45: 203-346-2000, www.palacetheaterct.org, box office, 100 East Main St., Waterbury.

RAIN plays the Palace, 100 East Main St., Waterbury for two more performances: today (March 16) at 2 and 8 pm.

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Lauren, a former newspaper editor, is the editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com) and Reflections in the Light (http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com) where she reviews Broadway, Off-Broadway and Connecticut theater. She also is a freelance writer and consults and produces for the theater. She is a member of The Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle, The American Theater Critics Association, the CT Critics Circle, The League of Professional Theatre Women and the National Book Critics Circle. She and her husband live in Granby, CT. Visit her writing site at http://laurenyarger.wordpress.com.