Beatles tribute a one-night only show




THE QUIET BEATLE— Los Angeles native JT Curtis has been playing George Harrison in “Let It Be” since 2012, the year the Beatles tribute show opened on Broadway. The production comes to the Kavli Theatre tonight, March 30. Courtesy photo

THE QUIET BEATLE— Los Angeles native JT Curtis has been playing George Harrison in “Let It Be” since 2012, the year the Beatles tribute show opened on Broadway. The production comes to the Kavli Theatre tonight, March 30. Courtesy photo

Beatles tributes are everywhere these days, with quartets of mop-topped musician/actors adopting Liverpudlian accents and donning Sgt. Pepper uniforms in hopes of capitalizing on the enduring success of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Arriving at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, tonight, March 30, is a stage production called “Let It Be,” which bills itself as a different kind of tribute. The one-night-only show in the Kavli Theatre not only promises to deliver the expected mix of Fab Four classics, but it will explore what a Beatles reunion might have been like had the group gotten together in the weeks before John Lennon’s tragic murder on Dec. 8, 1980.

Playing the part of George Harrison is JT Curtis, a musician who has been performing in “Let It Be” since its first incarnation on Broadway in 2012. In the ensuing years, the show has been revamped to include the fantasy 1980 reunion. Curtis, who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Pacific Palisades, got his first exposure to the Beatles’ music by accident.

“I remember seeing a ‘Simpsons’ episode called ‘The BSharps’ that had a whole bunch of references that I didn’t understand— until my dad pointed out that they were parodying the Beatles,” Curtis said in a recent phone interview. “I didn’t know who they were, so he played me a bunch of their records. That’s how I got introduced to their music.”

Curtis began learning guitar at age 8 and is sometimes compared to such rock icons as Eric Clapton and Duane Allman—not to mention Harrison himself. In 2009, he uploaded a cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” to YouTube, playing and singing all the parts himself. While living in New York City, he discovered “Let It Be” was coming to Broadway after its beginnings in London’s West End, so he sent the producers a reel of his performances and was hired.

Playing George Harrison was a natural for Curtis, but there were some elements of the performance he had to research.

“The things that I didn’t have down were the look, the mannerisms and, for lack of a better word, the choreography. There’s a specific way that George moves onstage, so I watched their ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ appearances a bunch of times and wrote out exactly the things he was doing. George was probably the most animated one onstage. John was blind as a bat, so he kept one stance throughout the show, and Paul was always at the mic, so George moved around the most of any of them.”

The first half of “Let It Be” spans the group’s history from the Beatles’ humble beginnings in Liverpool’s dank Cavern Club to their final rooftop performance in London on Jan. 30, 1969, all highlighted by projected images, including newsreel footage and psychedelic imagery.

“The reunion part of the show takes place on John Lennon’s birthday,” Curtis explained, “which is a lot of fun for us because we get to do solo songs. I get to do ‘My Sweet Lord.’ Neil Candelora, who plays Paul, does ‘Band on the Run.’ Michael Gagliano, who plays John, does ‘Imagine,’ so it’s a fun part of the show. To anybody who says, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen “Rain,” I’ve seen “The Fab Four,” I’ve seen every Beatles tribute show,’ I’d say, ‘No you haven’t. “Let It Be” is different.’”

When asked about his favorite part of the show, Curtis said, “I love doing the guitar solo on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ although since the reunion part was added, I’m kind of liking ‘My Sweet Lord’ a lot. Sometimes I get in a zone and go into a George kind of trance.”

“Let It Be” will be performed at 8 p.m. Fri., March 30 in the Kavli Theatre at Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Tickets are available in person at the box office or through Ticketmaster, (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For information, call (805) 449-2787 or visit civcartsplaza.com.