The most recent offering from the Peoria Civic Center Theater's Broadway Series, like the LAST offering from the Peoria Civic Center Theater's Broadway Series, ain't really theater!
This is a simulated concert by Beatles impersonators.
Since there are countless people who can convincingly imitate the vocal stylings of the famous, I think any impersonator should approximate the physical appearance of the impersonated. This group gets this part half right. The Ringo and George characters are passable. The other two fail miserably. John Lennon had many looks over the course of his public life. None of these involved pudgy.
Also, the impersonator should stick to the catalog of the impersonated. While I enjoyed hearing "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance", these are NOT Beatles songs! They belong to John and Plastic Ono. (Thankfully, no Wings numbers were included).
The show was accompanied by a video recreation of the Beatles career and the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Since this was a "tribute to the Beatles", I wished they had used the actual photos and memorabilia, rather than photo-shopping the impersonators into every frame.
Having said all this, I will admit that this show was much more enjoyable to me than the previous "gymnastics exhibition". As a self-professed aging hippie, I lived through the Beatles experience. I love the Beatles, and I am thankful to have experienced that era.
As I looked around at the enthusiastic audience, I was reminded of the impact these four men had on world culture. There were many in the audience who already knew the answer to that age old question "Will you still need me...when I'm 64?" And there were also pre-teen youngsters dancing and singing along with lyrics they knew by heart.
For a brief couple hours, yours truly was transported back to the 1960's and secure in the knowledge that when all is said and done, all we REALLY need is love.
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