Review: Let It Be ****

When I first saw Let It Be The Musical back in 2015, I was mightily impressed. So, when I heard a few weeks ago that Let It Be: A Celebration Of The Music Of The Beatles was heading this year to the UK theatres with a brand-new show – giving audiences a rare glimpse of how the band may have continued as a four-piece – I was delighted.

It’s astonishing to think that it’s nearly fifty years since The Beatles went their separate ways. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were perhaps the most gifted songwriters of the 20th century and it’s difficult to describe to young people today just how much of an impact Beatlemania had on the country back in the 1960s. For any Beatles fan who never got the opportunity to see the famous ‘Fab Four’ live, Let it Be at least gives a flavour of what it must have been like.

A cast of talented musicians took to the stage as the Fab Four. Lennon and McCartney were played by Michael Gagliano and Emanuele Angeletti respectively. Not only is there a passing resemblance in looks but their voices are not a million miles away from the gifted duo. John Brosnan plays George Harrison with Ben Cullingworth playing Ringo Starr.

I half expected some kind of plot with the Fab Four telling their story of the latter days of the band with songs emphasising this story. But this wasn’t a story as such. The performance was more akin to a tribute band playing a back catalogue of Beatles numbers right from the off beginning with She Loves You and I Wanna Hold Your Hand moving through to the haunting Yesterday before Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and songs from the cult album Abbey Road bringing the curtain down on Act One.

Act Two focuses more on a ‘what if’ scenario. It imagines – if you’ll excuse the word – The Beatles getting back together ten years after they split up. The reunion is to mark John Lennon’s 40th birthday in October 1980. In reality, of course, The Beatles didn’t reunite and Lennon was murdered just a couple of months after his fortieth birthday. But this show lets you imagine they did get together with the foursome performing the songs that were hits for the individual band members after the Beatles split in 1970: Lennon’s Starting Over, Harrison’s Got My Mind Set On You (albeit Harrison didn’t release this song until 1987), Starr’s It Don’t Come Easy and McCartney’s Band On The Run, recorded with his new band Wings.

The show ends with a return to Beatles numbers Back in the USSR, Let it Be and the show-stopping Hey Jude.

The performers certainly played their parts with remarkable energy and passion and it’s obvious they love the work of the Fab Four. They do like to get the audience involved but it was difficult to imagine The Beatles playing some of their later hits such as Come Together, A Day In The Life and Revolution in front of a live audience, particularly as their last live show was in the summer of 1966. And the idea of getting the Edinburgh audience to sing along to Yesterday was questionable; the song hardly lends itself to a sing-along.

That said, Let It Be was a very enjoyable show and the audience at a less than full Edinburgh Playhouse clearly enjoyed it. If you were a fan of The Beatles you will simply love this show.

Let It Be is at the Edinburgh Playhouse until Saturday 13th October. Tickets here.

Edinburgh Reporter rating: ****