By Jim Dail
The Beatles, by almost every account, were the most successful band in history. It stands to reason that hearing the music brings back memories and starts new ones for those too young to have lived through Beatlemania.
However, RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles offers the chance to revisit the magic of the iconic band through music, costumes and scenery. The show goes on at the Riverside Fox Theater on March 25 and 26.
Talking by phone with Paul Curatolo, who plays Paul McCartney, he stated that he developed a love for the Beatles having grown up with RAIN, considering his father is Joey Curatolo, who played Paul in the early days of the tribute show.
“When I was 11 or 12 I listened to ‘Abbey Road’ and that really got me,” he said. “I love all instruments, and started to play the drums then the bass. One day my dad asked if I’d have any interest in playing McCartney, and I jumped at it. We started to train together and it really worked.”
The show is a major run-through of Beatles songs from the beginning of Beatlemania to the end of the group. Ed Sullivan, Shea Stadium and the Sgt. Pepper’s era are all represented. Of course, even the title of the group is pure Beatles, with Rain being derived from the song “Rain,” which was the B-side of the Number 1 single “Paperback Writer.”
“A lot of people do ask where the name comes from,” he laughed. “Ours is the story to the music, and we relive those years starting with the breakup point of view then a retrospective to tap into the most iconic moments that made up the Beatles,” he said. “There are the outfits, the instruments, the hair, the songs. It’s really a celebration of just how incredible and important they were.”
The show has been going on for more than 30 years, and there is no shortage of music to pick from, including songs that may not have been hit singles but that are extremely popular, such as “Here Comes the Sun” or the entire “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
“Everything they did was a hit,” he said. “That can make it tough to figure out what songs to play, and we try to play them exactly so it is a lot to learn. A lot of songs they did were not huge hits but they were iconic songs that represented a lot to the time period. Songs that don’t seem like a huge hit to us might be important to someone in the audience.”
Speaking of audiences, the show is a draw for all ages.
“There’s a lot of age range so we make it a point to pay respects to it,” he said. “We have three generations of Beatles fans that come to our shows, some who are just getting into the band and others who were there in the beginning.”
That’s because so much history is part of the Beatles’ legacy.
“Ed Sullivan absolutely was a big moment to go through,” he said. “The music covered peace, war, rock and roll, fun, everything going on in the ‘60s.”
As for the real group, he doesn’t know how McCartney and Starr, the remaining Beatles feel about their tribute, but the show is licensed so the Fab Four know about the show.
“We hope they know who we are, and they know we love them and we don’t think we are them,” he said. “We are just paying our respects. We are fans first, just like everyone else.”