Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
and later a theatrical production. ''Rain'' gives audiences the experience of seeing Beatles' songs performed live that were never done so by the band itself. It predates the popular Broadway show ''
Beatlemania
Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles "Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and "She Loves You". By ...
'' by several years. ''Rain'' has played
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, and toured for years.
The show takes the form of a roughly chronological history of The Beatles via their music. About 30 songs are performed during the show. Other than some onstage banter, there is very little dialogue during the production, which consists mostly of exact re-enactments of the Beatles' music. The multimedia production uses high-definition backdrops that feature psychedelic effects, vintage television commercials, and video footage of ''Rain'' cast members recreating iconic Beatle moments. For legal reasons, ''Rain'' never calls its performers the names of the actual members of The Beatles.Jones, Chris "'Let It Be': Why show coming to Rosemont is a Beatles 'celebration'," ''Chicago Tribune'' (February 19, 2015).
Each production of ''Rain'' features two performers for each member of the Beatles, who alternate shows; plus an off-stage keyboardist to replicate the studio sounds familiar from later Beatles records.
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservat ...
, band that played both original music and Beatles covers. Founding members were Mark Lewis, Eddie Lineberry, Bill Connearney, Grant Belotti, Chuck Coffey, and Steve Wight. (Connearney, Belotti, Lineberry, and Alan Hawley had been members of a prior band known as Lucky Dogs.) The name of the band, "Reign/Rain," is a reference to the 1966 Beatles single "
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
," the B-side of "
Paperback Writer
"Paperback Writer" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single in May 1966. It topped sing ...
."Isherwood, Charles "Another Long and Winding Detour," ''New York Times'' (October 26, 2010).
Co-founder and keyboardist Mark Lewis managed the band, became its lead arranger, and found Rain a regular weekly gig doing Beatles covers at the Mine Shaft in
Calabasas, California
Calabasas (from Spanish language, Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains, Santa Susanna mounta ...
.Marinucci, Steve. "Tribute band Rain isn't the Beatles, but they play them -- and very successfully," Examiner.com (October 18, 2010). Before long Rain had a following of Beatles fans around the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
/
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
area, and soon extended up the West Coast as far as
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
hired Rain members to record exact Beatles covers for the
Richard Marquand
Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a British film and television director active in both US and UK film productions, best known for directing 1983's ''Return of the Jedi''. He also directed the critically accla ...
film ''
Birth of the Beatles
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
''.Wilson, Debra Mino "'Rain — A Tribute to Beatles' set Monday," ''Times West Virginian'' (March 13, 2014).
By 1980, Lewis had built the band into a long-standing touring tradition. The lineup of Rain remained constant until 1980, with Lineberry playing
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
, Coffey playing
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
, Connearney playing
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
, and Belotti playing
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
(with Lewis playing keyboards behind the scenes). Joey Curatolo joined Rain in 1978, sharing the role of Paul with Coffey; Curatolo is still a current member of Rain.
Lineberry left Rain in 1980, and Coffey, Connearney, and Belotti all left in 1982. Joe Bithorn joined the group as "George" in 1983, and is still with Rain. Ralph Castell joined Rain in 1986 as Ringo, and is still with the show.
In 2001 the Rain Corporation took over management of the band. In 2005, management met with producer Jeff Parry to expand the tribute band's scope — which at that point was mostly doing concerts at casinos — and develop a Broadway-style production in the manner of 1977's ''
Beatlemania
Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles "Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and "She Loves You". By ...
Pollstar
''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017.
History and profile
Founded in 1981 in Fre ...
listed ''Rain'' at number 17 in its yearly "Pollstar's Hot Top 20" for overall tickets sales of a touring show, band, or production.
''Rain'' played Hollywood's Pantages Theatre in 2009. In 2010 the production performed at
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
'
Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts
The Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts is a theater located in Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named after gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was born in New Orleans. The theater reopened in January 2009, after ...
.
In 2009, on the eve of Rain moving to Broadway, the Rain Corporation and Parry's Annerin Productions agreed to produce a
West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
version of the show, with both sides splitting the profits 50-50.
''Rain'' ran on Broadway for 300 shows (and 8 preview performances), first at the
Neil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for A ...
on October 26, 2010 – January 15, 2011, then at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
The Lena Horne Theatre (previously the Mansfield Theatre and the Brooks Atkinson Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 256 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1926, it was designed by Herbert J ...
on February 8, 2011 – July 31, 2011.Internet Broadway Database /ref>
In 2012, Parry/Annerin Productions put on ''
Let It Be
Let It Be most commonly refers to:
* ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970
* "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album
It may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
suit against Parry and his fellow ''Let It Be'' producers. ''Rain'' claimed that ''Let It Be'' was essentially the same concept as ''Rain'', with similar artwork, costumes, and virtually the same song repertoire, and that ''Rain'' was entitled to 50% of ''Let It Bes profits." Parry and Annerin instead proposed giving Rain Corporation 7.5% of their profits. The case was settled out of court.
Synopsis
The show begins with the four actors portraying an early version of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' appearance at the Cavern Club in 1962. When this scene closes,
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
journey to America, beginning their tour at ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. Moving forward, The Beatles' directions are changing musically while their band grows in popularity performing their largest concert at
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's
Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.
* Eddie Lineberry (1974–1980) — performed on ''
Birth of the Beatles
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
''
* Randy Clark (1980-1981) - from "Beatlemania"
* Jim Riddle (1983–died 1997) — also performed with ''
Beatlemania
Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles "Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and "She Loves You". By ...
''
* Steve Landes (1998–present) —originally from
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
; joined ''Beatlemania'' at age 17
* Jimmy Irizarry (c. 2012)
* David Leon (c. 2009)
* Tim Piper (c. 2009)
"Paul McCartney"
* Chuck Coffey (1974–1980) — performed on ''Birth of the Beatles'' . Chuck passed away in July, 2021, in Georgia.
* Glenn Burtnik (1980-1982)
* Joey Curatolo (1978–present) – originally from
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
; toured with the Broadway production of ''Beatlemania''; father of Paul Curatolo
* Robert "Mac" Ruffing — also played with 1964 the Tribute and ''Beatlemania''
* Graham Alexander (2010–2011) — originally from New Jersey; member of the 2010 Broadway production
* Alan LaBoeuf (c. 2009)
* Paul Curatolo (2014–present) — originally from
Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...
; son of Joey Curatolo (who also played Paul); member of the pop band Wayward; plays the bass left-handed like McCartney
* Ian B. Garcia — native of
Viña del Mar
Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
"George Harrison"
* Bill Connearney (1974–1982) — performed on ''Birth of the Beatles''; now deceased
* Joe Bithorn (1983–present) — originally from New York; toured with ''Beatlemania''
* Tom Teeley— also played with ''Beatlemania'' and Classical Mystery Tour
* Alastar McNeil — native of
Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
; member of the band Kupa'aina. His grand aunt was Broadway chorus dancer Ruth Sato.
* Jimmy Pou — originally from Miami; was a member of Beatlemania and also portrayed George Harrison in 1964 – The Tribute.
* John Korba
"Ringo Starr"
* Grant Belotti (1974–1982) — now deceased
* Bobby Taylor (1980-1985) from "Beatlemania"
* Steve Wight (1979) — performed on ''Birth of the Beatles''
* Ralph Castelli (1986–present) — originally from Southern California; toured with ''Beatlemania''; played Ringo in ''Beatlemania: The Movie''
* Aaron Chiazza — former member of Paul Curatolo's band Wayward
* Douglas Cox — originally from Missouri and Texas
* Joe Bologna (c. 2009)
* Chris McBurney
Keyboards / percussion
* Mark Lewis (1975 – present) — founding member and musical arranger of Rain; retired from performing in 2010 to concentrate on managing the show
* Mark Beyer
* Chris Smallwood – originally from Kentucky