Backbeat, the West End stage adaptation of the British film about the early years of The Beatles, is to close early at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
The show, which had been booking to March, will now close on 18 February 2012. It will be followed on 22 February by American movie star Zach Braff (Scrubs) in a ten week run of his off-Broadway comedy All New People.
Based on Iain Softley’s 1994 film, and co-written by Softley and Stephen Jeffreys, Backbeat reveals how The Beatles ‘became’ The Beatles – when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe embarked on their journey from the docks of Liverpool to search for success in the seedy red light district of Hamburg, Germany.
Performing in the clubs of the Reeperbahn, they played rock ‘n’ roll covers night after night, with classics including Twist And Shout, Long Tall Sally and Mr Postman.
At the heart of show is the triangular relationship between Lennon, his best friend and The Beatles’s original bassist Sutcliffe, and German photographer Astrid Kirchherr, with whom Kirchherr fell in love.
Directed by David Leveaux, the show stars Andrew Knott, Daniel Healy, William Payne, Oliver Bennett, Nick Blood and Ruta Gedmintas.
The show will follow it’s West End run with a production in Toronto in Summer 2012.
LINKS
SPECIAL OFFER: Book tickets to Backbeat at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London
Backbeat: Round-up of Reviews
Backbeat: Production photos
