Theater review: 'Yesterday'

In the beginning, there was The Beatles. And they did appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” playing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1964 and the teenage girls didst scream mightily. And lo, they were followed by The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks. And great was the high-pitched screaming. For the British Invasion was upon the face of the land.

“Yesterday” returns to that yesterday over at Florida Studio Theatre. Richard Hopkins, Rebecca Hopkins and Jim Prosser created the revue; a four-man band recreates the sound. This all-American ensemble is made up of Eric Scott Anthony on lead guitar, John Bronston on keyboard, Ben Mackel on bass guitar, and Hunter Brown on rhythm guitar. Mackel and Anthony alternate as lead singers—and everybody gets a shot. Unless they’re goofing around, they don’t do fake British accents, luv. But the lads can play.

The show opens with the 800-pound, mop-top gorilla stomping the room. We hear a run of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Love You,” and other of The Beatles’ early bubble-gummy hits. Things take a gritty turn with a blistering run of “Rock and Roll Music”—originally, a Chuck Berry hit from 1957. (As Bronston points out, the Brits were selling America its own music.) The vibe gets grittier still with the garage band/protopunk sounds of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and The Troggs’ Wild Thing.” After that, a drop of honey from The Hollies—whose “Bus Stop” improbably celebrates the joys of monogamy and umbrellas. Gerry and the Pacemakers’ “Ferry Cross the Mersey” segues to a moody run of The Beatles’ introspective hits from Revolver and Rubber Soul. (The lads had a lot on their mind in those days. And weren’t wearing identical suits.) Vietnam drags on and the mood darkens. The Rolling Stones “Can’t Get No Satisfaction”—hell, they want to “Paint it Black.” Eric Burden screams “We Gotta Get Outta This Place.” Thus ends Act I.

After an escapist jaunt in a “Yellow Submarine,” the second act contemplates the messy business of growing up. Which includes messy adult love, of course. The Kinks “Lola” reminds us that girls will be boys and boys will be girls. The Zombies’ “The Time of the Season” suggests that the Summer of Love is a great time for, well, love. And speaking of peace, love and music, we discover that the “teenage wasteland” of the Who’s “Baba O’Reilly” was Woodstock. But free love can get expensive. John Lennon screams for “Help!” as Paul McCartney wonders about his romantic future in “When I’m 64.” Both mourn for “Yesterday,” and no wonder. The feminist, civil rights and anti-war protests were merging into one big march. The Hollies’ “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” offers a sweet image of solidarity. Yes, revolution was in the air. But it usually turns out badly, as The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” reminds us. We close on the utopian strains of “Imagine,” “Let it Be,” and “All You Need is Love.” Like a distant disco ball, the ’70s gleamed on the horizon. But The Beatles defiantly played one last concert on a rooftop anyway.

Director Catherine Randazzo serves up a hard-rocking show. The band makes light of its fierce musicianship with in-group banter and gentle gibes at the aging Boomers in the audience. Costume designer Susan Angermann tricks out the quartet in mod-style gear. Lighting designer Tom Hansen creates a trippy light show in the background, and flashes scenes of Woodstock, Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement on twin screens flanking the stage.

It all adds up to a great set, intelligently arranged, and crisply performed. Some British Invaders are left out. No Cream is served. No side order of Clapton or Winwood, either. But all our yesterdays don’t fit on a small stage. “Yesterday” gets a surprising amount of great music in there. A nostalgic Brit trip, for some.

But the Brits’ music is still great in its own right. Even today.