In the 90s we created a very successful Beatles Show in Theatretrain. It told the story of the group from their childhood to what happened to them after the breakup. In the first half, everyone wore only black, white or grey. We were exploring a TV world that hadn’t yet found colour. At the end of Act One we introduced dozens of colourful ribbons as everyone sang “All you need is Love.” In Act Two everyone dressed as colourful hippies and Chris Evans made hundreds of hippie canvas bags to which they added their own designs. The big moment in the second half was the shooting of John Lennon which we did to the song A Day in the Life (“I read the news today oh boy.”) with its amazing orchestral crescendo.
But it ended with love as we imagined the band looking over their life and reuniting to play their last song “The End.” We performed it successfully at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Dominion Theatre and the Royal Albert Hall.
In 2009 we gave ourselves a bigger challenge. We wanted to do something for charity. We put the same show into the O2 Arena and called the performers Voices for a Better World. This time worked with 6000 schoolchildren from all over southeast England. We gave them the song tracks and a video for the moves and props. They researched the Beatles and learnt what they had to do and later we came together with three enormous final rehearsals. Then it was the big day.
Sometimes people ask how we manage to control so many young people in one place, it must be impossible. Not a bit of it. For one thing, it’s hard to draw attention to yourself in front of so many – you get lost in the mix. But more interestingly when so many performers start to sing there is an excitement that makes them want to join in and do it well. Theatretrain was built on that feeling.
One unexpected star was Darryl who featured on our choir move videos. He became an instant legend when the schools began to recognise him from afar. Then we saw what fan worship and recognition could lead to – hysteria basically which suited Beatlemania well.
The enormous choir stretched up from the floor through the boxes and up to the circle. It covered the whole curve of one end of the audience. Down on the floor, we had dancers from schools in the London Borough of Havering and a wonderful group of performers with special needs. They were backed by professional performers including Eastenders star Cheryl Ferguson and a special appearance by Bill Bailey who was very supportive.
We’d hoped to fill the O2 but sadly that didn’t happen. I discovered that the vast majority of parents waved their children off but were not interested enough to go and see them. The event was to benefit two charities- an international organisation called Arts by Children and Molly Bedingfield’s Global Angels.
So after all the costs, there was precious little left for them but we learnt a lot and a few years later we played the O2 with Theatretrain and one day I’ll write about that.
