The British Invasion
The British Invasion
Written and Directed by Kerry A Giese
Musical Direction by Amanda Hudson Giese
Choreography Hanna Klein
My Dream Tree Productions
Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, Pink Venue</strong>
The history of Rock and roll might be a blur to today’s listeners, the sounds of rockabilly, do wop, soul, disco and punk may all feel contemporaneous, it’s like George Washington and Abe Lincoln golfing together. But these sounds all appeared at various times, and built upon each other to give us the monoliths of Sirius XM and Pandora. A real mile marker was the British Invasion, a period that runs from 1963 to the rise of the psychedelic movement around 1966. The British Invasion bands were led by the Beatles, but there were dozens of other’s. Today the music would be called power pop – strong hooks, a verse and chorus structure populated by mostly male vocals, lyrics focusing on the fun part of love, and a guitar and drum basis. We open with the first play of a Beatles song in America; “I Want to Hold Your Hand” tore up the charts and we then plunge into subsequent hits from Eric Burdon to Tom Jones, the Stones and the Who. The show is chatty and well-conceived, but occasionally the harmonies jar and even at this end-of-the-run show the voices aren’t always in harmony or on cue. But I sang along, clapped my hands and answered trivia questions and had fun; view this as a friendly night of Karaoke rather than a real tribute concert.
This production is part of the 2014 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. Information on tickets and show times may be found at http://OrlandoFringe.org/
