PRESS RELEASE | BILL ELMS ASSOCIATES
WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 2016| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Annerin Productions and Flying Entertainment present
EXTRA DATES ADDED TO
BIGGEST EVER ‘LET IT BE’ TOUR
CAST ANNOUNCED –– OPENS NEXT WEEK – JANUARY TO JULY 2016 – 26 VENUES
_____________________________________________________________
Audiences round the country are gearing up to Twist and Shout when the biggest ever tour of The Beatles’ celebration
show LET IT BE starts next week (Tuesday, 12 January) – and a further five venues have been added to the tour
before the curtain even goes up.
The national UK tour will visit 26 theatres across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales between January and July
2016 – entertaining theatregoers with a show spanning the iconic eras of the band’s illustrious career.
Opening with six performances at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend on 12 January 2016, the tour continues throughout
the Spring and Summer months with the final date currently confirmed as 23 July at the Theatre Royal in Brighton.
The mega tour will take in Southend; Southampton; Bromley; Bath; Torquay; Truro; Sheffield; Manchester;
Wimbledon; Dublin; Woking; Blackpool; York; Swansea; Edinburgh; Birmingham; Aylesbury; Darlington;
Canterbury; Bristol and Oxford.
Dates have now been added for Eastbourne; Dartford; Nottingham; Leeds and Brighton. Further venues are
expected to be announced.
The start of the new tour coincides with the 53rd anniversary of The Beatles’ second single, Please Please Me – which
was released on 11 January 1963. Over half a century later, The Beatles have never been so popular with a real
resurgence in the band’s popularity and new fans discovering their music.
LET IT BE audiences can look forward to a show lasting more than two hours bursting with timeless hits, showstopping
sets, dazzling costumes and a brilliant performance which fans will never forget. The show also continues to attract
theatregoers and fans of live music, alongside the most dedicated Beatles’ enthusiasts.
LET IT BE will take to the road thanks to Annerin Productions and Flying Entertainment.
A cast of talented musicians will take to stages across the country as the Fab Four, wowing audiences with their
effortless and indistinguishable portrayal as John, Paul, George and Ringo. The performers have already toured the
show to some of the biggest stages in the world including Broadway.
The cast have been confirmed as Paul Canning and Reuven Gershon (John Lennon); Emanuele Angeletti and Iain
Hornal (Paul McCartney); John Brosnan and Paul Mannion (George Harrison); Luke Roberts (Ringo Starr). The band
will be joined on stage throughout the tour by Michael Bramwell on keyboards.
Derek Nicol, joint Managing Director of Flying Entertainment, commented: “The time has come to take LET IT BE on
the road for its biggest ever tour – it’s an incredibly exciting time for the show and we’re delighted to add another five
venues to the tour before it’s even started.
“We have an extremely talented cast who have performed the show to audiences on New York’s Broadway, in London’s
West End, and toured across Europe and Japan. The show’s most recent run was in Liverpool, where they certainly
know their stuff when it comes to The Beatles. They truly welcomed LET IT BE into their hearts, the response was
fantastic and we knew it was time to share the show with the rest of the country through a 26-venue tour spanning
seven months.
“The show will have audiences on their feet from the very start. They won’t be able to help themselves thanks to the
iconic songbook from the world’s biggest band. We’re also looking forward to entertaining the next generation of
Beatles’ fans.”
LET IT BE celebrates the music of the world’s most successful rock ‘n’ roll band in a spectacular concert charting the
band’s meteoric rise from their humble beginnings in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, through the height of Beatlemania, to
their later studio masterpieces. They were just four boys from Liverpool who went on to change the world.
The show celebrates music history’s greatest ever worldwide phenomenon and is packed with over 40 of The Beatles’
greatest hits, including Twist and Shout, She Loves You and Drive My Car, as well as global mega hits Yesterday, Hey
Jude, Come Together and, of course, Let It Be. Travel back to the Swinging Sixties when all you needed was love, and a
little help from your friends!
The show has already wowed London’s West End and New York’s Broadway audiences. It recently completed a fiveweek run in the birthplace of the biggest band in the world, Liverpool, where it enjoyed 5-star rave reviews and sellout performances at Royal Court Theatre Liverpool.
The Liverpool run coincided with what would have been John Lennon’s 75th Birthday, breaking box office records at
Royal Court Theatre Liverpool as the venue’s fastest selling show.
Now seen by over 1 million people worldwide, LET IT BE continues to delight audiences across the globe, having
recently performed to audiences in Germany, Japan, Moscow, and France.
LET IT BE has established itself as one of the West End’s most popular shows since originally opening at the Prince of
Wales Theatre in September 2012, where it recouped its initial investment after just 18 weeks before transferring for
a year-long run at the Savoy Theatre from January 2013 through to February 2014. Before moving to Royal Court
Theatre Liverpool, the show completed an 8-month run at the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End.
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter:
www.LetItBeLive.com
Let It Be UK Tour
@LetItBeUKTour
FULL TOUR LISTING
SOUTHEND
Cliffs Pavilion
12 January – 16 January 2016
01702 351 135
www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk
SOUTHAMPTON
Mayflower
18 January – 23 January 2016
02380 711811
www.mayflower.org.uk
BROMLEY
Churchill Theatre
25 January – 30 January 2016
0844 871 7620
www.atgtickets.com/bromley
BATH
Theatre Royal
1 February – 6 February 2016
01225 448 844
www.theatreroyal.org.uk
TORQUAY
Princess Theatre
8 February – 13 February 2016
0844 871 3023
www.atgtickets.com/torquay
TRURO
Hall for Cornwall
15 February – 20 February 2016
01872 262 466
www.hallforcornwall.co.uk
SHEFFIELD
Lyceum Theatre
22 February – 27 February 2016
0114 249 6000
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
MANCHESTER
Opera House
29 February – 5 March 2016
0844 871 3018
www.atgtickets.com/manchester
WIMBLEDON
New Theatre
7 March – 12 March 2016
0844 871 7646
www.atgtickets.com/wimbledon
DUBLIN
Board Gais Energy Theatre
14 March – 19 March 2016
00353 (1) 677 7999
www.boardgaisenergytheatre.ie
WOKING
New Victoria Theatre
21 March – 26 March 2016
0844 871 7645
www.atgtickets.com/woking
BLACKPOOL
Grand Theatre
28 March – 2 April 2016
01253 290 190
www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk
YORK
Grand Opera House
4 April – 9 April 2016
0844 871 3024
www.atgtickets.com/york
SWANSEA
Grand Theatre
11 April – 16 April 2016
01792 475 715
www.swansea.gov.uk/swanseagrandtheatre
EDINBURGH
Playhouse Theatre
18 April – 23 April 2016
0844 871 3014
www.atgtickets.com/edinburgh
BIRMINGHAM
Hippodrome
25 April – 30 April 2016
0844 338 5000
www.birminghamhippodrome.com
AYLESBURY
Waterside Theatre
2 May – 7 May 2016
0844 871 7607
www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury
DARLINGTON
Civic Theatre
9 May – 14 May 2016
01325 486 555
www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk
EASTBOURNE
Congress Centre
1 June – 4 June 2016
01323 412 000
www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk
CANTERBURY
Marlowe Theatre
6 June – 11 June 2016
01227 787 787
www.marlowetheatre.com
BRISTOL
Hippodrome
13 June – 18 June 2016
0844 871 3012
www.atgtickets.com/bristol
OXFORD
New Theatre
20 June – 25 June 2016
0844 871 3020
www.atgtickets.com/oxford
DARTFORD (on sale 13 January 2016)
Orchard Theatre
27 June – 2 July 2016
01322 220 000
www.orchardtheatre.com
NOTTINGHAM
Royal Concert Hall
5 July – 9 July 2016
0115 989 5555
www.trch.co.uk
LEEDS (on sale 27 January 2016)
Grand Theatre
11 July – 16 July 2016
0844 848 2700
www.leedsgrandtheatre.com
BRIGHTON (on sale 18 January 2016)
Theatre Royal
18 July – 23 July 2016
0844 871 7650
www.atgtickets.com/brighton
ENDS
__________________________________________________________________________________
For more information, images, interview or review requests, please contact:
Bill Elms at Bill Elms Associates on 0151 245 0136 | bill@billelms.com | www.billelms.com
Erica Dillon at Bill Elms Associates on 0151 708 5158 | erica@billelms.com | www.billelms.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
TOUR LAUNCH PHOTOCALL
TUESDAY 12 JANUARY 2016 – 2.15PM – CLIFFS PAVILION, SOUTHEND, ESSEX
The cast from LET IT BE are available for a photocall at Cliffs Pavilion at 2.15pm on Tuesday 12 January 2016 – to mark
the opening of the show’s biggest ever tour. The cast will be in full costume. Please email Bill or Erica if you wish to
attend.
VENUE ADDRESS: Cliffs Pavilion, Station Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7RA.
NATIONAL PRESS NIGHT
MONDAY 25 JANUARY 2016 – 7.30PM – CHURCHILL THEATRE, BROMLEY, LONDON
Press are invited to attend the National Press Night to review LET IT BE on Monday 25 January 2016. The show starts
at 7.30pm. Please email Bill or Erica if you wish to attend.
VENUE ADDRESS: Churchill Theatre, High Street, Bromley, BR1 1HA.
Producer Jeff Parry
A syndicated interview is available with LET IT BE creator / producer Canadian Jeff Parry from Annerin Productions.
About The Beatles
The Beatles are George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. They released their first single, Love Me Do, on
5th October 1962. They are the best-selling band in history, with estimated sales of over one billion units. The group received 7
Grammy awards, 15 Ivor Novello Awards and an Oscar. They have more multi-platinum albums, more number one singles and
more number one albums than any other group. They are the only act to have simultaneously held the top five positions on the
US Billboard chart. They are the only group to appear five times in the top 100 best-selling singles in the UK – no other group
appears more than twice. Their song Yesterday is the most covered song in history. Their song I Want To Hold Your Hand is the
fastest selling single of all time. The Beatles 1 is the fastest selling CD of all time. The group officially split in December 1970.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LET IT BE CAST
Paul Canning (John Lennon)
Paul has toured LET IT BE all over the world, including the European Tour 2014; Japan Tour (2014 and 2015), Monaco and the fiveweek run in Liverpool (Autumn 2015). Paul, 37, is married with two children. Born in Wolverhampton, brought up in Brentwood,
Essex, and is now based in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Favourite Beatles song: In My Life
Reuven Gershon (John Lennon)
John Lennon has been a big part of Reuven’s life, having played the Beatles’ front man in various shows, bands, programmes and
films since 2009. He has been with LET IT BE since 2012 and has tours the show all over the world including Japan, America and
Canada. He is originally from Birmingham. A highlight was playing Imagine to the Liverpool audience on John Lennon’s 75th Birthday
on 9 October 2015.
Favourite Beatles song: Impossible to answer!
Emanuele Angeletti (Paul McCartney)
Known as Manny, he was part of the original cast to open LET IT BE in London’s West End in 2012. The 40-year-old is from Italy
and is still based there between work commitments. He has played Paul McCartney in various productions for 15 years.
Favourite Beatles song: The Long And Winding Road
Iain Hornal (Paul McCartney)
Iain has previously appeared in LET IT BE when it toured Japan in 2013. The 35-year-old is originally from Reading, and is now
based in London.
Favourite Beatles song: Penny Lane
John Brosnan (George Harrison)
John is part of the original cast who opened LET IT BE in the West End (2012) and on New York’s Broadway (2013), which he classes
as real highlights. The Irish/Australian is especially looking forward to performing in Ireland.
Favourite Beatles song: Across The Universe
Paul Mannion (George Harrison)
Paul has been part of the LET IT BE cast for three years and has played both West End runs, as well as shows round Europe including
Amsterdam, Germany and Vienna. A highlight was playing George in his home town of Liverpool during the Autumn of 2015.
Favourite Beatles song: Here Comes The Sun
Luke Roberts (Ringo Starr)
Luke is part of the original West End and Broadway cast. He was also part of the LET IT BE line-up who played to 70,000 people at
the BBC Proms In The Park at Hyde Park in 2012. Originally from Birmingham, Luke then moved to Leamington Spa. He is now
based in London.
Favourite Beatles song: Come Together
Michael Bramwell (keyboards)
Michael studied piano at the London College of Music and has performed, recorded and toured internationally as a pianist and
keyboard player. He was Associate Musical Director for We Will Rock You in Germany, and also regularly performed in the London
production. He has been part of the Let It Be cast since the show opened in 2012.
Favourite Beatles song: Something