Review: Backbeat

© Photo courtesy of the company

Now playing in Toronto by way of Glasgow and London’s West End—and prior to a hoped-for Broadway run—Backbeat: The Birth of the Beatles is far from the cheery juke-box musical one might expect. Concentrating on the tragic story of Stu Sutcliffe, the band’s original bassist who left the group to pursue an art career only to die from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 21, this musical adapted from the 1994 film is something of a downer despite the joyful rock music on display.  

Still, there’s much here to admire, especially the profusion of meticulously recreated musical performances of the band’s original repertoire. The show concentrates on their early years, especially their residency at Hamburg’s seedy Kaiserkeller club, so expect to hear exuberant renditions of such classic rock and pop songs as “Johnny B. Goode,” “Long Tall Sally,” “A Taste of Honey” and “You Really Got a Hold on Me.”

The principal focus is on Sutcliffe (Nick Blood), who could barely play his instrument and was recruited into the band primarily because of his brooding, James Dean-style good looks and extremely close friendship with John Lennon (Andrew Knott). Although much has since been made of the exact nature of the relationship between the two similarly rebellious young men, the show handles it in a veiled, oblique fashion that proves dramatically unsatisfying.  

Equally frustrating is the depiction of the central love affair between Sutcliffe and Astrid Kirchherr (Isabella Calthorpe), the beautiful young German photographer who eventually persuaded him to leave the band and follow his artistic dreams, but not before being instrumental in creating their distinctive mop-top hairstyles. As portrayed here, the two essentially peripheral figures are simply not that interesting.

Fortunately, the material’s dramatic deficiencies are compensated for by the terrific musical numbers, with the actors playing their own instruments as well as singing.  The talented perfomers,, mostly imported from the original production, effectively convey the sheer joy these young men felt in their transformation from a skiffle cover band to pop music icons.  

Accentuating the thinness of the main storyline is the fact the most effective scene in the show--adapted for the stage by the film’s director Iain Softley and playwright Stephen Jeffreys (The Libertine)--occurs during a lull in the action when Lennon and McCartney (Daniel Healy) are seen writing “Love Me Do.” Their beautifully written exchange perfectly conveys the contrasting artistic and personal styles that would eventually form one of the most fruitful collaborations in music history. 

Other effective moments come when the band’s ambitious producer George Martin (James Wallace) fires the devastated original drummer, Pete Best (Oliver Bennett) and especially when Astrid photographs the band members. Those now iconic pictures are projected on a large screen in a wonderfully nostalgic montage that breathtakingly conveys her subjects’ photogenic charisma. 

Veteran David Leveaux has staged the proceedings in admirably fluid fashion, with the action shifting back and forth between London, Hamburg and Liverpool. The show ends with a rather obvious effort to send audiences out on a high note, with an encore featuring performances of more Beatles classics that feels all too similar to the “megamixes” that have become a tired theatrical staple of pop music-themed musicals.

Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. West, Toronto, Canada. 416-872-1212. www.mirvish.com. Through Sept. 2.