Beatle-mania looks as though it is about to strike the West End as the brain behind fan-favourite films Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill looks to create a splash with a new Beatles musical. Richard Curtis has teamed up with Trainspotting director Danny Boyle to create a stage-show adaptation of his hit film Yesterday for the theatres of the West End.
The pair of iconic directors held an event this week in front of some big-name investors, including Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber as they searched for a home to house the musical. Their show is an adaptation of the hit 2019 film that starred Himesh Patel, Lily James and Ed Sheeran. It follows a struggling singer-songwriter who suddenly finds himself as the only-person who remembers The Beatles. He soon becomes a global sensation playing their songs as he desperately tries to remember the words and melodies to the group’s biggest hits.
The film’s plot lends itself nicely to the stage, speaking to The Mirror, an insider revealed: “This has been kept under wraps for months, but it is a huge opportunity, and the prospect of a Beatles musical is too big to miss.
“It’s easy to imagine that it could play for years and years. There was a performance this week to show the basics of what the production will be, and all the big players in London’s theatre world came along.
“It’s a no-brainer that any theatre will want to host it, so there is likely to be a bit of a bidding war to secure it. These are the most famous songs of all time, so it could run and run.”
The show would have access to the back catalogue of the Fab Four, following a recent trend of some of the biggest hits of the past being played on stage, including We Will Rock You using Queens backlog and MJ the Musical following Michael Jackson.
It’s not the first time Beatle-mania has swept through the West End, with the story of John, Paul, George and Ringo being told in the 2012 show Let It Be.
But being able to use some of the most iconic songs of a century is easier said than done, previously being asked on whether it was tough getting the rights to the songs and if he’d spoken to Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, Richard Curits explained: “No. We dealt a lot with Sony and with Apple.
“I think if they’d have said no, it would have been impossible. If we were doing a film about a serial killer who loves The Beatles, they might have said no, but it clearly is quite a pro-Beatles thing.”
He added: “I think The Beatles are more embedded in culture than anybody else – even though, personally, I couldn’t bear a world without Kate Bush. But I don’t think it’s the same film.”