“With the new ‘Revolution: The Beatles Symphonic Experience,’ Robert Thompson wants to evoke the feeling of being a ‘time-traveling fly on the wall’ between 1963 and ‘69 at Abbey Road Studios in London,” writes Brandy McDonnell in Sunday’s (12/30) Oklahoman. “ ‘It’s the first concert of its kind that makes use of the extensive photo archive of the Beatles,’ … said Thompson, the president of Schirmer Theatrical LLC, which is producing the show…. Oklahoma Beatles fans will be among the first to experience the ‘Revolution’ when the Oklahoma City Philharmonic brings the audio-visual homage to the Fab Four to the Civic Center Friday and Saturday…. [Thompson] and Grammy winner Jeff Tyzik went back to the original master recordings at Abbey Road to create the arrangements for ‘Revolution.’ … ‘We did make some changes … but we did so with a mindset of like “What would [Beatles producer] Sir George Martin have done?” ’ Thompson said…. The band for the new production skips the costumes and isn’t even a quartet. It’s actually six musicians. He likened the band in ‘Revolution’ to the diverse cast of the Broadway smash ‘Hamilton’ in terms of forcing audiences to toss aside preconceived notions about familiar icons.”
Posted January 4, 2019
