ReviewJournal.com - Neon - MIKE WEATHERFORD: Beatles tribute reopens at Riviera
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- dankitti
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Las Vegas is a more-of-everything kind of town. But two Fab Fours? Eight is enough.
It will be hard for the Beatles tribute to avoid confusion with "Fab Four Live." That one has been running at the V Theater adjacent to Planet Hollywood since June, when two "Mania" cast members -- Steve Craig as John Lennon and Tony Felicetta as Ringo Starr -- split off from the Sahara's outbound revue to front a rival venture.
It took "Mania" this long to find a new home on the Strip, letting the other group run unopposed and failing to get the issue of who can use "Fab Four" resolved in time to avoid a showdown in the marketplace.
"We're letting the attorneys battle it out," says Ron McNeil, president of the Riviera's Fab Four and the group's main John Lennon. It's a sticky intellectual property issue; both groups do a delicate dance with the work of the Beatles, who as a business entity have the official, licensed production "Love" on the Strip.
McNeil is optimistic about opening in a topsy-turvy economy because of the group's long history on the Strip. The original Fab Four -- this is starting to sound like the "Spinal Tap" bit about "The New Originals," isn't it? -- first came to town in 2001. In 2005, a twin cast gave the group a full-time Las Vegas presence while the main group toured and also participated in Eric Idle's "Rutlemania," a spoof of all this tribute band insanity. The Riviera show will mix and match both casts. ...
Considering all the economic reasons not to open a show right now, the arrival of two more proves just how stalwart our local showbiz entrepreneurs can be.
It will be hard for the Beatles tribute to avoid confusion with "Fab Four Live." That one has been running at the V Theater adjacent to Planet Hollywood since June, when two "Mania" cast members -- Steve Craig as John Lennon and Tony Felicetta as Ringo Starr -- split off from the Sahara's outbound revue to front a rival venture.
It took "Mania" this long to find a new home on the Strip, letting the other group run unopposed and failing to get the issue of who can use "Fab Four" resolved in time to avoid a showdown in the marketplace.
"We're letting the attorneys battle it out," says Ron McNeil, president of the Riviera's Fab Four and the group's main John Lennon. It's a sticky intellectual property issue; both groups do a delicate dance with the work of the Beatles, who as a business entity have the official, licensed production "Love" on the Strip.
McNeil is optimistic about opening in a topsy-turvy economy because of the group's long history on the Strip. The original Fab Four -- this is starting to sound like the "Spinal Tap" bit about "The New Originals," isn't it? -- first came to town in 2001. In 2005, a twin cast gave the group a full-time Las Vegas presence while the main group toured and also participated in Eric Idle's "Rutlemania," a spoof of all this tribute band insanity. The Riviera show will mix and match both casts. ...
Considering all the economic reasons not to open a show right now, the arrival of two more proves just how stalwart our local showbiz entrepreneurs can be.
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- groups:
- The Beatles
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- tags:
- The Beatles, beatles tribute
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- credits:
- dankitti let it be
