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Event
Beatles Invasion Weekend
The Plaza Playhouse Theater celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four's arrival in America with a Beatles Invasion Weekend on February 8th and 9th which features a live show by The Tearaways, an on-stage interview and Q&A with Alan Parsons and a screening of the full one-hour Ed Sullivan Show of February 9, 1964 on which the Beatles appeared live for the first time on U.S. television. Other surprises, including lots of raffle prizes, will highlight the weekend!
The lads from Liverpool arrived at JFK airport in New York City on February 7, 1964 and were greeted by over 3,000 screaming fansmostly teenage girlsand set off a media frenzy not seen since the early days of Elvis Presley.
The group had been booked to appear on the Sunday evening "Ed Sullivan Show", the long running variety program on CBS that had been #1 in its time slot for nearly two decades. That showon which the Beatles would sing five songswould pull in 73 million viewers; nearly 50% of all households in the US had their TV tuned to the broadcast!
On Saturday, February 8th, The Tearawaysone of Santa Barbara's favorite bandstakes the Plaza Playhouse stage at 8 pm to entertain with their versions of some of the best known Beatles tunes. They'll be preceded by a half-hour discussion on the impact of the Beatles music with Dennis Mitchell, host of the long running national radio show, "Breakfast with The Beatles", who will bring his encyclopedic knowledge of the Fab Four to the weekend events.
In recent years, The Tearaways have been performing at the annual Beatles Festival held in Liverpool each August which attracts bands from over 20 countries and draws over 100,000 attendees from around the world. They've also spent time in the Abbey Road Studios working on their own projects.
Following The Tearaways performance, there will be a screening of a special film with an introduction and recollections by longtime local radio host Gary Fruin of K-LITE 101.7.
Tickets for the Saturday evening event are $20, available online or at Curious Cup Bookstore, 5285 Carpinteria Avenue in Carpinteria.
On Sunday, February 9, Alan Parsons ("Alan Parsons Project") will be on-stage at 3:30 pm for an hour-long Q&A with Dennis Mitchell about his time working in the Abbey Road Studios in London when The Beatles were recording their last two albums together.
Parsons later formed his own group and became a highly regarded and successful composer, arranger, musician, engineer, producer and mentor, exploring new forms of music and recording techniques. Audience members will have a chance to pose their questions to Alan.
Following the Parsons interview, the Plaza Playhouse will screen the entire one-hour "Ed Sullivan Show" of February 9, 1964exactly 50 years to the day that The Beatles appeared on the program! Following the screening, a lucky attendee will walk away with a 2-DVD set of all The Beatles appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Tickets for the Parsons interview are $12 and available online and at the Curious Cup Bookstore, 5285 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria.
A number of raffle prizes will be offered over the two days, including the latest CD box set containing all 13 Beatles albums released in the U.S and featuring the original cover art, including the infamous "butcher cover" that posed the lads dressed in white smocks and adorned with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of meat on the "Yesterday and Today" LP released in the summer of 1966.
It didn't take long before complaints from record store ownersand quite a few parentsreached the ears of the brass at Capitol Records, forcing the label to recall all the copies and then reissue the LP with a much more benign photo of the Fab Four. These days the original cover art is highly prized by collectors.
Proceeds from both events will go toward the purchase of a large format wide screen for the non-profit theater, a necessity if we intend to show the great film epics of the past as well as any contemporary movies. "We want to reach our goal of $25,000 in order to purchase and install an electrically retractable screen which will measure approximately 20'x14'," said newly installed board president Melinda Bie, who added, "The board's vision is for this theatre to continue having a real impact on the cultural arts in the Carpinteria Valley, so it's imperative that we bring it up to 21st century standards for movie presentations".
Tickets for the Beatles Invasion Weekend are available online and at Curious Cup Bookstore, 5285 Carpinteria Avenue in Carpinteria.
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LocationPlaza Playhouse Theater (View)
4916 Carpinteria Avenue
Carpinteria, CA 93013
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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