Beatles show on Bliss

[UKstages]

i've seen "the beatles" four or five times on various ships. yes, it's true... cavern club "sells out" very quickly and queuing is required if you want to get in. personally, i prefer the theatre shows. nearly everybody can get a seat and, when you come right down to it, on close examination (which is possible in the tiny confines of the cavern club), it's quite obvious that these are not in fact (spoiler alert!) the beatles. that is less obvious the further away you're able to sit in the theatre!

 

nor are these guys "an incredible simulation," as the original broadway version of "beatlemania" proclaimed in their advertising in the 1980s. if we're being honest, i haven't seen a complete set of beatles yet on any ship in which all four of them were anything even remotely close to being "fab."

 

on the bliss a couple of years ago, "paul" couldn't sing.  if paul can't sing, you don't really have a viable beatles cover band. on the joy a few months ago, "john" was truly sensational and "ringo" was more than competent. "george" and "paul," however would have been laughed at and heckled in a community theatre production. paul didn't even know the set list order. (to be fair, upon returning from an excursion, i heard them rehearsing one afternoon, so perhaps they were putting two new guys into the show and they both needed some "HELP!")

 

look, nothing i say here is going to dissuade anybody from seeing the beatles show, but i recommend going in with very low expectations. it's quite likely that one or more of the alleged lads from liverpool will be absolutely dreadful and that could put a damper on the whole show. also, the production values are quite low for this show, as well. the costumes and wigs are ill fitting and amateurish. the slide projections look like they were designed on a commodore 64 computer.

 

(other than that, how did you enjoy the play, mrs. lincoln?)

 

all that being said, if you can get past the variable quality of the performances, it's a lovely nostalgic show with great music.

[wc14]

Just came back from an Alaskan cruise on the Norwegian Bliss April 2024. The Beatles Experience show was absolutely horrible. Never have I've seen so many people walking out a theatre in crowds during the middle of a performance. They started the show and went 3 songs in without any introduction. The main singer was decent but everyone else was very bad, the guy on the keyboard sounded like he was banging on the keys and playing the wrong notes. The show was so bad I feel like it scarred my memory of such an amazing ship.