“A stroke of genius… Fans of The Beatles will love the music, fans of cabaret will adore Price’s energy and emotional range” – Australian Stage
Following her sell-out Adele show Rumour Has It last year, the incredible Naomi Price and her band return to NORPA at Lismore City Hall on 10 & 11 November with her new show Lady Beatle – an exhilarating musical show about the real women who inspired The Beatles biggest chart toppers.
2017 Green Room Award winner Naomi Price takes the audience through The Beatles’ immortal catalogue with sparkling original arrangements, covering all the hits including Eleanor Rigby, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Here Comes the Sun, Yellow Submarine and more.
With an electrifying live band, psychedelic lighting and dazzling special effects, Lady Beatle delivers an exceptional night out for Beatles fans young and old.
“Lady Beatle is the third and final pop culture cabaret in our planned trilogy, following Rumour Has It and Wrecking Ball,” Price said. “This is certainly our most ambitious work to date.”
Unlike predecessors Rumour Has It and Wrecking Ball, centred on the lives of pop music icons Adele and Miley Cyrus respectively, Price said Lady Beatle wasn’t a ‘live Beatles biopic’.
“At no point will I take on the persona of any of the famous four,” Price said. “Instead, we’ve created an entirely original character, who’s perhaps The Beatles’ biggest fan, or maybe something different completely.”
Price says the production provides audiences with the opportunity to rediscover The Beatles’ incomparable catalogue as new, channeled through a sole female voice.
“The Beatles’ music is so instantly recognisable and iconic, and every man, woman and child seems to know the biggest hits word-for-word,” Price said.
“But far less known are the individual remarkable stories behind the hits – from the five-year-old preschooler who inspired Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds to 17-year-old runaway Melanie Coe to whom She’s Leaving Home is attributed.
“This show was born from these real-life stories of seemingly ordinary women who are forever immortalised as part of an extraordinary legacy.”
For UK-born Price, the work also holds deep personal significance, with connections to her own family in England.
“My first encounter with the music of The Beatles was through my dad, Paul, who was born in Liverpool,” Price said. “He had a Beatles songbook and would play the songs on his guitar, and so I taught myself my favourite songs. As a child, I loved Penny Lane and Love Me Do.”
While she can’t be certain, Price said she held suspicions that her father’s name may be the result of his own mother’s Beatlemania.
“Dad’s mum, May, had the thickest Scouse accent you could imagine. During the school holidays, she took me on the ferry across the Mersey River to visit The Beatles Museum and the Cavern,” Price said.
“Grandma and her sister Josie used to visit the Cavern and listen to The Beatles play live. She taught me how to do the twist and told me her favourite Beatle was ‘our Paul’.
“Sadly, we lost my darling grandmother in 2015 and so, in a way, this show is my way of saying thank you to her for instilling in me a love of life, laughs and music.”
“There are literally hundreds of songs in The Beatles’ catalogue, and if you ask people their favourite, you’re certain to get a hundred different responses,” Price said.
“Our challenge is to give audiences what they want, but certainly not what they’re expecting,” Price said.
“What we can promise, though, is incredible live music, new arrangements of your favourite Beatles’ songs, magical entertainment, and plenty of surprises.”
Lady Beatle plays two nights only at NORPA at Lismore City Hall on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 November starring Naomi Price, with Mik Easterman (Drums), Andrew Johnson (Bass), Michael Manikus (Piano) and Jason McGregor (Guitars).
NORPA presents
LADY BEATLE
Starring Naomi Price with a live band
A La Boite & Little Red Company Production
Friday 10 & Saturday 11 November, 7:30pm
NORPA at Lismore City Hall
Tickets: $25-$55
Bookings: norpa.org.au or 1300 066 772
Patron advice: Suitable for all ages. Low level coarse language.
