‘Backbeat’ reveals Beatles’ gritty early days
Paul Hodgins Orange County Register
Long before Yoko Ono appeared on the scene, another artsy foreigner made life difficult for the Beatles.Astrid Kirchherr, an aspiring German photographer, was introduced to the Fab Four during their gritty Hamburg days, when they cranked out six-hour gigs in some of the seediest clubs in Europe. Her love affair with Stuart Sutcliffe, the enigmatic […]
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Orange County Register
Long before Yoko Ono appeared on the scene, another artsy foreigner made life difficult for the Beatles.

Astrid Kirchherr, an aspiring German photographer, was introduced to the Fab Four during their gritty Hamburg days, when they cranked out six-hour gigs in some of the seediest clubs in Europe. Her love affair with Stuart Sutcliffe, the enigmatic art student who was the fifth Beatle, and its effect on his best friend, John Lennon, is the engine that powers the story of “Backbeat,” which opened Wednesday at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Directed by David Leveaux and featuring a largely British cast, this promising but problematic production is as plagued with bumps and bad decisions as the troubled triangle formed by Astrid, Sutcliffe and the band.

Adapted by Iain Softley and Stephen Jeffreys from Softley’s 1994 film, the song-filled play concentrates on the Beatles’ early, pre-fame days as a blue-collar rock group trying to sculpt a sound and style and make a few bucks.

Sent by a promoter to play the clubs in Hamburg’s infamous red-light district, The Reeperbahn and the Grosse Freiheit, the boys buckle but don’t break under the pressure of marathon club jobs, dodgy lodgings behind a cinema screen and bad-mannered patrons who constantly yearn to fight with them or take them to bed.

They’re working with a new drummer, Pete Best (Oliver Bennett), recruited for the job, as well as bass player Sutcliffe (Nick Blood), who couldn’t even play the instrument when his pal John coaxed him away from art school to join them (there’s a hilarious music lesson in which John teaches him to play only the open strings, which suffices for many rock tunes if they’re performed in the key of A).

Adding to the tension, Stu’s presence doesn’t sit well with Paul McCartney (Daniel Healy). And they’re bending German rules: George Harrison (Daniel Westwick) is underage.

From the beginning, Sutcliffe is a bad fit. He’s handsome, hides behind his Ray Bans and likes to strike aloof James Dean poses. The other band members are boisterous boys who wear their working-class credentials as proudly as their battered leather jackets, especially Lennon, played with a perennial chip on his shoulder by Andrew Knott. In performance, everyone rocks out except Sutcliffe, who coolly plucks with his legs crossed, stork-like, as if the roaring crowd wasn’t there.

The group’s inner tensions mount when Sutcliffe is introduced to Astrid (Leanne Best) by her boyfriend Klaus Voormann (Dominic Rouse), who astute Beatles fans will remember as the cover artist for “Revolver.” It’s angst-ridden love at first sight for these two bohemians.

Soon Sutcliffe doesn’t care about the Beatles. He misses a crucial recording session, leaving town on a date with Astrid. The conflict comes to a messy head as the band finds success. Sutcliffe chooses Astrid and his beloved painting, the Beatles are discovered by manager Brian Epstein (Mark Hammersley) and producer George Martin (James Wallace), and as a quartet they soon conquer the world.

For some, the details of the Beatles’ pre-fame period (roughly 1960-62) will be the most fascinating part of the story. Astrid was partly responsible for creating their look; she is shown transforming Sutcliffe’s hair into the slightly shaggy early Beatles ‘do. Epstein’s and Martin’s genius and vision are hinted at as well. There are scenes of Lennon and McCartney’s rough-and-tumble songwriting sessions, where the unique genius of each contributor is revealed. The actors all play the Beatles’ songs credibly and in character without resorting to slavish imitation.

But “Backbeat” has problems of pacing and storytelling. Some scenes are too long, quiet and meandering.

And it’s hard to get invested in the tension between Sutcliffe and the band, or understand Lennon and Sutcliffe’s intense relationship, without knowing more about them; there isn’t enough back story. That’s a problem with all the characters: we get little insight into what makes them tick. Without it, John’s perpetual anger makes him seem like an insensitive jerk, and his attraction to Sutcliffe remains a mystery.

Despite that handicap, some performers stand out. Blood expertly captures Sutcliffe’s dreamy allure and his growing dark impulses. As Lennon, Knott does his best to soften a character who quickly wears thin. Mod, tasteful and Euro-cool, Best’s Astrid would be any art school boy’s dream. Bennett has a nice moment when Best is fired from the band just as they’re breaking through. And Healy shines during a funny and insightful songwriting session when Lennon helps McCartney perfect “Love Me Do.”

Everything looks sharp and ’60s gritty on Andrew D. Edwards’ set, dominated by a bandstand that slides forward and an overhead walkway. During Astrid’s photo sessions with the band we’re treated to large, moody projections of the results by Timothy Bird and Nina Dunn. If “Backbeat’s” book could equal the precision of its scenic conception, Softley’s story would be much more palatable.