Do You Want To Know A Secret? Starting in September, There’s A Place to Help fulfill that need within you to Get Back to Yesterday, a place to run Helter Skelter With A Little Help From My Friends down The Long and Winding Road to a time when the music scene changed forever.
British Invasion will return to the Americana Theatre on Friday, September 6, and will run through the start of November. The show has been revamped from previous years but according to cast member Adam Webster, it will still have all the favorites from anchors of the time which caused a seismic shift in the music business.
“Really excited to present a timeline of how music changed over the entirety of the British Invasion and the Beatles led the way for that whole thing to start out with a softer bubble gum, matching suits group into a psychedelic Sgt. Pepper’s situation, which turned into a harder Abbey Road type of Beatles,” Webster told Branson Tri-Lakes News. “The Beatles led the way for all these other acts to follow along. They opened up the door to early things like Herman’s Hermits, and proceeded from there into things like Led Zeppelin and Queen and Elton John and that sort of thing.”
Adam Webster as John Lennon in British Invasion.
The show will also feature the other major group of the era who recently came to the Ozarks.
“The Stones,” Webster said. “Oh yes. We will always have the Stones. Johnny Moroko, who is one of the top Mick Jagger tribute artists in the world, was even praised by Mick himself when the Stones played at Thunder Ridge. Johnny just instinctively knows how to bring a crowd to life. We’re lucky to have him.”
He said the show will stick mostly to the songs from the 1960s, with artists like Dusty Springfield, but will dip into the 1970s when they feature Led Zeppelin and other late-era acts.
“We’re really excited to have a couple of new cast members coming in and being able to present some of that earlier music,” Webster said. “We’re not going to go entirely into a full hard rock situation, having just come off of a full season of Classic Rock Icons. That’s kind of its own animal. So to be able to present a timeline of British music to help make the distinction between different styles, we touch on it. So there is going to be something for everybody.”
He said the new additions to the cast are helping the revitalization of the show.
“I would venture to say it is probably the most high energy version of British Invasion we’ve ever put together,” Webster said. “I’m really proud of the production, and everyone in this cast has played together for so long. We found a great group [of performers.] We’re super excited to have the addition of Zach Pettie, who’s our guitar player in Classic Rock Icons. He’s also going to be playing with us for British Invasion, so to have him in this season is going to be huge for us, really.”
He said Rachel Merrick, who among other shows is in the Americana’s “Awesome 80s” production, will also be joining the cast to add in additional styles of the era’s music. He said Matthew Boyce, the driving force in Elvis: Story of a King, will also be a key part of the show.
And while he performs songs by multiple artists in the show, Webster says it all comes back to one place for him.
“I was put on God’s green earth to be a Beatle,” Webster said. “I’ve portrayed John Lennon for decades, so to be able to do that three times a week and bring back a message of peace, love and harmony, it’s awfully hard to beat that. I just enjoy that the most out of anything else I get to do. So I’m very excited to start again.”
British Invasion will play at 2 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, and 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting on Friday, September 6. Tickets are available now through americanatheatrebranson.com.