* : *. *' W -F A *■ *s* r WH World-famous Beatles cover grou By Kathleen Loughran COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The Beatles will take the stage once again. No, not the members of the original band, but some of their most famous impersonators. the Cast of Beatlemania will play at 7 tonight on Old Main Lawn as part of the First Thursday Series of concerts held by the Downtown State College Improvement District. All concerts are free and open to the public, and Beatlemania’s performance is the fourth concert in the series. The Cast of Beatlemania grew out of **»»*■ “Beatlemania was on Broadway, and they were trying to put on a show that would tour around, so I joined them,” Cantamessa said. “We lovingly call it the road shows... we went out and brought it to the mass es, so that was kind of neat.” Though Cantamessa never performed with Beatlemania on Broadway, one of the members of The Cast of Beatlemania actually has. Lenie Colacino impersonates Paul McCartney for the group and has since his 1978 appearance on Broadway. “I answered an ad like so many young musicians do, and I guess I was pretty good because they hired me on the spot,” Colacino said. About 10 years later, Cantamessa joined Beatlemania, and once The Cast formed, he and Colacino have run the group ever since. The other members of the band include Jim Filgate as George Harrison, John Delgado as Ringo Starr and Mark Templeton, who is responsible for the band’s orchestrations and key boards. Cantamessa said he decided to audi tion for Lennon because Lennon was his favorite member of The Beatles. “I tried out for him because when I watched The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964, I thought John was the coolest... I thought I would love to do that one day,” Cantamessa said. “And my vocal range and sound is very similar to John Lennon, and so I got the job. I got luck} seer I say all the time, I’m the luckiest guy in Canl the world. I didn’t have to write the the i music, but I get to perform it.” cros Colacino also said he enjoys perform ing as a member of The Cast of Beatlemania “It still allows me to play and sing the were music that I grew up on,” he said. “It's Eng amazing that I’ve performed for so long song and haven’t gotten tired of it. It’s great to The love your work.” who Cantamessa said his favorite aspect of ful o being able to perform in the group is pare that he is able to frequently recreate Ai The Beatles’ music. pres “Every night you just get that chill Beai because you get so close to recreating toni| the music as we remember it,” he said. “I “You just get that jazzing feeling like Beai If you go What: The Cast of Be Where: Old Main Law When: 7 tonight Details: Show is free to the public.
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