“Rutlemania!” comes to New York City. [From the archives.]

In honor of Neil Innes' appearance at The Fest For Beatles Fans next weekend, here's something about The Rutles:

By Jeff Slate, for Pythonline.com
March 27, 2008

“We are, quite literally, in our fourth week of production,” a a shocked and stunned Eric Idle told me after the opening night of
“Rultemania!” last night here at New York City’s Gramercy Blender Theater.

Shocked? Stunned? You bet. “Rutlemania!” is a loving tribute to The Rutles, Idle’s 1978 concoction that was in fact a tribute to The Beatles, and is a wild, rollicking success.

As the legend goes, after seeing a rough cut of what eventually became The Beatles’ “Anthology” documentary courtesy of his pal George Harrison, Idle teamed up with “Seventh Python” Neil Innes to send up the story of the Fabs. So true to the real story was the telling that the NBC TV show “All You Need Is Cash” became the template for all documentaries about The Beatles since, even being referred to in the band’s “Anthology” itself.


So what is “Rutlemania!”? The show interweves live performances by the pheonomenal “Fab Four” – a Beatles tribute band from Las Vegas – with footage from the original Rules television show and the recent sequal “Can’t Buy Me Lunch.”

We see the Fab Four, in costume true to the original show, recreate the Rutles story in synch with the original footage, with breaks for a bit of acting and exposition and film of celebrities like Steve Martin, Garry Shandling, Paul Simon, Mick Jagger and even George Harrison himself (who got the night’s loudest cheer) reminiscing about the impact of The Rutles or just playing along with the gag. Idle’s narration, in the guise of an overwrought investigative journalist, is the thread that holds it all together.

All that and two energetic Go-Go dancers! What more can be said? Rutles, Python and even Beatles fans should count themselves lucky that there’s something new and fun to spend their money on.

“Just about a month ago I got a call from Eric saying he had a production he wanted to stage and asking if I was available,” Chris Williams, of the shows production team, told me after the show. “Three weeks ago we had a bare stage for the very first rehearsals.” So, no wonder Eric Idle seemed shocked and stunned. They actually pulled it off.

This is certainly no big-budget “Spamalot”-type Broadway production. But it is fun, and light, and moves along at a brisk pace for all but a few moments at the beginning of the second act when the Fab Four dips in to the songs from the 1990’s Rutles “reunion” album.

It’s fun to see the story come to life, and the Fab Four pull off as a four piece what most Beatles cover bands can’t do with backing tapes. The versions of Rutles songs they play are precise and loose at the same time, and the acting they do is lighthearted and true to the original television show (and the actual Beatles themselves.)

“Not bad for a tribute to a band that never existed, eh?” Idle said as we parted, with a gleam in his eye.

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