Fab Four tribute happy to get back to Monroe
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

MONROE - Some might say you "Can't Buy Me Love," or even a "Ticket to Ride," but anyone can buy a ticket to Beatlemania Now, a Beatles tribute band that will perform Nov. 18.

The group consists of four professional musicians who re-create the Fab Four for audiences ranging from 4 to 64 - and beyond.

"If I do say so myself, we put on a very entertaining show," said Scot Arch, who portrays John Lennon. "It takes a lot of people back, I think, a lot of people remember the times. That being said, there are a lot of younger people that get into it. It's very cross-generational."

The band goes to elaborate lengths to duplicate the Beatles experience, incorporating seven costume changes, British accents, and exotic instruments to recapture the sounds of more avant-garde songs.

"They're a very charismatic group," said Nancy Gunkelman, commissioner of the Monroe Township Cultural Arts Commission, which is sponsoring the show.

This month's show will be Beatlemania Now's second performance at the Richard P. Marasco Center for the Performing Arts, located at Monroe Township High School, Perrineville Road. In February 2005, the band's performance there was almost canceled because of a blizzard. Show organizers' concerns because of road closures and other cancellations did not take Beatles' fans dedication into consideration. The group played to a crowd of over 400 that night.

At that show, audience members, including the elderly, rose from their seats to sing and dance, Gunkelman said.

"They know how to work the crowd," Gunkelman said. "I recall one older woman in the back yelling, 'We love you, Ringo!' It was kind of surreal."

Beatlemania Now has been performing for over a decade, touring the country as well as internationally, and even playing for crowds of over 20,000. Their show spans from the early 1960s through 1970, when the Beatles broke up. For those who are too young to have experienced the music firsthand, they provide a big-screen video as their backdrop, playing back newsreels and other scenes from the band's history.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the township's Senior Center, which is located in the basement at 1 Municipal Plaza, or at the Monroe Township Community Center, 20 Monmouth Road. Prices are $12 for general admission and $8 for children and patrons of the arts.

For more information, visit the

commission's Web site at www.MonroeTownshipCulturalArts.com or call (732) 521-4400, ext. 134.