From Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road, 'RAIN' delivers Beatles experience

The members of "RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles" don't just cover Beatles songs, they're dedicated to delivering a perfect, note-for-note performance of each original masterpiece. They even look, talk and act like the Beatles. RAIN will bring Beatlemania to Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. March 13 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

For more than two decades, RAIN has been astounding audiences with uncannily accurate renditions of Beatles songs. "The next best thing to seeing the Beatles," said the Denver Post. "Quite amazing...Able to perform live things the Beatles never could!" said the Boston Herald. With a repertoire of more than 200 Beatles songs, RAIN has been met with wildly enthusiastic audiences: both devotees from the Beatles' prime and those born too late to experience them live. The multimedia, multidimensional show is a fusion of historical footage from the '60s, live camera projection from three screens and five different scene/costume changes. The ensemble leaves no era of the Beatles career untouched: covering everything from the early Ed Sullivan days, the Sgt. Pepper era, the flower-power '60s and timeless Abbey Road. As The Philadelphia Inquirer said, "RAIN is a spectacular extravaganza...did the audience love it? Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Working hard for many years studying each note and nuance, RAIN is able to reproduce songs spanning the entirety of the Beatles' career; even performing live the songs that never left the Fab Four's studio. The four: Joey Curatolo (vocals, bass, guitar, piano), Joe Bithorn (vocals, lead guitar, guitar synthesizer), Ralph Castelli (vocals, drums, percussion), Steve Landes (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica) and Mark Lewis, RAIN's founding member (keyboards, percussion) are talented artists in their own right, performing the show's music and vocals without any pre-recorded tapes or sequences.

This performance is funded in part by support from Woods and Aitken LLP and Tier One Bank.

Tickets for this performance are $50, $45 and $40. UNL students with a valid I.D., as well as youths age 18 and younger, may purchase tickets for half price. Call the Lied Ticket Office, 301 N. 12th St., at (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability. Regular ticket office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.liedcenter.org.

As part of the Lied Center's ongoing education programming, a pre-performance talk will be held in the Lied Center's Steinhart Room. The pre-talk speaker will be local performer Matthew Landis. Seating is limited in the Steinhart, and the pre-talk will begin 30 minutes before curtain or when the room is full.

The Nebraska Arts Council, a state agency, has supported the programs of this organization through its matching grants program funded by the Nebraska Legislature; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

Lied Center programming is supported by Friends of Lied and grants from Association of Performing Arts Presenters; National Endowment for the Arts; Mid-America Arts Alliance; Nebraska Arts Council; New England Foundation for the Arts; and Lincoln Arts Council. All events in the Lied Center are made possible entirely or in part by the Lied Performance Fund, which has been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.

For more information about "Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles," visit www.raintribute.com.