THE FIFTH BEATLE Headed to Screen & Stage; Tom Kitt Involved?

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting this morning that Broadway producer Vivek Tiwary (The Addams Family & American Idiot) has aquired Beatles song rights, a difficult feat, to use in his debut film which will be a biopic of Brian Epstein, the Beatle's former manager who was often called 'the fifth Beatle'. 

The paper reports that "Epstein, a closeted homosexual in the days when it was illegal in the U.K, suffered with his outsider status even as the band he managed because hugely famous. He died of a sedative overdose in 1967, a month after homosexuality was legalized."

According to the trade paper, ""My guess is we'll use six to 10 Beatles songs," Tiwary said. "We have the ironclad rights [or] ability to use the following songs, with the option to 'swap out' later for other songs if we decide to change the list: 'All You Need Is Love,' 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away,' 'A Day in the Life,' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' 'Yesterday,' 'Eleanor Rigby,' 'Help!' 'You Never Give Me Your Money,' 'Girl,' 'A Hard Day's Night,' 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Come Together'.""

In addition to the feature film, they also report that Tiwary is in talks with Tom Kitt about a stage musical as well. They're hoping to start production later this year on the film, no word yet about the stage show. 

Tom Kitt, who recently was the Music Supervisor/Orchestrator for Broadway's American Idiot, is the composer and co-orchestrator of the Broadway musical Next to Normal, for which he received two Tony Awards for Best New Score (with Brian Yorkey) and Best Orchestrations (with Michael Starobin). Tom is also the composer of High Fidelity (Broadway), From Up Here (MTC) and The Retributionists (Playwrights Horizons). As a musical director, conductor, arranger and orchestrator, credits include 13, Debbie Does Dallas, Everyday Rapture, Hair, Laugh Whore and Urban Cowboy. Tom provided string arrangements for Green Day's Grammy-winning album, 21st Century Breakdown. He is the proud leader of the Tom Kitt Band (www.tomkittband.com), whose songs have been featured in film and TV.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos