Gloucestershire man as Beatle Ringo Starr in Let It Be

GORDON Elsmore's dream has come true.

Ringo Starr was always his favourite Beatle and for the first time on a West End stage, the 38-year-old Bream man has stepped into his shoes.

Playing the icon in the new musical Let It Be, Elsmore can revel in the fact that he has helped bring the legendary Fab Four back to the stage 50 years after their first single.

As a youngster, his favourite number was Please Please Me and after being picked from 2,500 hopeful auditionees, that song's title bears true.

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The Citizen went along to soak up the Beatlemania at the Princes of Wales Theatre in London's Theatreland.

Elsmore is undoubtedly the most animated – his skilful and secure control of the drum kit proves he's got a fruitful career ahead of him after being propelled into West End stardom.

But it's a shame the show he's cast in is simply a travesty.

With no attempt to weave even a vaguely interesting story around what is otherwise a collection of Beatles songs, this show can't even call itself a jukebox musical.

And we all know that they are not the Beatles, so the projected black and white images of screaming girls clamouring for the action are an unfortunate juxtaposition next to what is otherwise a lacklustre facsimile of the group.

Having said that, if you grew up with The Beatles then you might well take some pleasure from this foray into nostalgia.

They look a bit like them, they sound a bit like them and the songs are famous enough to sing along to so, with that in mind, it's enough to mildly entertain.

But while the music and memories may live on, The Beatles are gone.

That said, Elsmore and his fans in the Forest can be proud that he has lived his dream, something which many will only ever aspire to.