The first official day of San Diego Comic-con, Thursday,
I sat down with the award-winning Broadway producer Vivek J. Tiwary for an
interview about his first graphic novel, “The Fifth Beatle: The Brian
Epstein Story,” which he is adapting and producing into a feature film.
Brian
Epstein was The Beatles’ manager and, according to Tiwary, the main
reason for the group’s success. Tiwary has the approval of John Lennon’s
widow, Yoko Ono, and the surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul
McCartney, so he was able to secure the rights to their songs—a first
for a feature film about The Beatles.
The movie will begin shooting in 2015.
Although
“The Fifth Beatle” is Tiwary’s first novel (with artists Andrew C.
Robinson and Kyle Baker), it was on the New York Times Best-selling
list. The day after this interview, Tiwary won the Will Eisner Comic
Industry Award for Best Graphic Novel – Reality Based.
Tiwary
may be new to writing novels and making movies, but he knows how to
successfully entertain crowds. Tiwary’s productions have won a combined
25 Tony Awards and garnered a total of 44 Tony nominations. Every single
one of his shows have been honored, including: “The Addams Family”;
Green Day’s “American Idiot,” the groundbreaking adaptation of the
superstar rock band’s multi-platinum album; Mel Brooks’ “The Producers”
(which has garnered the most Tony Awards ever) and “Young Frankenstein”;
“A Raisin In The Sun,” starring Sean Combs; and “A Little Night Music”
starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury.
THE FIFTH BEATLE Graphic Novel Trailer from TEG on Vimeo.
The
movie will be directed by Peyton Reed (“Bring It On” and “The
Break-Up”) and produced by Bruce Cohen (“American Beauty” and “Silver
Lining Playbook”) with Tiwardy writing the screenplay.
Originally
introduced to The Beatles by his parents who were both fans, Tiwary
won’t admit to a favorite Beatle and first learned about Brian Epstein
while he was studying business at the Wharton School of Business.
At
the beginning of the interview, I mentioned “Backbeat,” the musical
about Stuart Sutcliffe which had played last year in Los Angeles. The
stage musical was based on the 1994 movie of the same name. The
soundtrack to that film and the musical doesn’t include any songs
written by members of The Beatles.
Sutcliffe
was the original bassist for The Beatles. He is sometimes referred to
as the fifth Beatle. While playing in Hamburg, he met Astrid Kirchherr
and later became engaged to her. He eventually left The Beatles and
moved to Hamburg to attend the Hamburg College of Art. Sutcliffe died
suddenly from a brain aneurysm in 1962.
Epstein
began managing The Beatles after Sutcliffe had already left the group
and would be the one who dismissed the drummer Pete Best who was
eventually replaced by Ringo Starr. Epstein managed The Beatles from
1961 until his death at 32 in 1967 from an accidental overdose of
sleeping pills. In the interview, Tiwary mentions the Ed Sullivan Show
appearances which were in 1964 (February). The Beatles broke up three
years later in 1970.
By
the time of his death, The Beatles were already resisting some of
Epstein’s guidance. They refused to continue touring after the 1966 San
Francisco concert at Candlestick Park. The group had also reportedly
refused Epstein’s offer of a fixed wage of 50 pounds a week for life,
believing that they were worth much more than that. Other questions have
surfaced about the contracts that he had The Beatles sign.
Still
McCartney has called Epstein the “fifth Beatle.” Tiwary’s graphic novel
“The Fifth Beatle” is published by Dark Horse. The interview took place
at the Dark Horse booth in the center of the exhibition hall and you
can hear the clamor of the crowd in the background.
