By Zach Dunkin
Tony Kishman has never met Sir Paul McCartney –“I came real close a few times” – but Sir Paul has caught Kishman’s act. And he liked it.
“He said in a newspaper write-up that ‘the guy who plays me is very talented and I wish him well,’ ” Kishman said, considered by Beatlemaniacs as the best McCartney look-alike/sound-alike.
Patrons at the record-setting “Classical Mystery Tour” concerts last year and in 2012 at Conner Prairie will remember Kishman as “Paul” in the Beatles tribute group that also starred in the “Beatlemania” hit Broadway musical and tour. Kishman will return to Hamilton County on March 18 at The Warehouse in Carmel in “An Intimate Evening with the Music of Paul McCartney.”
In addition to appearing in “Beatlemania,” Kishman was the creator and bandleader of the “Live and Let Die” show, which featured Kishman performing McCartney songs backed by a symphony orchestra. Obviously, there will be no orchestra supporting Kishman in the cozy confines of The Warehouse. One might call this one: “McCartney Unplugged” with Kishman playing guitar – not left handed like McCartney, but with his natural right. Kishman said he rarely is criticized for being unlike McCartney in that respect.
“It’s a portrayal of him I am doing, and people will pretty much overlook it,” Kishman said, who played bass for the rock band Wishbone Ash in the 1970’s.
A long-time Beatles fan, Kishman said McCartney was his favorite with George Harrison running a close second. Kishman said he learned most of his McCartney-isms while studying Beatles movies and live performance footage at “Beatle School” in preparation for the “Beatlemania” musical.
“I would never have guessed it when I was a kid, or a teenager growing up, that I was going to be able to get up and perform as a ‘Paul McCartney,’ and convince an audience that they were going to see Paul McCartney,” Kishman said. “It’s really weird.”
An Intimate Evening with the Music of Paul McCartney, starring Tony Kishman
When: 8 p.m., March 18 (doors open at 7 p.m.)
Where: The Warehouse, 254 1st Ave. SW, Carmel
Tickets: $35 and $45 at www.liveforthemusic.com.
