IT’S not very often that a theatre production gets the audience on its feet before its even reached the interval.

But then it’s not every day that you find yourself being propelled back in time to be part of the heaving crowd at a ‘Fab Four’ gig.

Let It Be stormed in to Southampton’s Mayflower theatre last night taking fans of one of the biggest bands of a generation on a magical mystery tour to the 1960s.

The show – visiting the city as part of a nationwide tour having won critical acclaim in the West End and the US – opened to a backdrop of the famous brick arches of Liverpool’s Cavern nightclub where The Beatles really made their name both writing and performing a catalogue of soon-to-be worldwide hits.

From the start the tone was set, as I Saw Her Standing There was belted out with precision as the audience was actively encouraged to find their inner youth and sing, clap and even dance in the aisles if they wished. And they did.

From there we were transported to 1965 New York, where, having more than conquered America, the four lads from Liverpool played to a 50,000-strong screaming crowd at the Shea Stadium.

• Let It Be runs until Saturday. Tickets: 023 8071 1811 or mayflower.org.uk

Onwards we marched through the Sergeant Pepper era – labelled by many as the finest work The Beatles ever created – and almost 40 hit tracks later we were nearing the end of the lifespan of the band and therefore the show.

Iain Hornal had Paul McCartney’s voice, stance and mannerisms down to a tee while Reuvan Gershon, playing John Lennon, was equally as good, most notably giving an incredible vocal performance during In My Life as the second half of the evening got underway.

Huge credit should also be heaped on Paul Mannion, playing George Harrison, who gave a phenomenal rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Luke Roberts, playing Ringo Starr, for a first class night on the drums – not to mention kick-starting the old favourite Yellow Submarine.

A few hours spent enjoying back to back classics, including Back in the USSR, Can’t Buy Me Love, Here Comes The Sun, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields and of course Twist and Shout invoked brilliant memories and a night of high octane entertainment for people of all ages.

Let It Be is the perfect way to beat the January blues.