VIDEO: Beatlemania Takes Over Church St. School's Open Mic Night

Pat Neal-Kaczmarek, left, and Jung Min Lee belt out the Beatles' "Mr. Postman" at the Church Street School's Open Mic Night. They were backed by guitarists Todd Grinder, left, and Richard Younger, with Phil Stewart on drums. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

It was all Beatles at the Church Street School for Music and Art’s Open Mic Night last month. Backed by a live house band (Richard Younger, guitar, Phil Stewart, drums, Todd Grinder, bass guitar, plus other musicians sitting in), anyone could perform their song of choice. From a mellow “Let It Be” to a raucous “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”—and from the musically polished to the valiantly earnest—they livened the room with two dozen of the foursome’s timeless hits. The Trib’s video provides just a sampling of that spirited evening of song and, for those of a certain age (videographer included), a dose of nostalgia.

The school’s open mic night, which takes place on the last Thursday of every month, is sponsored by the If Life Foundation, begun by Allen Wasserman shortly before his death from cancer in 2019, at age 61. The foundation’s aim is to promote what it calls random acts of kindness. “I think open mic night fits into this category,” Wasserman’s sister, Mindy Wasserman, told the audience at the start of the show. “When Allen wasn’t lawyering he was incredibly passionate about the arts. And very passionate about the Beatles,” she said.