Regardless of how tough and nerve racking the entertainment business is there are those who keep plugging a way for the pure love of the arts. Justin McNeill is one of those individuals. As a young man Justin was drawn to the music of the Beatles as were many during the mid-60's. Many young people around the globe were taken in by the English band's style and the freedom they projected via their music. Most were inspired to learn to play the drums or guitar. For Justin it was the drums.

Yet it was not until he attended The High School of Music and Art in Manhattan had he realized that being a drummer was his calling. The hammer on the nail was when Justin was at a concert at Fordham University where artist Richie Havens was the opening act and the headliner was the band Vanilla Fudge. While enjoying the show the drummer Carmine Appice went into a drum solo and Justin was hooked. He in turn attended a drum clinic that Appice was giving at the Fox Theatre in Brooklyn. Justin had a chance to speak with him and took private lessons with Appice at his residence in Oceanside, Long Island. He also took drum lessons from Eric Singer, the drummer for the band KISS.

Justin's talent at the drums grew and was a part of the original cast of Beatlemania at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre. He was joined by Mitch Weissman, Joe Pecorino and Leslie Fradkin. They roughly did about three shows a day and for the two hours they performed they felt the magic of the music from the legendary band. Around the same time Justin met a member of his other favorite band, KISS, Paul Stanley. It just so happened that Paul Stanley (real name Stan Eisen) was a high school classmate of Justin's for three years. When they met at S.I.R. Studios in Manhattan Justin did not recognize him but when he found out who he was it was magical. After the four years on Broadway, he did many road gigs in between studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Manhattan with Charlie Laughton. It just so happened that Laughton was Al Pacino's mentor and best friend. Justin studied with Laughton for two months before going on a tour. In Chicago while Justin was doing a Beatlemania show he studied with Byrne Piven who has his own playhouse in Chicago and is the father of Emmy award winning actor Jeremy Piven.

"Carmine was, and is, a master at reading music. He always knew exactly what drum notes he was playing. I mostly played by instinct (I was a terrible reader). Anyway, Carmine also had a drum studio in Freeport, Long Island and I sometimes took lessons there. One thing I'll always remember that during one of my lessons he got a phone call, he said he Had to take this call. He told me that the caller he was speaking with was Jeff Beck. He was asking Carmine to form a band which became the rock supergroup: Beck, Bogart, and Appice. I was there to witness that moment in rock history!!"

Eventually life would take an interesting turn for Justin as he moved to Miami with his wife and raised two daughters. He would take on a short career at American Airlines while doing performances with KISS and Beatle tribute bands. With the advent of the internet and YouTube Justin has many videos portraying his work on Broadway with Beatlemania and the tribute bands he has performed with. Even though he is retired he has never lost the thirst for performing by having two agencies representing him in Florida. He only recently completed a short film entitled "Tan Man" where he plays a mob boss which is in post-production at this time. "Just when he stepped out, they pulled him right back in." A suiting quote from Al Pacino to sum up Justin's current state in the wild world of entertainment.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9872308
https://www.instagram.com/justinmcneill_/
http://beatlemaniaalumni.com/