LET It Be is the Beatles tribute concert with the squad rotation system, a Fab Eight rather than Fab Four from which each night's line-up on the tour is picked.

For example, Paul Canning, aged 37, married with two children, is "one of the Lennons" in the show whose next destination is the Grand Opera House in York from Monday to Saturday.

"What it used to be was there were two bands that would do the tours and they would keep it that way, playing separately, but now we have a new director, who likes to keep it all rotating, so in effect we have eight in one band, two Johns, two Pauls, two Georges, two Ringos, a strong eight with no strict rota for who'll be in the four playing each night," says Paul. "It's a great cast and you find you become like a family, where you all go through the same experiences in the show."

Born in Wolverhampton, raised in Brentwood, Essex, and now living in Banbury, Oxfordshire, Paul was already a "huge Beatles fan" when the chance came to join Let It Be. "What happened in my case is that they had an open audition nationwide and they already had their Lennons in place in 2012, but it got to 2013, when the show was going to Broadway.

"A friend of mine, Iain Hornal, was a McCartney in the show at the time – though he now tours with ELO – and he said they needed a big pool of Lennons, to have two in London and take two to America, so he recommended me to the director."

Three auditions later, Paul was John at last. "I came into the show at the Savoy Theatre on July 12 2013; the opening night was a Friday, it was packed and hot, and I thought, 'this is incredible'," he recalls. "We then went to Japan for 17 days, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, though we went back for another week in November!"

Paul has toured Europe with the show, played the Garrick Theatre in London and done a five-week run at the Royal Court in Liverpool, "where they know The Beatles, of course!".

"Generally, audiences are more up for it in the north, where the shows are more fun, and they even sing along to a song like Norwegian Wood, which I'd never expected before doing this show. At Liverpool, everyone seemed to have gone to school with John Lennon; it must have been the biggest class in the world; and we got to play there on John's birthday, which was really memorable."

York Press:

Paul Canning as John Lennon in Let It Be. Picture: David Munn Photography

What drew Paul to want to take on the role of Lennon? "Actually, as a younger man, McCartney's songwriting registered with me more than Lennon's; I would choose Penny Lane over Strawberry Fields, Hey Jude over Revolution, but playing Lennon, you get to appreciate him more. In My Life is now my favourite Beatles song; when you think a guy of 23-24 wrote those lyrics and such a gorgeous melody; it's such a beautiful song," he says.

"It's from my favourite album, Rubber Soul, where they had just began to wind down from touring and were getting more creative in the studio. The songs from that 1965-66 period are so good. They all are, but that era just resonates with me for some reason."

In My Life is now being performed as a tribute to the late Beatles' producer, Sir George Martin, who died at the age of 90 on March 8. "Lyrically it is so appropriate, and then of course there's the harpsichord part, where The Beatles went out for lunch, and when they came back, he said to them, 'What about this', as he played them what he'd just come up with," says Paul. "He really was the fifth Beatle, so important to them."

Paul is hugely enjoying capturing all the characteristics of Lennon in Let It Be. "I loved John's witticisms, where he'd say things you couldn't get away with now. People think of John as all peace and love, but he was an angry young man, but he still wrote these beautiful songs and will be considered another Beethoven in 200 years' time."

Let It Be takes the form of a theatrical concert in a chronological trip through The Beatles' recording and performing career from The Cavern days in Liverpool to their last rooftop concert in London in 1969. "The attention to detail is second to none; the lighting and sound are second to none; we use film footage from the era and adverts too, which always get a laugh, and we have a wonderful acoustic section where we do Blackbird, In My Life, Here Comes The Sun and an amazing version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps," says Paul.

Let It Be will arrive in York only three weeks since The Bootleg Beatles passed this way, when they too chose In My Life as their George Martin tribute at York Barbican. The two shows share common ground and are happy to do so, stresses Paul. "We both have that wonderful catalogue of songs, don't we," he says. "The bassist in The Bootleg Beatles [Steve White] used to be in Let It be and he's an amazing guy and we have nothing but respect for them."

Let It Be runs at Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york

Win tickets

Courtesy of the Grand Opera House and producer Jeff Parry, The Press has five pairs of tickets to be won for Thursday's 7.30pm performance of Let It Be.

Question: How old is Let It Be star Paul Canning?

Send your answer, with your name, address and daytime phone number, by email to charles.hutchinson@nqyne.co.uk, marked Let It Be Competition, by Tuesday morning. Usual competition rules apply.