I'm scared to see Lennon... — Page 2

Just don't go in expecting "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", is all. I think many people are going to be surprised (perhaps, disappointed) that the show is about John - the man, and not the band. The show's called "Lennon" and not "Beatles", after all. (I've still got to tell myself of this, to be honest.)

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Please, give Lennon a chance. I know you always get the same SF people on these Lennon threads begging you to give it a chance. Go watch it for the incredible performers. Go to enjoy John Lennon's music. Just go.

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I'd go see it for Julia and Chad Kimball. If someone does goe see it say a recent Roosevelt graduate says hey and that VK still brags about him being on Broadway everytime our spring musical roles around. Just semi-kidding.

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i thought i could go either way until i went to the website and read the interview with the creator. the whole website was a huge turn-off. instead of actually being about john's life, it seems to adhere to the "mythic" idea of who john was rather than who is actually was. i've read probably a dozen lennon biographies plus beatle books and of course bootlegs of the recording sessions, and john isn't someone to be idealized. not... you know, this really peaceful guy. he was tripping nearly all the time anyway (making many of his quotes kind of erroneous), and the song "cold turkey" is about his drug addictions. if you listen to the "let it be" sessions, you really get an idea of how aloof and indifferent he could be, and how egotistical- his insistance on george only having two songs an album caused george to quit (and john acted like he didn't even care). he dissed he bandmates and brian epstein all the time. there's no question john is genius, and this doesn't make me enjoy his music any less. but putting out an idealized image of the "working class hero" just sounds like something i'd do... when i was ten and thought john was the greatest thing of all time. just seems inappropriate.

Saw the show in SF, enjoyed it, and can't say much more, as the creative team has apparently changed about 40% of what I saw for the NY audiences.

Here's some info regarding the changes made since SF from a Will Chase interview on Playbill.com:

Q: In Lennon, various actors play Lennon. How’s that work?
Chase: I’m now the narrator of the evening. Chad [Kimball] is the young John’s consciousness. Terry [Mann] is the mature John’s consciousness, and Michael [Potts] is more of John’s political consciousness. All of them kind of morph into me. I’m John Lennon if he were to show up on a given night and tell his story. This show isn’t a jukebox musical. It’s about John’s life using his songs, which he wrote about his life. Don Scardino’s vision for the show is really story theatre from the sixties and seventies. It’s so cool, and I think John would’ve totally dug it.

Q: How has the show changed since San Francisco?
Chase: It’s been tweaked and rewritten. It’s gotten a lot more in depth and emotional. Some songs have been moved or cut, and we’ve added others, like "Watching the Wheels" and "Mind Games." There’s much more about Paul McCartney and the Beatles in it now. And the ensemble has more of a voice."


Less "original concept" and more Beatles. Too bad.

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