LENNON Reviews- Page 2

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:06pm

If you don't like John Lennon or his music, you won't enjoy the show. That's obvious enough. And there's nothing wrong with it either.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:09pm

all i have to say is the cast had better get to a recording studio fast. i can't see this lasting longer than Good Vibrations (unless the producers keep putting money into it). We'll know by tomorrow afternoon if attendance is up for the week.

[gymman]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:10pm

The point is that I LOVE John Lennon and his music; I just hated the patronizing and simple-minded presentation it is given here!
Updated On: 8/14/05 at 08:10 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:10pm

Can we all stop being so damn negative.

Quite frankly - I will be glad if this show gets mostly mixed to positive reviews.

This show is obviously on a completely different level than GOOD VIBRATIONS.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:12pm

honestly (and i hate to admit this) but as much as i hated both Good Vibrations and Lennon, i enjoyed myself more at Good Vibrations.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:13pm

^ No comment.

Lennon's music is obviously on a different level than the Beach Boys.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:22pm

Simple-minded? Patronizing?

This is something he'd be proud of. All different races. Both genders. Everyone playing him at some point.

John Lennon is on that stage every performance.

[gymman]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:38pm

I doubt Lennon himself would be proud to be called simple-minded and patronizing; in his life and his music, he fought mightily against this type of trivialization.

[Conor]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 8:38pm

This was the one juke box show I went into with high expectations, because I thought the concept of all 9 actors playing Lennon was really interesting and I like Lennon's music; I thought it was the worst one I've seen. To be honest I think certain things flew over my head...like how this was honestly supposed to be considered a show with any kind of structure... I saw the first preview so I'm sure it's very different now, but I just left the show feeling dissatisfied, confused, and underwhelmed. Props to a very talented cast though. Marcy was incredible however in terms of jukebox musicals, I'll definetly be sticking to All SHook Up.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 9:26pm

The AP is Mixed-to-Negative:

"The ads for "Lennon," the benign new musical celebrating the life of pop superstar John Lennon, proclaim: "His words. His music. His story."

What seems to be missing, though, is the man himself - and any sense of theatricality. Instead, what we get is a bland stage biography, much of it recited directly to the audience, while a hardworking cast does its best to sell more than two dozen of Lennon's songs, a majority of them from the post-Beatles era.

But then, this unsurprising examination of Lennon is filtered through the prism of his widow, Yoko Ono, who arrived on the scene after the Beatles' biggest successes. She gave her blessing and, reportedly, her considerable input to the project, which opened Sunday at the Broadhurst Theatre after several postponements.
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The show, which has the band on stage behind the performers, is never given a chance to build dramatically. Each song rises or falls on its own, giving the evening a jagged, uneven momentum.

Yet, even with those limitations, there are some special musical moments. Among the more potent numbers: Chuck Cooper delivering a commanding version of "Instant Karma," and Julia Murney singing "Beautiful Boy," a wistful appreciation of young Sean Lennon by his father.
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There is one jolting, transfixing interlude, which occurs near the end of the show. A film clip of Lennon and Ono is shown. Lennon's distinct voice fills the theater, and he sings one of his best-known anthems, "Imagine." There's more drama in that brief scene than in all the rest of the show. Lennon the man, in all his quirky, contradictory glory, finally makes an appearance.






http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/83-08142005-527799.html

[RadioTV2]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 9:45pm

NY Times:
"In the immortal words of Yoko Ono, "Aieeeee!" A fierce primal scream - of the kind Ms. Ono is famous for as a performance and recording artist - is surely the healthiest response to the agony of "Lennon," the jerry-built musical shrine that opened last night at the Broadhurst Theater."

"This drippy version of his life, written and directed with equal clunkiness by Don Scardino and featuring a Muzak-alized assortment of Lennon's non-"Beatles" songs, suggests that he was just a little lost boy looking for love in all the wrong places until he found Ms. Ono and discovered his inner adult. When his adoring fans and a hitherto tame press turned on him in the late-1960's, Lennon told a journalist that his public had never seen him clearly to begin with, that even when he was a schoolboy, those who actually knew him never "thought of me as cuddly.""

"Mr. Chase does manage to summon both the sardonic and wistful qualities that pervaded Lennon's voice, without stooping to vulgar impersonation. Julia Murney does a lovely job with Lennon's paternal ode "Beautiful Boy," one of the few moments that is not oversold. And Marcy Harriell puts over "Woman Is the n* of the World" with a rafter-rattling intensity that, while not exactly Lennonesque, certainly makes an impression."

Well, I disagree with old Ben, but, what else did I expect?
NY TIMES REVIEW

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 9:46pm

"Can we all stop being so damn negative."

We are discussing the reviews, which are mainly negative.

I hope to see this this week, or next.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 9:52pm

We should all probably hurry.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 9:56pm

I have but one thing to say to the producers of LENNON...

" "

But seriously, I can't keep scrambling to catch these flops.

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 09:56 PM

[zelda]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:02pm

Talkin broadway is a overrated website with some of the seemingly most under-educated reviewers around. I would not put stock in their opinion or what they have to say. Odds are they are being paid to say whatever by other producers to get shows to close. Talkin BROADWAY IS FULL OF LOSERS

[StarbuckQAF]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:08pm

Whether it gets mixed reviews or not, Please refrain from calling "Lennon" a "flop" until it actually HAS flopped.

Last time I checked, it's still playing at the Broadhurst, with rising attendence (how can you assume it's attendence is going to suck when it just opened today? Time will tell on that one) -- Many shows get panned when reviews hit (lots of the shows running this past season were mixed, like "Spamalot" and "DRS"... but are they flops? Not that I can tell.)

Reviews, in all their forms, are still opinions. I've said it before and I'll say it again... Go see the show and form your own.

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 10:08 PM

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:09pm

I only talk about critical flops.

There are too many financial flops.

[gymman]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:12pm

"with rising attendence "

The house is papered, dear
look at the $$$

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:22pm

Lennon has yet to crack 60% attendance in any week -- and that's with heavy papering. It's lost money every week of previews and these reviews (especially Brantley's) will do nothing to improve that. And apparently word of mouth hasn't been too great so far or it wouldn't be at 50 to 55% every week.

Spamalot and DRS got mostly positive reviews (with a few that were mixed -- notably Brantley's). Reviews are just opinions, but they're opinions that go out to hundreds of thousands of people and DO have an impact. Most people don't just drop $100 on a show that got bad reviews, in order to go and "form their own opinion." Money's too tight these days for that. It's one thing to go see a movie for $10 despite bad reviews, but spending $100 on something that everybody says is bad, or at least very flawed, is something most people don't do.

The fans of John Lennon better start coming out of the woodwork very very soon, despite the reviews, or this show will not make it to Fall.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:25pm

as much as I would like to see Lennon survive (primarily cause then it would get a recording)...but DRS and Spam got mixed to positive, whereas these are mixed to negative, quiet a difference.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:27pm

Can't wait to see this show. I love Chad's voice.

[Ladyofthe Lake]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:29pm

Thenardier, I'm sorry, this is totally OT, but I have to say it...those cat photos just *slay* me. Priceless! Gotta love the "lion cut" on a cat. And the facial expressions...oh, my...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:45pm

Broadway.com is Mostly Negative:

"John Lennon is not crucified in Lennon. That would be too bold, too dramatic a choice for a musical as rudderless as this one. Instead, he meets a sadder fate. He is simplified, defanged. He is turned into Everyrebel, a hunky martyr in granny glasses. Don Scardino and Yoko Ono Lennon now know it ain't easy to develop a compelling or even coherent piece of theater out of his music. And Christ, so do we.


It doesn't help when you decide to ignore the material that makes a show like Lennon financially conceivable in the first place. According to director/conceiver Scardino's hopelessly muddled script, Lennon spent several years in a band that started small and eventually attracted mobs of screaming fans. This band underutilized his songwriting gifts, and he was really only able to blossom as an artist after he took leave of his bandmates.

That's fine if you're making Timberlake, a musical about Justin's courageous split from 'N Sync. However, we're talking about the Beatles. We're talking about "Across the Universe," "Revolution," "All You Need Is Love" and dozens of other slices of pop-music perfection. (Lennon and Paul McCartney shared songwriting credit on all of their Beatles songs, but there's little question about who wrote what.)
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In their place, we get one post-Beatles ballad after another, nearly a dozen of which feature the nine performers wailing away to Harold Wheeler's overstuffed orchestrations in either a straight line or a staggered line, usually in boy-girl-boy-girl formation. (Only John Arnone's projections, which range from the charming to the cluttered, break up the visual monotony.) This static staging is actually preferable to the up-tempo songs, which spotlight choreography by Joseph Malone that is as inept as any seen on a Broadway stage in years.
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All nine performers take a crack at trying on his Liverpudlian accent--with very mixed results--and trademark glasses. And using the four women to play the Fab Four, for example, is an attention-getting (if underdeveloped) choice.

Still, some Lennons are more equal than others, and primary duties go to Will Chase, with Chad Kimball and Terrence Mann also doing more than their share. Only Chase, who looks and sounds the part, has any real success replicating Lennon's galvanizing charisma. Julie Danao-Salkin is OK as Yoko, and Marcy Harriell knocks down the theater with a ferocious rendition of "Woman Is the n* of the World." Beyond that, talents like Mann, Chuck Cooper and Julia Murney (making a long-awaited Broadway debut) are completely wasted.

Ono has been blamed, often unfairly, for everything from the Beatles breakup to Lennon's sometimes ill-considered politics; she will likely be blamed for much of the sorry spectacle that is Lennon, which may not be entirely fair. Giving Danao-Salkin the final bow is certainly curious, as is obliterating any references to May Pang, the woman for whom John left Yoko for 18 months. But these are the least of the show's problems. It is a reductive, repetitive mess, a show without a glimmer of the mischievous, gentle wit that made Lennon's countercultural message so appealing to such a wide cross-section of listeners. The collaborators' love for John Lennon's words, music and aura is palpable throughout Lennon. Love is not all you need.



http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=516417

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:50pm

Still, another sad day. Lots of talent, many, many hours devoted to another stillborn endeavor. Worth pondering: is this the last word on JB musicals, even if the show proclaimed itself the anti-Jukebox Jukebox?

(Maybe stated many times: If a show that employs the full catalogue of Beach Boys tunes flopped, how can a show about an ex-Beatle work ... that only uses exclusively NON-Beatle compositions? And not that imagine-atively. To too many, "Imagine" and "Woman" do not an evening make, alas.)

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 10:50 PM

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:16pm

I hope it lasts until I get there on August 27.