Love Lennon !

shill.

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Seeing it for the 2nd time on Wednesday.
You must've liked it, you're rather enthusiastic.

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No one ever questioned the greatness of John Lennon, but you sound like a shill. If you are not, we'll seeing you posting in a month. And bravo to you on loving a show. Otherwise, hope you are getting paid well.

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jrb, You are rather nasty tonight, I happen to LOVE this show,
and I will be here posting in one month - - will you? I would love to be
paid for loving it,, then I could pay some bills . That would be great !

I hate that people see this show and hear the music and think they 'know' John Lennon. I had such hopes that this show would capture who he was and what he stood for... Instead we got the second coming of Brklyn. I've said it before and I'll say it again: John Lennon deserved better.

I may have missed it, but has anyone who was a Lennon fan when he was alive, embraced this musical? I haven't noticed anyone.

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So that would be a "yes" then...I stand corrected.

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ok. just seemed a little kooky to me.

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If John Lennon saw this show, he would never stop throwing up.
Vegas meets theme-park with a little American Idol thrown in for good measure.
At least in Pillowman, you know the little girl isn't really being tortured.
At Lennon, you have to sit and watch an entire cast being tortured, and it's for real.

The offensive stuff with the guru made my jaw drop.
The sign language at the end of some songs was SO bad it was almost funny. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

(next 2 paragraphs to be read in the voice of Stewie)
Hoover in pumps! Ha-HA! That joke is SO fresh! and clever!
I'm amazed the Simpsons didn't do it ten years ago!
What a brilliant way to utilize Terrence Mann! So ingenious the way they treated him like a stagehand!
It was sort of an inside joke for those of us who know him as Javert and the Beast, etc...
And jokes about Ringo! Again, how very, very timely and clever! how daring! To risk offending the millions of Ringo fans! Bravo! The only thing missing is a "talk to the hand" line.
And I was SO glad to see the photos projected whenever anyone was mentioned. "Oh, look. It's a woman in a black and white photo and they're singing about his mother...I wonder if there's a connection? How moving! Perhaps they should go all the way and just flash the word that describes how we, as an audience, should be feeling at each moment. SAD. Oh, yes...I can see that."
Ugh...

They managed to sanitize, neuter and de-brain the man, his music, and his story.
And...um...one more thing...if everyone on stage was an aspect of John...since we are all one and I am you and you are me and we are one together(or something like that)...why did we have to be tortured with those AWFUL accents? So, you're telling me that some Johns are black, and some have vaginas, but...they all have the same accent?
please.

Thank you iluvtheatertrash, I completely agree --

It's really too bad the Lennon haters got to this thread first, it's such a downer. But nonetheless, kooky, know that you're not alone in your fandom -- The show has many MANY fans, and get more after every show. Not everyone is going to like it, but in my opinion, it's their loss, because this show is wonderful. It's different, and NOT a traditional musical, but that in no way makes it bad. People who haven't seen it are really just talking out of their a*ses, because they have no way to judge.

For those who saw it and hated it, that's too bad. You're totally allowed to hate and like what you want, but try to refrain from entering threads about the LOVE of a show just to rip the fans apart. It's childish and pointless.

Continuing with the Lennon-love... Seen it 4 times (3 of which were in SF), and I can't get enough of it. With great singing, acting, and performers who can just blow you away... for me, there's not a lot to be unhappy with. Putting John Lennon on stage where he was born to be and honoring him for his talent and skill makes this show one that shouldn't be missed (and Apollo, the whole "9 Johns" thing wasn't confusing at all... you must not have been watching the show with your eyes open, because it's quite clear: When someone is wearing John's round glasses... They are John. Plain and simple.)

The idea was inspired, and I adore it.

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homosezwhat: The idea of expressing negative reviews with positive ones is one thing, but do you honestly think that those of us who are Lennon fans are NEW to the bad reviews? From the critics, they were really hard to avoid, so it's nice to get away from that occasionally and call out to people who share your love for something. Nice to get away from the negativity sometimes.

And while I can't speak for ALL the "Lennonites" out there as to what shows they disliked (since you know... we're not all one person and opinions differ), I can personally say that I didn't enjoy Sweet Charity at all (the Revival). It didn't move me in the least... it was fun in ways, but wasn't doin' in for me.

I was bored to tears watching Contact... More interpretative than my tastes could stomach, and though I can understand the appeal, I don't see it, especially in regards to it being a "musical" -- I'm not a Mamma Mia! fan at all. I'm not saying it SUCKS (because who am I to declare that, right?) but to me it was fluff. I'm also not a huge fan of ABBA music.

I'm sure there have been others in the past that I haven't liked, and they all vary for different reasons... Disliking one show doens't mean you'll dislike another, and same can be said for liking something. In my experience with the countless shows I've seen, you can't know until you see it to make a judgment for yourself. Usually, I do my best to find SOME redeaming value in a show, because being positive is more beneficial to me than being negative. I try to give the show and those who work on it a little credit, because it's the least that they deserve.

With Lennon... I went in with little to NO expectations at all and found it to be PHENOMENAL! I've since seen it multiple times and want more and more.

All I can say to people out there who have doubts about it... Go and see for yourself. You might be surprised at how much you enjoy it.

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homosezwhat- i did not like The Boy From Oz. poor casting for the female characters, and a book that trivialized his personal life to the point where i almost didn't recognize jarrod emick when he sang "i honestly love you" (beautifully, i might add.) i had a decent time at Mamma Mia!, but i won't be back unless a favorite performer of mine is in the show because the book hurts me, it's just not very entertaining. i enjoyed Fiddler, but found the second act unable to compare to the first, and therefore i left the theatre a little disappointed. i did not like the staged production of Chicago, it felt uninspired. i have never seen the third story in Contact because the first two put me to sleep. and i am not a big Hairspray fan either-- tracy turnblad makes my stomach churn, even when an actress i like (kathy brier) is playing the part, i still loathe the character, and i loathe the way she was directed to sing.
terrence mann is a talent, yes. is he wasted in this show? i believe not. every performance doesn't need to be the spotlight role with bells and whistles, sometimes it's about doing a project that truly has meaning for you, and i believe this project is very special for terrence. (see the roundtable interview.)
pictures on the screen? i think they are there to show the audience, to remind the audience, that this story and the people telling it are real, a piece of history. it's to show you who the person was, in relation to their role on the stage. it's a kind of rememberance for people like Julia Lennon.

apollo- are you so closed-minded that you really believe Lennon was depicting 4 Johns to one mother? or that 4 women can't portray the beatles onstage without being flat-out camp? you trash the show, and then speak as though you know John. i doubt you do. i don't think anyone still on earth could know how John would feel about the show, but i think his family has a pretty good idea, better than you, a fan, do. the cast and crew have created, with the help of yoko (John's self-proclaimed other half), a celebration of John, of his life, and of his music. many of us enjoy it. many do not. but no one has the authority to trash Lennon on the grounds that "John would not have liked it" or something of that sort, because no one knows how John feels. the closest we have is his family, the people who shared his most intimate moments, and i think we should respect their decisions.

iflitifloat- i've seen the show 10 times, and each time i have encountered a mix of fans--fans of the cast, AND fans of John. all have approached me to discuss how much they enjoy the show. just because you and a handful of other John fans did not see the show as it is, as a celebration of John's life and music, does not mean that those of us, the handful that did see it that way (and appreciate it), don't exist.

**edit: and did i miss something in my ten visits? what was offensive about the maharishi?

i still don't understand why someone who didn't like a show would feel the need to post on a "love" thread. start your own thread, please. why do you need to get your ya-yas by disrupting what could have been a pleasant discussion? =(

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Updated On: 8/29/05 at 03:48 AM

I think it's a testament to this show that such passionate opinions have been ignited. I doubt that a "flop" would illicit such passion.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. However, I have a question for this thread. Do you go to a show expecting to love it or expecting to hate it? Because I think either way, you rarely come away disappointed.