first Lennon reviews

Granted...it's from the Mercury news but still:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/counties/alameda_county/11443095.htm

And response from director regarding critics:
http://www.whatgoeson.com/story.20050415.html

More positive review from The Chronicle: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/21/LENNON21.TMP

Updated On: 4/20/05 at 03:37 PM

I agree. But, if it's any indication, then critics are either gonna love it or hate it (maybe same with the audience too). Some people just don't agree with whole peace movement...even though it's in the past.

Forget him then.

I think one factor is that if one does not know anything about John Lennon, I don't think he's going to know all the references.

I don't think anyone can sleep through any performance, if they wanted to stay awake. I think the people that do just intentionally ignore the performance itself and force themselves to sleep.

Well, the Chron was more positive, as was Live Daily: http://www.livedaily.com/news/8042.html?t=98.
SF Chron review

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Yes, because judging a production from one photo (which I don't think is from the production as it's staged) is the best way to make a decision about said production.

It's a weird show. Not everyone is going to like it, and it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Enjoy your baiting, though.

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Updated On: 4/20/05 at 05:43 PM

I thought the Chronicle review was actually quite accurate. In the second half, I did feel less involved than the first half (though I'm not sure whether it's because of the songs though).

Good review though! I hope that the production team will learn from these performances and make the Broadway one a much greater production. :)

LOL! I remember thinking how cheesy the cherry blossoms were!

I hope they don't take out Mother. That was truly great.

Was it just me or were the songs toward the second half kind of random??? Like, I felt the first half did a pretty good job at connecting the songs to the story as it progressed. And yet, the second half seemed to have just random Lennon songs that did not really lead the story anywhere (until Yoko and John got back together and then he died).

Generally, it does. It starts out with Lennon's birth and then the death of his mother (thus the song "Mother"). Then it gets to the Beatles storyline...and his love story with Yoko...and it all leads toward to his death.

I just felt the second half wasn't constructed as well as the first half.

Thanks! I'm really excited about seeing this show. I'm just having a hard time trying to figure out what to expect. I'm glad that there's some cohesion between the songs instead of just being a campy jukebox musical.

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Oh good. A Mamma Mia-type plot (or lack thereof) is what I was concerned about.

I wish I was in SF to see it in previews! What, if anything, would you anticipate that they change by/in Boston and New York? I tried to buy NYC tickets for Lennon and my birthday (10/9), but they stop the Sunday shows after September!

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I wouldn't expect the actors will be changed, mainly because even if the story was shoddy, the calibre of the cast is the show's biggest selling point anyway (aside from, you know, the Lennon thing). What point does the second act begin?

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I suspect they might shuffle out some songs and shuffle in some new ones. I wasn't that keen on "Crippled Inside" both because of the wacky clown suits and because I felt the point had already been made in the dialogue, so if that was changed somehow, that would be fine.

They might add more dialogue here and there, also. I also would guess they'd continue to refine how the projections are used. It's really hard to tell. But with how strong the cast is now, I don't think they'll be replacing anyone unless one of the actors wants to leave the show.

Oh, and, Act One ends with "New York City," with Lennon hopeful about living in the US. The second act opens with "Power to the People" and quickly heads into the David Frost Show, Jerry Rubin, etc.

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Updated On: 4/20/05 at 07:47 PM