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In a rather shocking display of feckless self-absorption, I just discovered in my inbox a months-old email touting the musical performance Lennon: Through a Glass Onion. Musicians John R. Waters and Stewart D’Arietta are performing a slate of Lennon’s work — written both with and without his Beatles — at the Union Square Theatre, on 100 East 17th Street.
Just the kind of thing Dullblog readers would want to know about, right? Apparently not. Apparently my disjointed mewlings are far more important than an actual professional performer, singing and playing some of John Lennon’s songs, for cash money, in Lennon’s adopted hometown.
I tells ya, we’ve got some pretty peculiar editorial priorities around here… but you already knew that.
There’s still about a week of performances left — Lennon: Through a Glass Onion closes its New York run February 28th. Then it’s going on to Australia in April, May and June.
You can learn more about the show at its website, lennononstage.com; the reviews seem quite good. To give you a taste of the show, here’s a performance of “Give Peace a Chance,” celebrating John Lennon’s 74th birthday, last October.
Related posts:
George Harrison joke in The Onion
Lennon on playing live
John Lennon’s…
It happened in Toronto
Self-reference
Page Six on Sean Lennon
The Beatle Brothers at Fitzgerald’s: four hours of passion
Prove Violence Doesn’t Work: Do Good in John Lennon’s Name This Dec. 8th!
Michael Caine, Friend of Lennon
John Lennon on Allen Klein, 1973
Video: You Can’t Do That
Phil Rickman’s “December”: Wrestling with Lennon’s ghost
I saw a capsule review of this in the New Yorker, and they were dismissive (there’s no pleasing them!):
John R. Waters is not doing a Lennon impersonation, exactly, when he stands onstage in a smoky cone of light singing Lennon’s songs in a Liverpool accent, and, in between each number, describes Lennon’s feelings about the Beatles, Yoko, Paul, fame, immigration, being a father, and so on, as if they were his own. Lennon’s brilliance, wit, and sensibilities were subtle and sometimes slightly feminine, while Waters’s are not: he’s a big man in a black leather jacket with a chiselled face, close-cropped gray hair, and an earring, and he does Lennon like a tough guy, maybe not so nice. Waters is a talented singer, and accompanied by Stewart D’Arrietta on piano, Lennon’s music rocks. But the whole thing—the arrangements, the interpretation of Lennon’s thoughts on life—is a bit crass, and it misses the point about John Lennon: he was one of a kind.
But I like the clip. So who do I believe: my lying eyes and ears, or a New Yorker staff writer?
Meanwhile, here’s a Paul sighting from my local media. Paul, his wife and another couple visited a Vermont ski resort. When he stopped into a general store, the owner asked him to pose for a snapshot:
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S3717773.shtml?cat=10114