The show celebrating the genius, music and phenomenon of John Lennon has come a long way since it was conceived on a small stage at Sydney’s Tilbury Hotel in 1992.

Since then, renowned actor/musician John Waters and esteemed instrumentalist Stewart D’Arrietta have taken the show everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to London’s West End and more recently, New York City (after a copyright breakthrough that allowed them to play in the United States).

Formerly known as Looking Through A Glass Onion, the show was re-produced and re-branded for its Off-Broadway debut at the Union Square Theatre.

Waters said being embraced by New Yorkers was a great reward for everyone who worked so hard to get the show there.

“It truly felt as though Glass Onion had in fact given the city what it needed, to reconcile their own sense of loss of a much-loved ‘son’, as John Lennon came to be,” he said.

“Night after night, our audiences stood to acknowledge us, and it doesn't get much better than that.” 

Waters said the show earned great reviews and credibility during its 16-week season in New York, while being given a “world-wide shop window”.

Waters and D’Arrietta have since taken Glass Onion to Edinburgh, Tokyo and Florida.

D’Arrietta is currently performing it alongside London West End star Daniel Taylor in Canada and the US, before reuniting with Waters for the Australian tour in early 2017.

The upcoming show will be the fourth time Glass Onion has appeared at Cessnock Performing Arts Centre – after sold-out performances in January and June 2012, and March 2014.

The centre’s Bechstein piano is one of D’Arrietta’s favourites – he has said he would be “first in line” if it ever went up for sale.

D’Arrietta is one of Australia’s most respected pianists and also plays stomp box in the show.

“Stewart is a one-man band,” Waters said.

“We make a lot of noise for just the two of us.

“We’ve had people ask after the show ‘where did you hide the other musicians?’”

Glass Onion is a dramatisation of the moment Lennon was shot and looks back over his life, thoughts and memories, interwoven with his music.

It features 31 iconic hits including solo works such as Imagine, Woman, Working Class Hero and Jealous Guy and Lennon's collaborations with Paul McCartney including Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Waters said the way audiences respond to the show never ceases to amaze him, particularly younger audiences who weren’t even born when Lennon and The Beatles were recording and releasing their music.

“It’s a testament to the legacy of the man and his music that still excites and intrigues people to this day,” he said.

For younger audiences, the show is a wonderful introduction to the life and times of one of the most fascinating icons of our time, while for Lennon fans it’s an emotional trip down memory lane. 

“It’s got something special, but it was largely accidental – we didn’t know what the full emotional impact was going to be,” Waters said.

“Check your expectations at the door, and be prepared for a mind trip.”

Lennon: Through A Glass Onion will appear at Cessnock Performing Arts Centre on January 20, 2017.

Visit www.cessnockperformingartscentre.com.au or call 4990 7134 for tickets.