When actor John Waters and pianist Stuart D’Arrieta first performed their mesmeric homage to John Lennon – Looking Through A Glass Onion – on an unassuming stage at the Tilbury Hotel in Woolloomooloo, in 1996, little did they know it could still captivate over a quarter of a century later.
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The show, which has been evolving steadily since its inception, with the latest incarnation titled, Lennon: Through A Glass Onion, has enjoyed rave runs in London and New York but for John Waters, the Hunter Valley always holds a special place in his heart.
“This really is the show that just keeps on keeping on,” he said
“We have performed many times in the Hunter region and Cessnock and it has always been a happy hunting ground for us. I think that’s because you people up there really appreciate live performance.”
John and Stuart will be bringing the show back to Cessnock Performing Arts Centre later this month and it will be the show the pair performed in New York.
John said that the show, peppered with 31 Beatle and Lennon classics, takes an intimate looks at the iconic songwriter’s life as is flashes before his eyes after he was fatally shot by Mark David Chapman in 1980.
“It is a theatrical and musical piece that focuses on my imaginings and thoughts of John as he lay dying on the streets of New York – the things that were going through his mind and what effect he had on the world.”
John added that the production even got the blessing of Lennon’s significant other Yoko Ono.
“Yoko has been wonderful with allowing us copyright and I think it’s because she appreciates how we portray John,” he said.
“Our show is not John Lennon: The Musical – a big Broadway production – because John wasn’t like that. He wasn’t a big glitzy guy. Our show is much more intimate.”
Lennon: Through A Glass Onion will be on at Cessnock Performing Arts Centre on Saturday 20 October from 8pm.
For more information and bookings, visit www.cessnockperformingartscentre.com.au or phone CPAC on 4993 4266.