Lennon: Through a Glass Onion returns to the Redland Performing Arts centre at 8pm on November 9 after a 16-week season in New York.
The internationally acclaimed theatrical event celebrates the music of John Lennon and is created and performed by Australian actor/musician John Waters and singer/pianist Stewart D’Arrietta.
Just as the show rolls back the layers of the music and the personality of John Lennon, so too does the show.
“I never stop thinking about this show and its different aspects. Essentially it is the same show but when a show runs for this long, there are always aspects to tweak,” Waters said.
It is told in story and 31 songs including Imagine, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, All You Need is Love, Come Together, Help, Working Class Hero, Mother and Jealous Guy.
Waters said the show kept audiences coming back.
“This is not a happy clappy Beatles cover act show. This is a place to listen and be transported by a piece of theatre. This is not like any other show and never will be again. That’s why people come back. If you go on a roller coaster ride, most people want to experience that again,” Waters said.
Waters said the show was ideally suited to the Redland Performing Arts Centre, which he said was a proud part of the Redlands.
“It just works its magic. The ability for a performer to cast a spell over an audience is a gift,” Waters said.
Producer Harley Medcalf said it was an emotional experience seeing the show at its American premiere.
“We were overwhelmed, blessed really, to have the support of Yoko Ono and the Lennon Estate,” he said.
The show will return to the US following the Australian tour.
“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.
“Night after night, our audiences stood to acknowledge us, and it doesn't get much better than that,” Waters said.
Waters and D’Arrietta first conceived and performed Lennon: Through a Glass Onion in 1992 on a small stage at the Tilbury Hotel in Sydney.
The show was an instant success.
In the years that followed, Waters and D’Arrietta toured the show and played sold out engagements at venues including The Sydney Opera House.
The show performed a three-month engagement in London’s West End.
“Its been fantastic the response the show is receiving, especially from the younger audiences that are coming along, some of whom were not 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,” Waters said.
Tickets are $60/$65 and can be booked on 3829 8131, rpac.com.au
