Article by Kevin Young
Photo credit Niko
Lennon: Through a Glass Onion, is a spectacular montage of Beatles songs and is a heartfelt tribute to John Lennon. Australian natives, John R. Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta, partner up to deliver their rendition of the greatest Beatles hits in a 20 week limited engagement performance starting opening night, October 15.
This groundbreaking performance celebrates the short-lived life of the legendary John Lennon. Waters an actor and singer with a soulful raspy voice has a voice similar to Lennon and therefore is the right candidate to honor him. Waters’ soothing vocals combined with D’Arrietta an esteemed pianist who passionately plays the piano captivating audiences make them the perfect team.
Furthermore this montage includes 31 songs from up beat songs to the more somber songs from, “Imagine,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds,” to “All You Need is Love,” and more. The inception of this show started in 1992 when both D’Arrietta and Waters were unemployed. Both musicians having an affinity for John Lennon agreed to perform this show on a tiny stage at the Tilbury Hotel in Sydney. The two didn’t fathom that this performance would become an international sensation and are proud to be able to perform it here in New York.
Interestingly D’Arrietta cites “How,” as his favorite Beatles song because it’s about how a man goes through life with finding his self-identity and D’Arrietta believes it is the song he can connect to the most.
“It would be hard to say Lennon didn’t influence me. I grew up with the Beatles as a kid. I remember my father gave me one of their albums when I was 14. After I heard the album it was like I wanted to plagiarize the guy,” said D’Arrietta who is greatly influenced by Lennon and who went on to talk about the main theme of the show. “Peace and love are the two messages I want the audience to take away after watching the show. We end with “Imagine,” and we can’t deny that the current state of the world is filled with chaos. The song says imagine if there was no religion and in reality if you look at the Middle East perhaps there wouldn’t be as much chaos.”
It’s the passion, classic music, conjunction of Waters and D’Arrietta, and the exclusive theatrical feel, that will sky-rocket this show’s popularity even further. Both old and younger generations can still relate to the underlying messages within these global anthems whether it be the upbeat pop tunes or the slow ballads. To further describe what viewers can expect to see, in the words of Lennon, “This is my story both humble and true. Take it to pieces and mend it with glue.”
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