Emcee's LENNON review
Posted by luvtheEmcee 2005-08-17 23:29:09.0

This is kind of hard... because you know what? I liked it. Really, I did. And it's hard to say that, because I know it's not good theatre - but I had a good time. Would I see it again? Totally. Especially for twenty-six bucks.

My mom and I snagged front row, dead center seats, and it's definitely a fun show to sit so close up for.

I have a really hard time putting this show at the level I put things like Mamma Mia! Because it's not a crappy story. It's truth (surely altered) but it's a real story. It's the story of an incredibly influencial artist; and a tribute to a very important person. I found that that gave the show so, so much heart and resonance. In the scene where they portray Lennon's death, people were sobbing - probably die hard Lennon fans. It was so silly, but I thought of the people who are, to me, like John Lennon was to them, and how that must be... if anything ever were to happen to one of them. It shattered my heart.

One thing that I love about the jukebox-type shows across the board is their musical arragements, though; they don't fail to be full, and often sound better than the original arrangments ever did. For that, and for the sake of the vocal prowess of this cast, I hope they get a recording.

The show has so, so many book and cohesion issues. It's pretty obvious that it's sort of become "The Yoko Ono Story." I think it's fine that they've chosen to focus on Lennon's life after The Beatles, rather than on his life as a Beatle, but it seems like it's shown in a light that makes it more about what he and Yoko did together; well, it doesn't seem that way, it is. And I suppose if this is the brainchild of her money, that's the way it has to be. It feels like the first marriage just gets dropped; how it ended is almost completely unaddressed. It's obvious after some time, but I felt that was definitely missing. Overall, though, the show's "plot" feels like it expects that you know a lot, which, generationally, I don't. And obviously, in order to theatricalize (that's not a word, I don't care) a story like this, things need to be condensed, etc - but they're not condensed in a way that doesn't feel totally contrived; parts of it play out like a bit of a fairytale. But the biggest thing that takes away from any theatricality that it has IS the fact that it's truth; there's no wondering what'll happen next - or not much, anyway... I wondered of details, as I was unfamiliar - because you know how it ends.

I guess the political resonance is something I should touch on - considering that some of the reviews seemed to find it a cheap trick against Bush, if I remember properly. I was thinking about it today, and I was wondering if a revival of something like Hair would be considered a similar cheap trick; old politics being put into play for a current statement. With Lennon, it was very obvious that the politics of Lennon's time were being transplanted and translated to be impactful to a current audience in this political climate, but to be perfectly honest, I thought "Give Peace a Chance" was very, very powerful. I had chills.

Now, this cast. Oh, this cast.

You all know what it's like - that rush, when you finally see in person (and meet - woo!) someone who you've been waiting so, so long to see. JULIA. MURNEY. It's such a pity that she doesn't do more; and Beautiful Boy isn't even, while it's beautiful, the song for her. I was completely captivated by every moment she has in the spotlight; she's beautiful, adorable, fierce, and moves incredibly well, but I kept itching to hear her just belt her brains out, simply because she can. I got my wish at the encore, standing just inches from her - she let out some unearthly note, wailing away with the rest of the cast.

Of the two men who play Lennon himself most consistently - Chad Kimball and Will Chase - I found a huge difference. I found Will to be far more enjoyable; he's got much more presence and charisma that Chad does, and totally outshined him. Chad is fine, but Will's voice is far stronger, as well. I found myself wishing I'd given him a chance as Radames, because he's quite talented - and, he's extremely attractive. He sat right in front of me during that scene where he and the other male actors sit on the edge of the stage. I probably looked totally mystified; he's beautiful.

Julie Danao-Salkin - being the only cast member to have one part truly to herself - gets to show off more acting chops than the rest of the cast, which is probably a bit to her benefit, since vocally, she can't match the rest of them, and certainly can't touch the huge belting abilities of Mandy, Marcy (WHOA!) and Julia. It doesn't totally work to her advantage, though - she seems like she's overacting quite a bit - almost like the idea of trying to portray Yoko as this superbly strong woman went too far, and just feels corny.

And the rest of the cast - while absolute vocal brilliance - well, it's just hard to say much more for them, because of the type of material they're working with. I will give props, though, to the comedic chops on Mandy (in the Buddist (?) scene, when they carried her in), Terrance (all across the boards), Chuck (Ed Sullivan) and Marcy (Elton John).

I guess I'll wrap up there. Thanks for reading, etc, etc. And honestly - do give this show a chance. Is it good theatre? Maybe not. Is it enjoyable? Yes. Is it good music? HELL yes. It has a ton of heart, and deserves better recepetion than it's gotten so far.

Best of luck, Lennon.

bravo! nice review Emcee glad you had fun

What did you think of the tech for this show?

And nice review, as always.

Thanks for the review! Interesting thoughts.

Oh, duh. Thanks, nia - I meant to say that I thought the lighting was fantastic. I'm not too good at technie analysis, though. The sets are pretty minimal.

great review. =)

and i saw Will in Aida, he was my first Radames.. quite excellent. quite.

Thoughts on the costumes? I saw a photo, and they're... odd. Do they work with the show?

And thanks for your thoughts on the book. They're far clearer about its problems than some of the other reviews I've read.

Yes, that was my infamous "You are not Adam, therefore I can not see you" phase.

you know what? i enjoyed it too. glad to hear your views. as for chad, i ddin't see him but i agree about will chase. i found him the most, i don't know entertaining i guess. anywho great review once again.

That's rather how I felt about the SF version-- I loved the cast and they have a lot of heart, which for me made it an enjoyable experience. Thanks for the review!

Amazing review, Emcee.

yeah, Will was nothing short of excellent. i did get to see Adam later in the run, and, well...

MY. GOD.

but still, i would see Will again in the role. he was wonderful.
(but i'd rather see him in Lennon, heehee)

I'm still just all over the Julia love. ALL OVER.

yeah the costumes i would agree look like that had been left backstage by "Urban Cowboy" (shhh..not too loud)

Thanks SO much for the review -- Very well written and thought out. I really enjoyed reading it, and I'm a DIE-HARD fan of this show, so hearing what you had to say was really great. :)

Isn't Julia one of the most captivating people you've ever seen on stage? Really... It's so interesting because, while she doesn't have the spotlight a LOT, you can't HELP but move your eyes to her when she's in your line of vision (even when she's sitting off to the side and not in the scene... I still watched her.) -- I'm so happy that you enjoyed it and finally got to see Julia, who it seems you were REALLY excited about! yay!

And I also agree about Will... he's stunning. I... I can't even... *sigh* During "Watching the Wheels", he sits RIGHT THERE! Right ON TOP OF the pit! I just wanted to touch him, haha, buuuuuuuuuuut I didn't. Maybe next time

Thanks again for posting!

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Even when she was just sitting there. In the dark. Doing nothing. I totally didn't care, she's amazing. I just... performers like that... it's late. I'm in articulate. I can't wait to see her tomorrow.

I really enjoyed your review Emcee.

The show was hard for me, as a long time obsessie of Lennon. I love the music and the man and what they were trying to do, but some of it just missed. I think its the book problem, I really felt more like I was attending a highly emotional concert than a show.

I loved Will Chase, and honestly wish they had eliminated Chad, he did not do anything for me. I adored the rest of the cast!

As a long time Lennon fan, I have read a lot and the honest position is, in those later years Yoko IS that important to his life, she completed his mystery so if the show did not focus on her it would be doing him a diservice. Does that mean the portrayal of her as a saint is accurate? No, but we are inside John Lennon's head anyway.

The politics were perfect, they are mine of course, but they were also his, a huge part of who he was and why he still matters.

Again I love your reviews Em, and this one fits the usual bill.

I should have posted my review ("review") here.

Oh well, it was more thoughts on the show....nice though.

Emcee, are you going to the show again tomorrow? or Bryant Park?

If you go to Bryant Park, TOTALLY post about it, because I'd love to hear (I'm in SF, so.... I can't get there, unfortunately). And say "Hi!" to Julia for me, hahaa

No, no. Bryant Park. I work a few blocks away, so if the weather is nice, I'll head on over.

oh awesome! I'm hoping that SOMEONE gets pictures or even a video, because I'd love to see what they do (or hear accounts) -- have fun!

I'm taking my dad's videocamera, as he hasn't taken it back from loan when I borrowed it for the RENT stuff two weeks ago, but I can't really digitize the video. I'll get some photos and audio, though - if I can finally get technology working for me.

PS - check your PM's, Starbuck.

I picked up Lennon Legend: The Very Best Of John Lennon today, because it's got most of the stuff from the show. I have it on now.

Lennon Legend is a really great album -- I found out my dad already had it after we saw the show in SF, so I made him send it to me. I think that the song choices they chose to represent in the musical were really great choices. There was a variety (more so now on Broadway than there was back in SF), so I'm really happy with that.

and Emcee... in answer to your question... yes I do. A LOT of them :) I'll PM you.

hooray, I love you!

Truthfully, my mother probably owns this album. I just have no patience. And, she'd probably laugh at me if I asked her to borrow it.

I ran off with my father's copy of One a while ago; that really didn't go over very well.

Very well written. Glad u found it worth 26.50 (or whatever) I lived thru these moments/music. Not gonna cheapen them. ( GO ahead pillory me!)

Well, not all of us did.

I'm really excited to see them in Bryant Park today... does anybody know what they're singing?

*sniffle*

No Julia or Will at Bryant Park today.

Rest of the cast was fabulous, though.

No Julia or Will at Bryant Park today.

damn, i just heard that too! I heard that Julia was really sick and didn't want to hurt her voice anymore than she had to.... I don't know about Will, though.

Thanks for posting!

nooooooooo! I figured that's what it was. Feel better, Julia! <3

awesome review emcee. thanks! now i want to see the show really bad! maybe i'll hop on the next plance from cali to nyc. yeah, will is beautiful. did you get to meet him afterwards? he did an excellent job as radames! he's a real life sweetheart!

I did not! I'm quite timid, and he got away before I could get up to him, since I tried not to be part of the bombardment of Will that was going on. Whatever, I met Julia.

Great review, as usual. Which show did you see yesterday? I saw the matinee.
Poor Julia . Feel better! She's so sweet. I was lucky enough to meet her after the show yesterday.

aah, that was the best. I've waited so so so long for it.

She was laughing about my camera when I asked for a pic, because I said my camera might not work becauseI dropped it, and then we took the pic and she went "IT WORKS!!!"

LOL! She seems like a *total* sweetheart, but I get so stupidly afraid. I asked someone if I could borrow her sharpie, and then was like "um, Julia? Could you sign this for me?" I asked if she minded a picture, and she was a nice as could be - my mom took it and said it would come out very pretty, and then I was like "thankssomuchyouweregreatbye!" and ran off. I don't know why I do that.

Ah, well, another time I shall be more courageous. I'd really like for her to sign my HAIR benefit CD.

Dancingthroughlife - that was YOU who dropped it!

I was there with Liotte - had the wild party playbill, orange shirt...

Julia is one of the sweetest people in existance. She is really nice.
I agree that Will is gorgeous. He talked to my mom about how he came from Frankfort, Kentucky, how his wife grew up in Cleveland, and how he's played Chris at the theatre in Cincinnati and my mom was transfixed on him. It was kind of funny. He has a great voice too. He was so good, I almost didn't stare at Terry the whole show!(just kidding, I tried to focus on the story, which meant watching Will a lot).
Anyway, I loved the show and I can't wait for the recording!!!

Is it bad that I totally want to see this again? I'm completely enamored with the cast, especially after seeing them again at the park today; they make a KILLER ensemble.

It's funny, I rarely bother with female actors for autographs because in general, I've just found them to be a lot less warm and openly friendly than the guys - not entirely bitchy, just a little bit cold sometimes. I remember being really nervous a while ago and making people promise me that Julia was nice.

You want tit.

shh, NARD! LOL.

you should TOTALLY see it again! that's not a bad thing -- Crap, I went back 3 times just in SF because I was so in love with the cast. I even flew to NYC to see them again! you're not alone.

Julia really is the greatest person. I remember the first time I met her, i was just petrified! I don't usually get all nervous, but for some reason I was shaking. She makes conversation and is the best. The 3rd time I met her, she completely remembered me and we started chatting. I asked her to sign my Hair CD insert and she yelled "OH MY GOD!! I HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THIS YET!! Can I look??" -- ahha, then she started flipping through it and looking at the pictures with me, commenting on people in the cast... she said "Oh! Look! It's Jai! oh my god, WHY is he in his underwear? he is such a weirdo!"... "OH GAVI!! *looking at Gavin Creel's picture*" haha, she was so happy to see the insert, she asked me about the songs, how they turned out, all that. and she couldn't decide where to sign, so we were talking about the best place...

Emcee, next time, if you ask her like... ONE question, it kicks off a conversation and she'll continue to chat with you. You totally should! She's such a darling! When I saw it in NYC, we talked for over 10 minutes after the show, just about random stuff. :)

::sigh:: i love her.

Great review- Glad to see you enjoyed it!
I actually really want to see Lennon with my parents. I think they would enjoy it.
I have a question- Does Lennon do student rush at all? Student rush is my new favorite thing- I just recently got front row for Sweet Charity at some ridiculous 20 something price. You said something about it being cheap, so I was just curious. Excellent!
Thanks for the review again Emcee!

I'm taking my HAIR CD over there tomorrow night, I think. Hopefully she's not too sick and she's in the show! I'm going to see Chitty - but since they're an hour earlier I can go over to Lennon after! (Hopefully I can get Raul to sign it first.)

I shall think of a question. Thinkthinkthink.

Edit - Elphie, yeah - rush is $26.25. Go to the box office whenever, it's easy!

Ha!

She was funny (<----) when I had her sign my TWP playbill.

Then I saw Megan Sikora as Nessa in Wicked and had her sign TWP playbill and we started talking about Julia in Lennon.

Julia overload, I discovered, is a good thing.

Elphie -- Yes, there's Student RUSH.

there was a post for it earlier today:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=863961&dt=081805052255

all the info :) have fun! it's totally worth it!

*drools.*

oooh!! I have a pic too! (you'll love this one, Emcee... you've probably already seen it, o'course)



HOOOTTTTTTTTTT!!!

(i love how this post has become a "Julia Appreciation Thread" -- there should SO be one of those!!)

http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?lastpage=on&thread=863995&boardname=off&dt=081805082302

^ You rock. 'nuff said.

Yesssssssssss.

*migrates*

oh. Starbuck - that's the best picture I've ever seen. All of my favorite people, though Adam looks a little... confused.

One of my personal favorites -

yes! I love that picture ^^ I had my friend make me an icon with it! That part in Chess was, was... well, we can't talk about that here... *looks around nervously*

MORE PICTURES! YAY!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/Starbuck04/Julia%20Murney/Juliaconcert.bmp

I think she's just adorable there. Does anyone know which concert/performance that was?

Let's move this to the Julia thread...

That's my favorite moment from the Chess concert; so... fierce. They had so much chemistry. SO MUCH.

k, yeah, seriously, we totally thread-jacked... *goes to leave thread to hang out in the Julia-love post*

*turns back* Back to the ACTUAL topic of Lennon... umm...

GO SEE IT! :)

*leaves*

okay so yall are awesome. i loved lennon too, and i must say i'm jealous of you emcee since will sat RIGHT in front of you. i would love to go back and see it again, which wont be happening bc i went to NYC twice this summer. from fla. so that cast recording better come out soon. oh and lennon legend? best cd i own. well its on up there. and one more thing, i'm upset bc i had great seats and just bc i was like 5 to the right on the right side of the theater i didnt get a flower. shoot. oh well adios!

heheh. Well, I'd be jealous of me, too, I guess. However - he shook my mother's hand! So, I was jealous of her. He was like "hi! I'm John!" My poor mother looked so perplexed, it was totally priceless.

hahaha... I love when will asks peole if they got through the 70's ok and they don't know what to do, so they don't respond. He is the sweetest person ever.

And I hope Julia's feeling better. Was she in the show 2night??? does anyone know, because she told me that she had never missed a performance ever, so if she was out tonght it would be a first.


I also was wondering if anyone went to the catterbox tonight to see the cast (or was it just chad... who knows...) perform? I wanted to go but got stuck with the kids from my dance school at great adventure for the entire day!!! Did anyone go?????

Oh. Yes. My mother was also looking at him after the show and was like "Um, I wonder if he was even ALIVE in the seventies. And he's asking me if I got through them okay?! ha!"

Tres amusing.

Feel better, Juliaaaaaa. <33333

Wonderful review luvtheEmcee! It was well rounded, well written, well thought out, and I enjoyed reading it!

You do a great job posting reviews here, and I look forward to your next one.

okay so i'm jealous of both of you.

LOL, shootinstr!

And thank you very much, justme.

Dancingthroughlife - that was YOU who dropped it!

I was there with Liotte - had the wild party playbill, orange shirt..

Yeah hahaha that was me! Well, it was nice to kind of meet you lol. Liotte took the picture of me and Julia, and then of me and Julie, then? (Neither of which came out because of my #$*(&^*%ing camera. )

Julia told me to speak up. Tee hee. I was kind of really shy to say anything, and kept letttng people go in front of me, and then she was leaving and I'm going "Oh, um, uh..." and then she went "Sorry, you have to speak up!"

tmz814-- yes, julia was in the show tonight. (will too, if anyone was wondering.) she told me afterward that she was sick a few weeks ago and never really fully recovered, and her voice was really starting to feel it, so she sacrificed the Bryant Park performance (and also gave Nicole a chance to peform, which i'm sure she was excited about) to assure she'd be in good voice for the evening's show. and she was.

thanx for the info. I hope she is feeling better now.

aww, yay. Glad to hear it.

Yay! Hope she's feeling better.