IN 1992, John Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta took to the small stage at the Tilbury Hotel, Woolloomooloo, Sydney with their debut production of “Looking Through A Glass Onion”.
The show that follows the life, time and music of John Lennon has been taken to our hearts.
What was an initially a one-week booking quickly sold out and extended into a six-week, sell-out season and next year the duo are taking the show to the home of John Lennon.
Waters seems genuinely excited – no they aren’t going to Liverpool but to Lennon’s adopted home of New York and why not – they have achieved so much with their “little show” already.
Fast forward, from that 1992 show and after a massive 137-date tour in 2010/2011/2012, John and Stewart are returning with their “up close and personal” two-man show in and gearing up toward launching the production Off Broadway.
“It began its life as a small venue piece with just Stewart D’Arrietta and myself on stage at the Tilbury Hotel in Sydney,” Waters said.
“I made my entrance from a kichen and climbed over patron’s laps to scramble onto a tiny raised platform in the corner of the room.
“The audience and I were inescapably intimate with each other from the very start, and I kinda like that. Not every venue we play this time around can be exactly like that, but it’s the feeling I want to create – to take the show back to its roots.”
The National Tour of “Looking Through A Glass Onion” commenced in November 2010 at the Sydney Opera House, with a sell out two-week season the production quickly extended throughout 2011 and 2012 taking in over 65,000 ticket sales nationally to be one of the ‘highest selling Australian Artist tours in recent years’.
The show is not a cut-and-paste biography of Lennon or an emulation of the original recordings. On stage, with shadows from the lighting arrangement fluttering over his face as he explores the essence of the man through song and spoken word.
Waters, becomes synonymous with Lennon. He shies away from imitating the artist, but so emotive is his performance, it lulls the audience into believing anything is possible. It’s part concert and part biography, though it doesn’t seek to tell the full story of Lennon’s life.
What: John Waters – Looking Through a Glass Onion
Where: Twin Towns
When: Saturday 11 January
Interested?: www.twintowns.com.au/showroom.html / 1800 014 014
