John Waters - Looking Through A Glass Onion 'John Lennon In Words And Music' (1993)

 (Australian 1992 - 2014)

John Waters is an Australian film, theatre and television actor, singer, guitarist, songwriter and musician best known in Australia, where he moved to in 1968. Waters was born in London, England. He first faced a live audience as a singer and bass guitar player with 1960s London-based blues band The Riots before travelling to Australia, initially for an extended working holiday and then eventually settling there permanently. Waters is an accomplished musician, and since 1992 has toured many times with his one-man show Looking Through a Glass Onion.

Created and performed by Waters and esteemed singer/pianist Stewart D’Arrietta; Lennon – Through a Glass Onion is part concert and part biography, revealing the essence of the life and astonishing talent of one of the most admired icons of the past century. This compelling story features 31 iconic hits of Lennon and his collaborations with McCartney including Imagine, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, Woman, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Working Class Hero, and Jealous Guy.

It’s been 30 years since John Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta first performed Lennon – Looking Through a Glass Onion on the small stage at Sydney’s Tilbury Hotel. Little did they know that over an inspiring 25 year journey they would perform the show in both New York and London, leaving their mark on audiences around the world.

Back in 1992 actor and musician John Waters transformed himself into John Lennon when he first performed 'Looking Through a Glass Onion', a homage to the music, mystery and memory of John Lennon, with the help of Stewart D'Arrietta.

The song 'Glass Onion' was John Lennon's postscript on the Beatles era. It had a strong image of crystal ball gazing and peeling away the layers on life that it inspired John to create a stage show - a kaleidoscopic collage of song, word, emotiuon and image exploring the essence of John Lennon, and what made him more than a 20th Century rock star.

Along with Stewart, they chose Beatle songs that for them were essentially Lennonesque. Stewart arranged these songs as a map to take the audience through Lennon's musical life. John wrote the monologue to link the songs.

Rather than impersonate, John wanted to evoke Lennon's honesty, bitter-sweet humour, self criticism and disdain for pretentiousness and promposity. The result was this stage show - 'Looking Through A Glass Onion' which both John and Stewart have delivered to audiences over the past the 30 years.

Stage Show Reviews

Review 1:  In 1992 a dark-haired and handsome John Waters came to Adelaide to present his, then new show, Lennon Through A Glass Onion. Twenty-seven years later he returns, with hair now grey but voice still as rich as it was back then. I missed out on a ticket all those years ago and after the accolades he received, I always regretted it. Thanks to the Adelaide Fringe, this year I got another chance, and it was worth the wait.

This show has certainly been around the block and returns after its Off-Broadway success, with Waters leading on guitar and vocals, accompanied by Stewart D'Arrietta on piano. This is an intimate and very moving theatrical production, part music, part spoken word, which celebrates the genius and talent of one of the world's most famous songwriters, John Lennon.

Waters has been a star of stage and screen for over four decades. His longest stint was as a presenter on the education television program for young children, Playschool, which he did for twenty years. Upon researching his early music career, I found out that Waters first gig was as a singer and bass guitarist in a London based rock band, The Riots, and so, from this early training and having years of performing this show behind him, he was more than comfortable to stand in a spotlight and present himself musically at his best.

Waters excels in this show, portraying Lennon so authentically through speech and song. His imitation of Lennon's Scouser accent completed his black leather look and, as shots rang out before he even stepped onstage, one was reminded of Lennon's murder and how the world lost not only an incredible singer and songwriter that day but a true artist and teacher of peace.

From that fateful night, Waters takes us back to where it all began with The Beatles, giving us snippets of Lennon's early life and taking the audience through, in story and song, to his relationship with Yoko Ono and the birth of Sean.

In just 90 minutes, Waters manages to present around 31 hits of Lennon and Lennon/McCartney, including Imagine, Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Revolution, Woman, Working Class Hero, and Jealous Guy. An accomplished guitarist, it is Waters singing and characterisation that truly bring this piece to life. He has channeled not only Lennon's accent and voice but his very soul, no more so than when he sang Mother, and Imagine.

D'Arrietta was the perfect accompanist who is a talent in his own right. His rich harmonies, spot characters, keyboard, and percussion skills, rounded out this show to give it rare appeal. The Grand Central Showroom was packed to capacity and, at the end of the evening, all there left with not only appreciation of Waters (who by the way is 70 now) but of Lennon and all he had to offer the world. (Reviewed by Fiona Talbot-Leigh, Sunday 17th February 2019)

Review 2.   It was twelve years after Lennon’s death in 1992 that Waters conceived of the show with musician Stewart D’Arrietta. The name, a lyric from a song off the influential White Album, is a “sort of retrospective on the whole Beatles era. I’ve been berated by a few promoters for the title being rather obscure, but I didn’t think it was,” he laughs. “Don’t you know the double White Album for God’s sake?”

Since its inception, the one-man (and band) production has toured on the 20th anniversary of Lennon’s death and is now filling up the theatres yet again with Adelaide and Canberra shows sold out and others heading in a similar direction. “Our first audience is obviously baby boomers in general because they’re the people who kind of lived through the actual time, but the music itself just keeps going and spreads to all the subsequent generations.

It’s just a concert of songs with a little bit of extra that helps you maybe understand the background of the songs, because the songs themselves are a text of Lennon’s life.”

The “extra” comes as a monologue “which is kind of interwoven within the songs.” Which begs the question – how authentic is the monologue? Does it consist of Lennon’s actual words? “Not really. I take a cue from some of the things John Lennon has actually said. Maybe like one line or something as a quote of his and I expand on it as if it was him talking.”

The monologue is presented in a brilliant Liverpudlian accent, which can’t be too difficult for Waters as he spent his formative years in London where he played bass in a rock ‘n’ roll band called The Riots. So why not a show about fellow bass player Paul McCartney? “I think Paul McCartney is a fantastic musician and songwriter and is an equally important part of that era of music as Lennon really, but when you think about the MAN, he [Lennon] is more interesting. It’s a no-brainer.

“Lennon had a lot of grit in his voice, which I liked. White guys can sometimes try too hard to sound black but white people have soul of their own anyway. When they just do it naturally, it comes out like John Lennon.”

Unlike the aforementioned geezers, Waters doesn’t need to draw on the fame of John Lennon for a counterfeit sense of self worth. We already know and love the guy – from his 1988 AFI Best Actor performance in Boulevard of Broken Dreams to his more recent roles in TV’s All Saints and Offspring.

“I just love the fact that I was able to come up with something that enabled me to go back to my roots as a singer with bands and to add to that something that I learned over the intervening years about being an actor, being on a stage and communicating with the audience. So I sorta put all these elements together in a show.”

After meeting with Waters, I think it’s safe to say that Lennon is not turning in his 30-year-old grave. (review by Kanye & Jay-Z at Beat.com.au)

Interview with John Waters

How did you come up with the idea of Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

It was through the memories of John Lennon and my love for his music that I decided to personalise a show about him by channeling him in a way that means I didn't have to dress as him but could present his music to other people.

Tell us a bit about the show Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

The show takes a journey inside John's head and gets you closer to knowing what sort of man he was and that was my objective with it.

How did the name come about of the show because there are so many great John Lennon songs?

Glass Onion is the name of a Lennon song which featured on the "White Album" and it describes Lennon's tongue in cheek retrospective of the Beatles era and I thought it made a nice analogy for remembering things but not entirely clearly – a little distorted… who knows what the glass onion is, it doesn't matter.

Has Yoko Ono seen Lennon: Through A Glass Onion if so, what were her reactions?

Yoko Ono knows the show very well from DVDs and scripts and CD recordings etc, but it has some very confronting images of the death of Lennon and I wouldn't invite her to attend to be honest as I think it would put her through the worst memory of her life. She knows what we do and how strong the images are of John Lennon and feels we are doing story in the right way and that is why she is supporting us.

How many songs are performed in Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

31 songs, either in full or in part.

Do you have a favourite song from Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

Yes, Strawberry Fields Forever – it's a definitive John Lennon song for me.

As you've grown older has your view of John Lennon changed?

I would say I've learnt a bit more about John Lennon through other people's reactions and the reactions of people who knew him personally and who have seen the show in the UK and New York City especially – their stories and anecdotes have really increased my knowledge about the guy.

The show has evoked strong emotions from some audience members. What sort of reactions have you seen?

I have seen people in tears after a show, literally in tears, and feel deeply moved by the show.

At one stage you had a five piece band, why did you decided for this tour to have yourself and Stewart on stage?

The show started in this format with myself and Stewart. I believe it's most intimate and most powerful in getting the message across in this stripped down performance.

You performed the show in London and New York. Can you tell me about this experience?

It's always fantastic to reach a big audience in the two main theatre cities in the world so I think it's been incredibly fortunate that we've been able to play both those cities and hopefully we can go back. (Interview by Belinda Nolan-Price for Weekend Notes)

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD.  Although this show has never been released on vinyl, it was released on cassette tape (and therefore still conforms with my blog's charter) 

I have always been a big fan of John's acting career, having being first introduced to his acting talents when he played Sergeant Robert McKellar in the 1974–76 television series Rush (set during the Gold Rush days of Colonial Australia). 

It is only when I stumbled upon this CD by shear accident at a garage sale that I realised Waters had other talents hidden beneath his brooding exterior. I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to this show for the first time, his take on John Lennon is simply stunning and brilliant.  

Whether you are familiar with John Waters through his acting career or not - you really need to hear this album 

Track Listing

1 Liverpool Lullaby 1:05

2 A Day In The Life 1:09

3 Pretty Mild Day Isolation 3:20

4 Glass Onion 1:45

5 Someone Once Said 0:28

6 Lucy In The Sky 1:01

7 And Then You Get This Great … 1:29

8 Working Class Hero 2:16

9 Everybody Meets Someone 1:22

10 How Do You Sleep 2:20

11 I Loved The Fame 2:42

12 All You Need Is Love 1:39

13 People Always…. 0:42

14 I’m So Tired 1:21

15 I Have To Admit … 1:20

16 Revolution 2:07

17 I Think It Was Ringo … 1:02

18 Sexy Sadie 2:05

19 Don’t Know What To Say 1:20

20 Come Together 1:02

21 Only Thing Nobody Can Touch … 0:14

22 Strawberry Fields Forever 2:24

23 Steel And Glass 3:00

24 Suppose I Just Graduated … 1:07

25 Nowhere Man 0:47

26 I Don’t Suppose 0:29

27 Julia 1:43

28 Mother 1:34

29 Yoko Had This … 0:48

30 Woman 1:59

31 Yoko Thinks I’m a Fag  0:05

32 The Ballad Of John & Yoko 1:47

33 Everybody Falls Back 1:47

34 Crippled Inside 1:51

35 ISMS … 1:11

36 How 2:45

37 God 1:53

38 I Really Thought … 0:50

39 Jealous Guy 2:09

40 I Sent Her A Postcard … 1:28

41 Watching The Wheels 2:13

42 Doctors Told Us … 0:37

43 Beautiful Boy 2:35

44 Done It All Wrong… 1:59

45 Isolation 1:16

46 Oh, I See … 1:28

47 Imagine 3:13

The Band:

John Waters - Guitar & Vocals

Stewart D'Arrioetta - Keyboards & Vocals

Hamish Stuart - Drums, Percussion & Vocals

Sam McFerran - Bass

Klaus Bussmann - Guitar & Vocals

Paul Berton - Guitars

Jan Young - Guitar on "Ballad of John & Yoko" and "Crippled Inside"

David Cafe - Vocals

John Waters Link (419Mb)