'Lennon' to close on Broadway on the 24 Sep 2005

It has been announced that Lennon, the new musical based on the life and songs of John Lennon, will close at the Broadhurst Theatre on the 24 Sep 2005. The production will have played 42 previews and 49 regular performances.

The musical has been struggling even before it opened. It by-passed it's Boston pre-Broadway engagement to return to the rehearsal room to "make changes that will be beneficial to the show." It then postponed its Broadway opening three times.

At the time of the third postponement producer Allan McKeown said, "We have delayed the opening of Lennon to allow Don Scardino and our creative team the opportunity to make fundamental changes to the opening and closing scenes of the show, including adding an additional song from the John Lennon catalogue."

Whatever those changes were they were not enough to prevent the show receiving poor notices when it finally opened at the Broadhurst on the 14 Aug 2005, following previews from the 7 Jul.

The New York Times called the show a "jerry-built musical shrine,� while the New York Post said it is "so shaky it can scarcely stagger from one side of the stage to the other" and the Associated Press wrote "What seems to be missing, though, is the man himself � and any sense of theatricality."

To read more of what the critics said click here.

Lennon stars Will Chase, Chuck Cooper, Julie Danao, Mandy Gonzalez, Marcy Harriell, Chad Kimball, Terrence Mann, Julia Murney, and Michael Potts.

The musical is written and directed by Don Scardino, with choreography by Joe Malone, design by John Arnone, costumes by Jane Greenwood, lighting by Natasha Katz and sound by Bobby Aitken.

Lennon is produced by Allan McKeown, Don Scardino and Edgar Lansbury in association with Clear Channel Entertainment, in arrangement with Yoko Ono.