“Just Imagine”
Being the Beatle of wicked humor, John Lennon might have liked the idea of an impersonator flanked by dancing girls in a Vegas tribute 30 years after his death.
Who’s to say? But this is for sure: You can’t watch a John Lennon show and not walk away with a love-thy-impersonator tolerance. So if this must be a year of stand-up comedy and tribute shows, let us not waste good karma protesting the very existence of “Just Imagine” in a big, nice theater at Planet Hollywood worthy of a more ambitious production.
Tim Piper’s unauthorized tribute at Planet Hollywood Resort has its heart in the right place and aims a bit higher than most costumed impersonator shows on the Strip. He shows us the high road by being nice, as the character should, to Yoko Ono: “You find that one person you really and truly love, and the whole world turns against you.”
He even winks about the go-go girls by claiming that during the Beatles’ 1965 summit with Elvis, Lennon — “a bit cocky back then” — told Mr. Presley, “You’re the king, but I’d rather die first than play Vegas.”
Elvis had only played here once by then, which raises historical iffiness reinforcing the show’s biggest weakness: Piper’s attempt to connect Lennon’s song catalog with a biographical narrative. But remember, positivity: At least he tries.
Midway through, I think I figured out why, as a casual Beatles fan, I had trouble believing I was hearing a convincing Lennon voice: The content family man at the end wasn’t the rough-and-tumble Liverpool lad of the beginning, was he? So who’s telling the story?
The show starts with an animated video of Lennon taking a stairway from heaven (really) and telling the crowd, “Maybe the man upstairs has given me a chance to see life from a different view.” But that view is seldom in clear focus as Piper attempts, for example, to abbreviate the complex tale of Lennon’s parents in a few sentences.
Some of the choppiness might be explained by cutting a half-hour from the version that debuted in the tiny NoHo Arts Center. Best either way that he speaks more often through song, given the strength of the Lennon songbook and Piper’s authority in front of a four-piece band.
Piper is consistently strong on good-rocking versions of Beatles favorites from “She Loves You” to “Revolution,” and solo-career hits such as “(Just Like) Starting Over” and “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” you don’t hear in the other Beatles-related titles in town.
The 54-year-old American has been in Beatles tribute bands for much of his career and makes you wonder how the real deal might have presented himself if he had lived another 14 years.
Would he have been too sarcastic to submit to a prosaic, “VH1 Storytellers”-type retelling of his career? Would he have wanted “Just Imagine” to be bolder, more Yoko avant-garde?
The questions are cast out by the midpoint, the most charming part, when Piper takes an acoustic guitar into the audience and makes eye contact as he strums “If I Fell,” “Working Class Hero” and “Nowhere Man.”
When he gets to “Watching the Wheels,” Piper’s Lennon notes he “finally found peace with myself,” while also pointing out “the world goes on without you.” He might remember that if the production draws small audiences.
But the big showroom kind of warms up like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It doesn’t seem so lonely, thanks to cabaret tables down front. Roommate production “Peepshow” also loaned this show some eye-popping LED video panels to display its graphics.
A little peace and love goes a long way.
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.