John, Paul, George, Ringo .... and Bert

1974 was a big year for Beatles things.   It was the 10th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America and they were back in the spotlight.    All four the guys had great solo albums out, Beatlefest and the Magical Mystery Tour Conventions happened,  George Harrison had toured North America,  Paul and John even jammed together.     And the more and more Beatle-themed musicals began to pop up.    New York had Sgt. Pepper on the Road and the U.K. had John Paul George Ringo.... & Bert.    



The story follows a fictional character named Bert, who was once a member of the Quarry Men.   He was kicked out for playing the wrong chord and became the Beatles #1 fan.    He walks the audience through the Beatles' story from the Cavern to the rooftop.    Beatles songs are performed throughout the play, by a woman singing them in folk music style.

The cast members playing the Beatles 

The musical opened in May of 1974 appropriately enough at the Everyman Theater in Liverpool, England.     It got great reviews during it's eight week run in Liverpool.     In August it moved to the Lyric Theater in London, where again it got rave reviews and even won an award for the Best Musical of 1974 but some critics award.  

But there was one person that disliked the play:  George Harrison.   There is conflicting information as to when he saw the musical.   Some things I read say that he saw it on opening night in Liverpool and Melody Maker says that he saw it in October of 1974 in London.


Regardless where and when he saw it, we know that George and Derek Taylor saw the play together at Derek's request and George disliked it so much, he left at the intermission and did not see the second act.      Supposedly he "could not stand the pain of seeing himself and the Beatles' years being re-enacted so uncannily and he questioned the fundamental need for the show."    Derek Taylor goes on to say, "George found it hard to watch and I found it hard work sitting with him.   It was a genuine form of suffering for him.   It was hardly surprising that George didn't enjoy it, after all, he was hardly in love with the Beatles' story while it was happening."     George had his song "Here comes the sun" pulled from the musical and it had to be replaced with a Lennon-McCartney song instead.   The choice was "Good Day Sunshine."


John and Ringo did not report seeing the play and did not make any comments, however Paul McCartney had something to say about it:

I never saw it, but I did see clips on the telly and I thought it had me down as the one who broke the group up.   I just saw one little scene out of context and the character that was playing me was saying "I got to leave" and John's line was "all right Paulie, for the good of the group, stay."   And that got me really angry!   And I thought "Bloody hell!  If there ever was any way,  it wasn't that way.  It certainly didn't happen like that .  But I've since seen the fellow who wrote it, Willy Russel;, and he said, "no, it's out of context."   He's since given me the thing to read so I can really understand it.

The play has been shown various time by various professional and ameteur groups and schools.   In 1983, while Paul was making "Broadstreet" he went backstage and met the cast members.   There isn't any indication that he actually saw the play, but he did interact with the cast.    As one cast member recalls, "Paul was really kind and very jokey.   When I turned up with the other three boys in our costumes, he loved that.    He turned to us and said 'Oh it's the Beatles!'   and had a guess at which member of the band we each were.  

No Man's Land

All photos taken by Vinnie Zuffante

I love figuring out the dates to Beatles photos by acting like a sleuth and looking at the details.   These solo John and Yoko photos are a great example of that.

I noticed that Yoko was holding a "Playbill" from a Broadway show.   I could make out the words "No Man" and found a copy of the Playbill for a play called "No Man's Land" online that matched the lettering on the Playbill Yoko was holding.

From there I discovered that the play "No Man's Land" was at the Longacre Theatre in New York City from November 9-December 18, 1976 with a premiere opening on November 8.    I could see in the bottom photo a poster behind the driver that says "The Man who would be King," however that did not help me narrow the photos down any more.    So at least now we know that these set of photos were taken when John and Yoko were out for the night to see the play "No Man's Land," which would have been of interest to John because the setting of the play was in North West London.  They were there sometime between November 8th and December 18th of 1976.  

John was seen greeting fans outside of the Dakota in his denim jacket with the fur around the neck on  November 26th.     He and Yoko were seen at a restaurant and John was wearing the coat he wore when he signed the papers with Allen Klein on November 28th.   So I think those two dates are out of the mix.

Do any of you see any other clues in these photos that could narrow the date down even more?

A night out at the theater

I just love these types of stories of fans talking to John Lennon unexpectedly.  What a memory to have!    The play with the amazingly long title of "For Colored Girls who Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf" opened on Broadway at the  Booth Theater on September 15, 1976.   It played until July of that year.    We know that John was in Boston on September 17, 1976  and the person writing the story did not say that they went on opening night.   So I would assume that John and Yoko were there sometimes during the last week of September 1976 (although it is feasible that they went on the 15th or 16th).  

They play they saw was written by Ntozake Shange and was nominated for a Tony award for best play.   It isn't a traditional play in that it is actually 20 poems that include dancing that have topics that relate to women's issues and race.   I had to read it as part of my theater minor  requirements in college and I liked some of it, but found part of it to be a bit "out there."    Although I have to say that  read the play and I have never seen it performed live with the dance, which might have made more sense.  In all actuality, this seems very much like a play that Yoko would enjoy.

Please note that the photos of John and Yoko were from when they went to the Coppa Cabana in October 1976 and not from this exactly date.    Edit:  Further reading of the same issue of The Write Thing (in the news section) says that the pair saw this play and went to the Coppa Cabana room afterwards.   So the photos I posted ARE from the exact date, which is still unknown.

Story by Nancy Englehardt

The Write Thing

October 1976

Let me begin by saying that I am a Beatle fan who has, up until now, been content to worship my heroes from afar.  I’ve always admired people who have had the courage to just ring doorbells, do a bit of idle chattering and whip out their Brownie Instamatics for a few pictures.  But for numerous reasons I have shied away from that sort of thing.  Primarily because I also have a deep respect for their privacy.  Sure at times they’re hams who would love nothing more than to see a crowd waiting just for them but there must also be times when they would just love to shove your autograph book down your throat and I for one wouldn’t want to be there.  But ultimately it has to do with the fact that I’ve always wanted to keep them on their respective pedestals, afraid of meeting them as mere mortals.  I thought that if I met one of them that somehow he wouldn’t seem so important anymore.  Luckily that hasn’t happened.   For I had an actual face to face encounter with none other than J.L. himself.   So with no further ado, here’s what took place on that day that I’ll have a hard time forgetting. 

My husband and I went to see a play, “For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the rainbow is Enuf.”  We had particularly lousy seats, all the way in the back which made me extremely angry since they were the most expensive seats in the house.  Well, my anger soon subsided when the lights dimmed and who else but John and Yoko Lennon sat themselves down right next to us.  Actually two seats did separate us but that’s close enough.  Needless to say (but I will anyway) all of my time was spent trying to look at John without him seeing me do so.  He has such a marvelous profile.  You know, one of the great, long, arrogant noses and he looked particularly sweet this day.

The entire time was also spent deciding whether to speak to him after the play.  I was whispering to my husband who suggested that I go into the lobby before the show ended and wait there.  Good idea!  You see, since they came in late to avoid a scene, he figured they would leave early for the same reason.  I pretended to be using the phone so if they did happen to come out, it wouldn’t look as if I was ready and waiting to descend upon them even though those exactly were my intentions.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  They did come out early.  I started to rap up my imaginary phone call and hung up.  I was walking towards them, both smiling at me.  Was I going to blow probably my last chance to talk to one of them?  Io, I actually spoke.  Something coherent nonetheless.  “Were you two in the audience?”  I asked with a note of surprise in my voice.   Why I couldn’t admit to seeing him I’ll never know.  “I think we were sitting in the same row,” said John.  “You’re kidding,” said I (don’t I ever give up?)   Yoko remained silent but kept smiling while John asked, “So what’d ya think of the play?”  with the most adorable grin on his face.  What could I say?  You were distracting me and I wasn’t paying attention.  “Well, I’m not Clive Barnes (N.Y. Times Theatre critic) but I liked it.”  If I only could have known in advance that I was going to get John Lennon a theatre review I could have come up wit something better than that.  But I’m lucky that even came out straight.  John, said, “Well, we all can’t be Clive Barnes, now can we?”  I gave him a confused look since I was confused.  Yoko laughed and then he said, “Well, we gotta go now. “  “Nice meeting you” popped out (understatement of the year).  I was feeling so up that I had to go into the ladies room to let go with a yell.  Unfortunately someone was in there and thought I was an escaped loony.  But as long as John Lennon didn’t think so, I didn’t care.