Lennon musical heading for Broadway

A musical about the life of murdered Beatle John Lennon will hit Broadway early next year, it was confirmed today.

“Lennon” will follow the life of the music legend, from his working class roots on Merseyside to New York, where he was assassinated.

With the blessing of Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, the musical will mostly feature songs penned by Lennon after he split with the rest of the Fab Four.

But “Lennon” producers have also negotiated for the rights to Give Peace a Chance, which is credited as a Lennon-McCartney song.

“We couldn’t do the show without Give Peace a Chance,” producer Don Scardino told Variety Magazine.

With confirmation that the project will go ahead, the search will soon be on for the actor who will play Lennon.

The new musical is scheduled to premiere on February 1 at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre.

A week later it will burst on to Broadway, although a venue has not yet been announced.

Among the hits in the show will be Imagine, Mind Games, Gimme Some Truth and Working Class Hero.

Earlier this year Mr Scardino said: “Our project is the story of Lennon as a lighting rod and how he defined the times and how the times defined him.

“Lennon’s changes corresponded to our generation. There was the rocker, the hippie, the meditation guru, the transcendentalist, the political revolutionary, the house husband, and all the while there was the evolving artist.”

The project has already been three years in the making.