HOW TO GO
What: "Just Imagine: The John Lennon Experience" with singer Tim Piper and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Where: The Schuster Center, Second and Main streets, Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16
Cost: $27-$79
More info: (937) 228-3630 or www.ticketcenterstage.com
The music of the late John Lennon continues to live on in recorded form, but is also kept in front of live audiences through tribute acts and Los Angeles-based Tim Piper, who has been performing the role of the former Beatle in clubs, theaters, TV programs and movies since the 1980s.
Piper performs with the Dayton Philharmonic at the Schuster Center in Dayton on Saturday.
“I’ve been performing John Lennon longer than The Beatles did,” Tim Piper said recently, during a brief telephone interview. “I came in at the tail end of Beatlemania. I had my own groups that worked for everything from Royal Caribbean Cruises to doing tours of China, Micronesia and South America. I’ve been all over the U.S. and Canada. I’ve really had a great range of experiences doing this.”
Piper’s latest stage show is “Just Imagine: The John Lennon Experience,” which features music from the British legend’s groundbreaking days in The Beatles in the 1960s through his days as a solo artist in the 1970s.
Dayton fans, however, will get a twist when the New York native brings the show to town for its first symphonic production with the assistance of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert is part of The DPO Rockin’ Orchestra Series.
Expanding the show
While Piper has participated in symphonic Beatles shows in the past, this is the first time he’s given an orchestral twist to his Lennon show.
“Symphonies aren’t brand new to me,” he said. “I’ve done about a dozen of them, but it’s a little different doing it just as John Lennon because, obviously, the music is going to be based on his repertoire, but I’m also doing a little storytelling to try to go over the whole arc of my life. That makes it, I think, a little bit more interesting and gives a little more teeth to it.”
In addition to the DPO, Piper (vocals, guitar) will be backed by his band Working Class Hero, which features Don Butler (lead guitar), Morley Bartnoff (keyboards) and Don Poncher (drums). Piper’s brother, Greg, is the musical director for the show, as well as filling the bass player role in the band.
“My brother has been with me forever,” Piper said. “With The Beatles he’s actually been in the George Harrison position, and he’s great at that, but he’s an even better bass player. He’ll be playing back up. Again, this is not The Beatles, this is John Lennon coming back to kind of reminisce, and I’ve got this ace band behind me and, of course, the wonderful orchestra.
”
Back in Ohio
Although he’s been bicoastal the majority of his life, Piper did spend a period of time in Vandalia from 1994 to 1996.
“When I ran away from the big cities for a three-year period, I went to Vandalia, Ohio,” he said. “On one of the touring shows I did I meet some people from Brookville when I was in Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Under your classic tornado warning, we all met down in the basement of the hotel and we became fast friends.
“It was just a point in my life where I needed something a little bit different,” he said. “Of all things, I just picked up at the time with my wife and 2-year-old son and moved to Vandalia for three years.”
While Piper continued to tour during this period, he also performed around the Dayton area with a unique children’s program called Buster Bear.
“My friend’s son had asthma growing up, and he created this character Buster Bear so kids wouldn’t be afraid of the hospital so much,” Piper said. “We basically turned it into an album and a show that ran for a couple of years. We played for the Ohio P.T.A., worked with the D.A.R.E. program and did fundraisers for Children’s Miracle Network.
“One of the first places I played The Beatles in the area was with my group Revolution at The Fraze Pavilion,” Piper said. “I’ve got a lot of ties in my heart to Dayton, so I’m excited to come back and do this show with the orchestra.”
The DPO Rockin’ Orchestra Season concludes April 27 with “Music of the Beach Boys.” Tickets are on sale now.
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