Garde Arts Center to Celebrate 70th Bithday of John Lennon with Movie Premiere and Performance!

Happy Birthday, John: A Multi-Media Celebration to highlight Lennon’s formative years and take a look back at the band that became The Beatles.

The Garde Arts Center officially kicks-off its 2010-2011 season with Happy Birthday, John: A Multi-Media Celebration of John Lennon's 70th Birthday featuring a sneak preview of a major new film about John Lennon, shown on the movie palace's giant screen, followed by a live concert by The Quarrymen, the band that became The Beatles, on September 26 at 3 p.m.

The milestone celebration will include the Connecticut sneak preview of Nowhere Boy, a new biopic exploring the childhood of a creative, spirited and curious Lennon growing up in post-war Liverpool. For the first time on screen, see Lennon's teenage years and the formation of his first band The Quarrymen, the band that became The Beatles. Aaron Johnson - the young breakthrough star of Kick-Ass – stars as John Lennon along with Academy Award-nominated actress Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient and Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Lennon’s strict guardian Aunt Mimi.

In 1956, 15-year-old Liverpool schoolboy John Lennon recruited five of his closest friends to join him in a musical group called The Quarrymen. Over a four-year period the group lineup changed and new members joined. Among the newcomers were Paul McCartney (July 1957) and George Harrison (February 1958). By early 1960, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison comprised the nucleus of the band. 50 years ago, in the summer of 1960, the teenage trio changed their band name from The Quarrymen to The Beatles. After adding a new drummer in 1962, things turned out quite well for them.

After the movie, Rod Davis (guitar and banjo), Len Garry (guitar and homemade "tea-chest bass) and Colin Hanton (drums) - three of the original founding members of The Quarrymen, who are all depicted in the movie, will appear on stage in honor of John Lennon’s 70th.

The band will perform a full concert of their "skiffle" music (the British equivalent of jugband music) and early rock 'n' roll tunes from between 1956-1960 that they played with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, including some of the earliest compositions by their three pals who became The Beatles. In between songs they will share stories of the adventures they shared with John in the creation of the band that became The Beatles.

Happy Birthday, John: A Multi-Media Celebration of John Lennon's 70th Birthday is being presented with the assistance of Beatles scholar Martin Lewis, producer of the DVD edition of A Hard Day's Night, the marketing strategist for multiple Beatles projects including the US release of the Beatles Anthology and instigator/producer of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Beatles' first US visit. In 2008, Lewis arranged for NASA to beam the Beatles' song "Across The Universe" literally across the universe into deep space on the song's 40th anniversary.

"This is going to be a magnificent occasion and a perfect location in New London to be able to show this superb film on the the giant screen of this beautiful theater before it opens officially across the nation," Lewis said. "I know John Lennon's childhood friends and bandmates, The Quarrymen, will feel right at home performing the music that they played with John. They look forward to sharing warm and funny anecdotes about those historic early years and celebrating with New London the joy and spirit John and the Beatles brought to our world."

Nowhere Boy will be released nation-wide by The Weinstein Company on Friday, October 8 – coinciding with worldwide celebrations of the 70th anniversary of John Lennon’s birth. (Lennon was born on October 9, 1940).

Tickets for Happy Birthday, John: A Multi-Media Celebration of John Lennon's 70th Birthday are $35 (orchestra), $42 (loge), $30 (front balcony), and $26 (rear balcony) and are available at the Garde Box Office, 325 State St., New London, Conn. The Garde Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and two hours prior to the curtain on performance days. Tickets may be purchased by phone during regular box office hours at (860) 444-7373, ext. 1, or online at www.gardearts.org.



CALENDAR INFORMATION:


WHAT: Happy Birthday, John: A Multi-Media Celebration of John Lennon's 70th Birthday
Sneak preview of the new John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy followed by a special live concert by The Quarrymen, the band that became The Beatles, after the movie.
WHEN: September 26, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Garde Arts Center, 325 State St, New London, CT 06320
TICKETS: $35 (orchestra), $42 (loge), $30 (front balcony), and $26 (rear balcony)
BOX OFFICE: 860-444-7373, ext. 1 or www.gardearts.org

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About the Garde Arts Center

Now in its eighty-second season, the Garde Arts Center is southeastern Connecticut’s non-profit center for the performing arts. The Garde owns and operates the historic 1450-seat Garde Theatre and the 130-seat Oasis Room where it presents musicals, opera, orchestras, contemporary music, film, dance, and family events. Home of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, hosts performances by regional arts organizations and provides educational programs for more than 12,000 young people. Under the leadership of Steve Sigel, executive director, since 1988, the Garde has become a major catalyst for the cultural and economic revitalization of New London.


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MEDIA INFO

For photos and interviews, please contact Jeanne Sigel, (860) 444-4430, jsigel@gardearts.org

Official Nowhere Boy U.S. Web site: www.nowhereboy.com

Offiicial Nowhere Boy U.K. Web site: www.nowhereboy.co.uk

Official Quarrymen Web site: www.originalquarrymen.co.uk