In his new play, Larry Kirwan, leader of the popular, Irish-inflected New York rock band, Black 47, asks a classic "what if" question:
What if. . . the Beatles never made it big?
Liverpool Fantasy, finishing its scheduled run at Off-Broadway's Irish Arts Center June 28, imagines what the city would be like if The Beatles had never made it past the Cavern Club years. The comedy visits the unfab four, finding John Lennon and Ringo Starr on the dole, George Harrison turned into a Jesuit, and Paul McCartney changing his name and becoming Paul Montana, Vegas crooner. Julian Lennon is also on-hand (the son by John's first marriage), only he's a just a street thug.
Starring in Liverpool Fantasy, which opened June 4, are Colin Lane, Denis O'Neill, Patrick Walsh and Anthony Bertram.
For tickets ($12) and information on Liverpool Fantasy at the Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st St., call (212) 757-3318. -- By David Lefkowitz