''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road'' was a 1974 off-Broadway production directed by

Tom O'Horgan Tom O'Horgan (May 3, 1924 – January 11, 2009) was an American theatre and film director, composer, actor and musician. He is best known for his Broadway work as director of the hit musicals '' Hair'' and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. During his ...

. It opened at the Beacon Theatre in New York on November 17, 1974 and ran for a total of 66 performances.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road, BroadwayWorld.com The plot tells of a Candide-like

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

singer, Billy Shears, who marries Strawberry Fields. Billy loses her to death, and his own integrity to

Maxwell's Silver Hammer "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album '' Abbey Road''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song is about a student named Maxwell Ediso ...

men, Jack, Sledge and Claw, dressed in

chain mail Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...

and representing the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...

of the commercial music business. Billy's '' bête noire'' is a temptress named

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...

. Among the original cast were

Ted Neeley Teddie Joe "Ted" Neeley (born September 20, 1943) is an American singer, actor, musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for portraying the title role in ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), a role for which he was nominated for two Gol ...

as Billy Shears and

Alaina Reed Alaina Reed Hall (November 10, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American actress and singer who portrayed Olivia Robinson, Gordon's younger sister, on the PBS children's television series ''Sesame Street'', and Rose Lee Holloway on the NBC sit ...

as Lucy. David Patrick Kelly played Sgt. Pepper. The musical would later be loosely adapted into the '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' film. John Lennon attended several rehearsals and the Opening Night performance with

May Pang May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a re ...

. It was caught on film in the original promo video for " Whatever Gets You Through the Night".

Credits

Produced by Robert Stigwood, in association with Brian Avnet and Scarab Productions, Inc.
Executive Producer, Peter Brown
Associate Producers: Gatchell and Neufeld, Steven Singer, Steven Metz and Howard Dando Music and Lyrics by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr
Directed by Tom O’Horgan
Scenic Design by Robin Wagner
Lighting Design by Jules Fisher
Costume Design by Randy Barceló
Sound Design by Abe Jacob
Music Arranged and conducted by Gordon Lowry Harrell Production Supervisor: Richard Scanga Opening Night Cast:

- Billy Shears
Allan Nicholls - Jack Hammer
Kay Cole - Strawberry fields
B.G. Gibson - Claw Hammer
William Parry - Sledge Hammer

- Lucy Hammeroids: * Blake Anderson * Arlana Blue * Ron Capossoli * Stoney Reece * Jason Roberts Understudies: * Billy – David Patrick Kelley * Strawberry & Lucy – Stoney Reece * Sgt. Pepper, Polythene Pam – Michael Meadows

References

Off-Broadway musicals Musicals based on songs by the Beatles 1974 musicals Jukebox musicals {{1970s-play-stub