John Waters has been playing the role of Lennon since the show debuted in 1992 and the fans' love has kept it coming back to the stage.

"It is one of those things that people want to come back and see as well," Waters says.

"People have told me it's like a favourite record. In the old days before you could access music from thin air like you can today, you had albums.

"You used to go through your albums and think 'there's my favourite album, I haven't listened to that for ages' and you'd bring it out and pop it on again.

"People feel that way about the show which is great for us because it keeps us touring."

The show - devised by Waters and Stewart D'Arrietta - was first performed at Sydney's Tilbury Hotel in a three-week run and they then figured that would be all she wrote.

But they've been around the country several times and even taken what Waters describes as not "a happy clappy Beatles show" to Lennon's adopted home town of New York City.

Those shows especially helped Waters with Lennon's character.

"I've performed in New York City where a lot of people who knew Lennon have come up and spoken to me," he said.

"So I've learnt about him first-hand along the way. I don't pay too much attention to the bios but I love the fact that people who knew him speak to me.

"That adds to the feeling I have when I'm onstage."

He said there are plans to keep the stage show touring, even if he's not on the stage. There's a US orchestra tour planned and Waters says they'll find the time to look for new performers who can replace himself and D'Arrietta.

"It's turned into a kind of classic and I think there will always be an occasion when people will want to see this piece," he says.

"It would be a great thing to find people to carry it on."

Through a Glass Onion is on January 4 at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.