It may have been panned by several critics, but Yoko Ono betrayed no signs of doubt when she took to the stage during the premiere of a new musical on the life of John Lennon.

Flashing the peace signs that became the characteristic trademark of the couple during their Sixties anti-war "bed-ins", Ono joined the cast of Lennon for the curtain call at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York.

The Ono tribe turned out in force, with Yoko and Lennon's son Sean and her daughter Kyoko Chan Cox accompanying her to the theatre.

Lennon, which tells the story of the singer's life from his Liverpool childhood through the Beatles to his solo career, had received not only Ono's endorsement but reportedly also her input. She has jealously guarded Lennon's reputation and it was a coup for the producers to be given her blessing.

Not surprisingly Ono's relationship with Lennon, who was murdered by a crazed fan outside the couple's New York apartment in December 1980, takes centre stage, but the singer himself doesn't make an appearance until the end, when his voice fills the auditorium, backed by film clips of him with Ono, singing arguably his most famous song Imagine.

The critics have not been overly impressed.

One, AP's drama critic Michael Kuchwara, said: "What seems to be missing . . is the man himself - and any sense of theatricality."

The show was first seen in San Francisco, where it came in for stinging criticism from reviewers before transferring to Broadway.