THE WHO’S TOMMY Broadway Previews- Page 7

[Shubert Alley Cat]

Posted: 3/27/24 at 4:55pm

quizking101 said: "…anywho. I went again tonight as a guest of a press night attendee.

I stand by my original review for the most part.

The only differences were that Adam Jacobs and Christina Sajous were in the show tonight. Jacobs was vocally fantastic and definitely had good chemistry with Luff and command of his role.

However, Christine Sajous…yikes. I never expected someone who has done rock musicals before to be so middling. She seemed out of it and not by character choice. Honestly, I’m glad I saw Afra"

Agreed 100% about Sajous.  I found the vocals thrilling throughout but totally underwhelmed by the Acid Queen.

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/27/24 at 5:14pm

Zeppie2022 said: ""Fallon: https://youtu.be/Mjv_dftuPqY?si=HKS8jj1rwgicAn6E"

The best thing about that clip was a 78-year-old Pete Townsend playing guitar. I was totally underwhelmed with the lead vocal which is sad because I loved this show when it opened many years ago."

Pinball Wizard, while undoubtedly the most well known song in the show, isn’t sung by Tommy at all, so to have Ali singing it with Pete (and without the kinetic staging that goes with it) was very weird to watch. When it got to “See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You”, it sounded much better.


Ali has an incredible voice and presence. He will definitely get a Tony nomination. Not sure if the supporting players have enough material to get nominated, everyone gets their moment, but otherwise not much else to do. 
 

In the 1993 production, Michael Cerveris (Tommy), Marcia Mitzman (Mrs. Walker), and Paul Kandel (Uncle Ernie) were all nominated as Featured.

I definitely feel the strongest case can be made for Ali to be nominated for leading, and the only other strong case would be Bobby Conte as Cousin Kevin in my opinion. 

Updated On: 3/27/24 at 05:14 PM

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 9:51am

I should have listened to the bad reviews on here. This is, without a doubt, one of the crappiest productions of anything I have ever seen on Broadway, or anywhere, for that matter. I saw the original Broadway production, which was pretty innovative for its time with all sorts of flying and special effects. None of that here. It looks like they spent as little as possible to put this on stage. No flying here. No great effects. Just all sorts of projections and lights blinking on and off. Very, very cheap looking set.  The sound was horrific. You couldn't hear lyrics over the orchestra for half of it. If you don't know the story, it comes off as incomprehensible. There were a lot of little kids around me and parents trying to explain what was going on. It's really, really bad. If you must see this show, make sure you are located in a center section, because the way this is (poorly) staged, if you are sitting to the far sides, you are going to miss a lot of it. I was sold a partial view ticket that was not labelled partial view. I almost complained but I couldn't sit through this thing again anyway, so who cares. 

Mercifully, the show is relatively short, at just over two hours. 

By the way, last night, Des Mcanuff, who has apparently lost any and all directorial magic he may have once had, came out before the show to announce that it was "Tommy alumni night" and that the audience was filled with cast and crew who had been in previous productions of Tommy. Suffice to say, if you people don't like screaming in the theatre, you would have hated being there last night because there was screaming from beginning to end. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 10:03am

I was hoping the original cast would make an appearance at the curtain call since he made that announcement and was kind of disappointed that they didn’t. Anyone know for sure who was even there?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 10:14am

Also, the wigs they put on those children is a crime against humanity. 

[CJRochester]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 10:57am

I saw the show yesterday, Wednesday matinee. Thanks to everyone who suggested ear plugs. They were especially helpful during the overture. 

I am a longtime Who fan and loved the show overall. Ali and Allison both sing the crap out of their numbers. I didn’t understand the reason for the change in the timeline, starting in WWII instead of WWI. The silver masks and other others futuristic dystopian stuff confused me. That didn’t ruin the show, but I thought all that stuff was unnecessary. 

I thought the projections (really LED panels) worked well for the most part. The one scene where everything was red and black looked too much like something from  Miss Saigon. 

The black curly wigs on the two young Tommys seemed weird and unnecessary but I could see what they were doing. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 11:12am

Jordan Catalano said: "I was hoping the original cast would make an appearance at the curtain call since he made that announcement and was kind of disappointed that they didn’t. Anyone know for sure who was even there?"

I saw Norm Lewis there. Not sure if he was in a previous Tommy cast.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 11:12am

The setting has always been WWII; if for no other reason than the pinball machine wasn't around till the early 30s

[CJRochester]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 11:34am

dramamama611 said: "The setting has always been WWII; if for no other reason than the pinball machine wasn't around till the early 30s"

Thanks, I must have been thinking of the original album, which did start during WWI. Still there’s a difference in the timeline in that the current show runs into the 1980s, where the original production went into the 60s. That means Tommy has spent many more years as an idol before his change of heart at the end. The score has never been clear whether his time as an idol lasts for days, years, or decades. 

[Jmuep2]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 11:55am

I think the young Tommy portion of the original production was set during World War 1.  The cast album had a song "1921" that seems to have been updated.

 

CJRochester said: "dramamama611 said: "The setting has always been WWII; if for no other reason than the pinball machine wasn't around till the early 30s"

Thanks, I must have been thinking of the original album, which did start during WWI. Still there’s a difference in the timeline in that the current show runsinto the 1980s, where the original production went into the 60s. That means Tommy has spent many more years as an idol before his change of heart at the end. The score has never been clear whether his time as an idol lasts for days, years, or decades."

 

[rachelfran]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 12:42pm

Matt Rogers said: "Jordan Catalano said: "I was hoping the original cast would make an appearance at the curtain call since he made that announcement and was kind of disappointed that they didn’t. Anyone know for sure who was even there?"

I saw Norm Lewis there. Not sure if he was in a previous Tommy cast."

He made his broadway debut in the Tommy cast of 1993.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 3/28/24 at 8:22pm

Shubert Alley Cat said: "quizking101 said: "…anywho. I went again tonight as a guest of a press night attendee.

I stand by my original review for the most part.

The only differences were that Adam Jacobs and Christina Sajous were in the show tonight. Jacobs was vocally fantastic and definitely had good chemistry with Luff and command of his role.

However, Christine Sajous…yikes. I never expected someone who has done rock musicals before to be so middling. She seemed out of it and not by character choice. Honestly, I’m glad I saw Afra"

Agreed 100% about Sajous. I found the vocals thrilling throughout but totally underwhelmed by the Acid Queen."

I saw Afra Hines, who sounded fine, its a poorly staged scene, but this feedback re Sajous is shocking because her voice is unquestionably fantastic, and she can saaaaang,..

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 9:46am

I'm interested in buying tickets for the 3pm performance on Sunday, November 24. Curiously, Telecharge shows no performance on this date, but both Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct are selling tickets for the 3pm show. Will this be the last performance of the show's run, and is anyone able to see this date on Telecharge.com? I called Telecharge and they couldn't explain it.

I would prefer to avoid Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct, if possible. I can't understand why the show's official website links to Broadway Direct as the "official" source, as pricing on that site is notoriously bloated.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 10:39am

Lot666 said: "I'm interested in buying tickets for the 3pm performance on Sunday, November 24. Curiously, Telecharge shows no performance on this date, but both Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct are selling tickets for the 3pm show. Will this be the last performance of the show's run, and is anyone able to see this date on Telecharge.com? I called Telecharge and they couldn't explain it.

I would prefer to avoid Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct, if possible. I can't understand why the show's official website links to Broadway Direct as the "official" source, as pricing on that site is notoriously bloated."

I'm seeing the exact same issue, not sure what it's about. It's an adjacent point, but I would be somewhat surprised if Tommy is still running in November. Whatever you pay in fees, there's a good chance it will all be refunded anyway.  

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:37am

Lot666 said: "I'm interested in buying tickets for the 3pm performance on Sunday, November 24. Curiously, Telecharge shows no performance on this date, but both Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct are selling tickets for the 3pm show. Will this be the last performance of the show's run, and is anyone able to see this date on Telecharge.com? I called Telecharge and they couldn't explain it.

I would prefer to avoid Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct, if possible. I can't understand why the show's official website links to Broadway Direct as the "official" source, as pricing on that site is notoriously bloated."

Hmm. Maybe check their grosses and see how they're doing? Maybe post Tony Award's depending on how they fare there, they'll release a new block of tickets. 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:42am

Lot666 said: "I'm interested in buying tickets for the 3pm performance on Sunday, November 24. Curiously, Telecharge shows no performance on this date, but both Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct are selling tickets for the 3pm show. Will this be the last performance of the show's run, and is anyone able to see this date on Telecharge.com? I called Telecharge and they couldn't explain it.

I would prefer to avoid Ticketmaster and Broadway Direct, if possible. I can't understand why the show's official website links to Broadway Direct as the "official" source, as pricing on that site is notoriously bloated."

Broadway Direct is the official seller of Nederlander Theatres (they dumped Ticketmaster), and their pricing isn't bloated. You must be thinking of Broadway.com. If you purchase through Telecharge, it uses Broadway Direct's ticketing platform. I see that Telecharge doesn't show a November 24 performance, but, if it's on Broadway Direct, it's happening.

 

Updated On: 4/5/24 at 11:42 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:47am

TaffyDavenport said: "Broadway Direct isthe official seller of Nederlander Theatres (they dumped Ticketmaster), and their pricing isn't bloated. You must be thinking of Broadway.com."

You may be correct about my confusing Broadway Direct with Broadway.com, but the prices for other Tommy performances are higher on Broadway Direct than on Telecharge.

 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:52am

Lot666 said: "TaffyDavenport said: "Broadway Direct isthe official seller of Nederlander Theatres (they dumped Ticketmaster), and their pricing isn't bloated. You must be thinking of Broadway.com."

You may be correct about my confusing Broadway Direct with Broadway.com, but the prices for other Tommy performances are higher on Broadway Direct than on Telecharge."

I just took a look out of curiosity because my understanding was that Telecharge shouldn't even be selling tickets for Tommy since it's in a Nederlander theater and they use Broadway Direct, but it seems like the Telecharge site is just a Telecharge banner wrapped around what looks like the Broadway Direct interface.  I checked a couple of dates and they seem to be the same pricing so that's strange if they're not.  Is the base price actually more expensive or is it just the fees?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:54am

Also, you can only enter discount codes on Broadway Direct.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:57am

chrishuyen said: "Is the base price actually more expensive or is it just the fees?"

I can't recall for certain, but I think I saw seats where both the base price and the fees were higher.

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 11:57am

TaffyDavenport said: "Also, you can only enter discount codes on Broadway Direct."

Are there currently any codes for Tommy?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 12:03pm

Lot666 said: "TaffyDavenport said: "Also, you can only enter discount codes on Broadway Direct."

Are there currently any codes for Tommy?"

The code is SEEME, but it only works through May 23. My point was just reiterating that they are the official ticket seller, and that there's no reason to avoid using them. I also think you might be mistaken about the prices being higher. With the code, seats for this coming Tuesday that are $132.50 through Telecharge are $89.00, including fees, on Broadway Direct. Even without the code, I can't find a discrepancy.

 

Updated On: 4/5/24 at 12:03 PM

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 12:40pm

Jmuep2 said: "I think the young Tommy portion of the original production was set during World War 1. The cast album had a song "1921" that seemsto have been updated.



CJRochester said: "dramamama611 said: "The setting has always been WWII; if for no other reason than the pinball machine wasn't around till the early 30s"

Thanks, I must have been thinking of the original album, which did start during WWI. Still there’s a difference in the timeline in that the current show runsinto the 1980s, where the original production went into the 60s. That means Tommy has spent many more years as an idol before his change of heart at the end. The score has never been clear whether his time as an idol lasts for days, years, or decades."

"

There is no song called "1921" on the original cast album. There is a song called "21" that is about turning 21, not the year 1921.

"Got a feeling 21 is going to be a good year, especially if you and me see it in together. Now you're 21 you're ready for a new year. Let's marry now and celebrate forever"

From what I remember from the original production it begins in WWII.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 1:00pm

TaffyDavenport said: "you might be mistaken about the prices being higher. With the code, seats for this coming Tuesday that are $132.50 through Telecharge are $89.00, including fees, on Broadway Direct. Even without the code, I can't find a discrepancy."

And now I can't either! Something wonky was going on with Telecharge yesterday, and they still don't show a performance on 11/24/24. Thanks for your help!

[yyys]

Posted: 4/5/24 at 7:31pm

I am not sure Tommy will still be playing in November....tickets are on TKTS these days.