TOMMY the musical

[dmb_rent]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 9:45pm

Has anyone here seen it? -- I haven't really posted here in forever, I'm so wrapped up in work, and in the process have fallen in love with The Who. The place that I work is making a new documentary about them, coming out in the fall. Anyway...I know there has been I believe a few productions of Tommy on stage. I'm just wondering who here has seen it and what you thought about it.

(Becoming quite the lurker)
-Sarah

[WalveMalve]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 10:02pm

I saw the original b'way production I guess maybe 12 or 13 years ago and I liked it. It wasn't one of Broadway's best productions and compared to the modern rock operas that have emerged since 1996, it's nothing that original. It's interestingly similar to the album in that every song on the album does appear in the show with slightly altered lyrics (take out all the christ imagery) and a reorganized order with several reprises added in. There's also a new song called 'I believe my own eyes' which doesn't fit with any other song in the show but does give Captain and Mrs. Walker more concrete personas. The show also calls for some impressive pyrotechnics with pinball machines that explode and a whole array of imagery using a plethora of tv monitors. The story is the same as the album's in which it is probably better understood under the influence or just requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. What's also interested is that the narration used in the album is often told by one or two of the three actors who play tommy at some point in the show. This brings about some interesting symbolism in that Tommy as a boy is narrated by the older, rock star Tommy who is waiting to break out of his deaf dumb and blind counterpart; likewise, the older tommy is narrated (with the simple 'see me, feel me, touch me, heal me') by his inner child longing for the innocence he once had. Michael Cerveris was the original actor to play Tommy and based on his more recent Sondheim roles, it seems like he won't be in a similar role anytime soon.

So if you like the sixties throwback rock musical that is as much a visual effects experiment as it is auditory then it's pretty good. If you find that the more classical approach to theatre better, then I'd stay away from future productions.

[guitargeek0624]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 10:06pm

A small theater in the town where I vacation (Beach Haven in Long Beach Island, New Jersey) put on Tommy over the summer. I loved it. It was very well done for a small theater company, and the music was incredible. The next day, I picked up the album by the Who and was entralled, since I love classic rock. It's not my favorite show, but I like it.

Updated On: 1/11/06 at 10:06 PM

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 10:28pm

I love the cast recording/show, but I was taken to see a poorly done local production of Tommy. The thing that struck me odd the most was having all of the kids' lines, etc. pre-recorded.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 11:14pm

I bought the cast recording for this show and have not gotten used to its sound, I don't find it appealing, and to me all the music pretty much sounds the same. Maybe with repeated hearings it will get better.

[thejcm]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 11:22pm

I definitely reccomend repeated listenings to the OBCR. I had it for at least a year before I listened to it a second time, and then a third, and then I couldn't stop listening to it for ages.

I saw the production in Pittsburgh last July with Alice Ripley and Manley Pope and really enjoyed being able to see the things I had only heard before.

[liotte]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 11:23pm

I saw it in the spring of 95 on Broadway, loved the show.

[temms]

Posted: 1/11/06 at 11:34pm

"Tommy" was the second Broadway show I saw (didn't make it to NYC until college) and to this day it remains one of my favorite productions ever. Brilliantly staged by Des McAnuff - I still remember the soldiers parachuting out of the plane when "Pinball Wizard" strikes up in the overture. Simple but incredibly cool.

It's definitely a departure from the Who's original album, but they did succeed in making a coherent storyline out of what was deliberately left vague on the record. I loved "Tommy" so much that it inspired me to pick up the Who's "Quadrophenia", which made me an insatiable Who fan. I now own pretty much every recording ever released by The Who and consider myself almost as much a Who fanatic as a theatre one.

Had I been a Who fan before seeing "Tommy" on Broadway, I probably would have thought it was way too cheesy and oversimplified from Townshend's original concept. And "Tommy" on Broadway can't hold a candle to The Who playing it live (which I've only seen on video - Keith Moon having died when I was two) but for rock theatre, considering it was 1993 and there wasn't a whole lot like it, I absolutely loved it. I don't tend to see shows multiple times but I definitely saw "Tommy" more than once and never got bored with it.

If you remember that it's not meant to be the definitive take on "Tommy" (the beauty of "Tommy" is that I don't think there can ever be a definitive take), for rock theatre, it's sort of the gold standard for me. That and "Hedwig". And "Hair". And "Superstar". As far as I'm concerned, "Tommy" is right up there with those other three.

[irene2]

Posted: 1/12/06 at 1:13am

I saw Tommy at the La Jolla Playhouse before Des McAnuff took it to Broadway. It was a long time ago, but I really enjoyed it. The music was quite loud, just like a Who concert, and the staging quite clever. As I recall, the show had lots of energy. It was the first "big" theatrical production that I remember origintaing here in San Diego.

[mentaltenant]

Posted: 1/12/06 at 4:59am

I've seen it three times on tour and I enjoy it more and more, really great rock opera.

[dmb_rent]

Posted: 1/13/06 at 4:57pm

Updated On: 1/13/06 at 04:57 PM

[dmb_rent]

Posted: 1/13/06 at 4:57pm

The story is the same as the album's in which it is probably better understood under the influence or just requires a lot of suspension of disbelief.

lol - um, excuse me - the film version of Tommy isn't Pink Floyd's The Wall here. You do not need to be "under the influence" to understand what is going on with the story. Everything is laid out quite clearly...the story is QUITE understandable. Some things are a little exxagerated, but it is after all a rock opera, and it can get a little silly at times. The only real thing in the film that is completely off the wall is when the mother starts swimming in beans and foam in the bedroom. lol - yes THAT is kind of strange, but the rest you can follow quite easily, unless you're a little slow or something?

[wexy]

Posted: 1/13/06 at 5:00pm

I got tickets for Tommy way back when there was a TKTS booth in Brooklyn Hts, I learned not to sit too close in a musical as we were in the front. Needed a neck transplant but it was a good show.

[ThrourouglyModernMLE]

Posted: 1/14/06 at 12:00pm

I love the rock opera (original album by The Who), I love movie, but I haven't seen the musical... yet... I'm sure I'll love it, though!

[mentaltenant]

Posted: 1/14/06 at 1:10pm

the movie is freakin' awesome. Just for the performances alone. Ann-Margret's brilliant as are Tina Turner and at times Oliver Reed (even though listening to him sing might make you die)

[guitarperson]

Posted: 1/14/06 at 1:16pm

guitargeek0624 Wrote: "A small theater in the town where I vacation (Beach Haven in Long Beach Island, New Jersey) put on Tommy over the summer. I loved it. It was very well done for a small theater company, and the music was incredible. The next day, I picked up the album by the Who and was entralled, since I love classic rock. It's not my favorite show, but I like it."


I was the guitarist for this production. I'm glad you enjoyed the music!