The Who's Tommy @ The Goodman- Page 3

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/23/23 at 3:58pm

It should be noted that some of the plot points in Tommy come from Pete Townshend’s life. The plot point of Tommy being a religious figure came from Townshend following the teachings of a guru named Meher Baba.
 

Also, another Plot point that came from Pete Townshend’s life is the fact that he was a victim of sexual abuse when he was a child. However, every time that comes up in an interview, he is very quick to mention that there are others out there who have suffered more harshly than he did in that respect and doesn’t want to take attention away from that fact.

 

 

[RumTumJM]

Posted: 6/23/23 at 5:34pm

Leaf Coneybear said: "I went into this almost totally blind, knowing it was based on the Who's album. I also read some of the reviews here so had some high expectations!


While the production itself was incredible, the show itself fell a bit flat for me. I loved the rock concert feel, and the entire first 10 minutes with WW2 and everything was very intriguing! Performances were amazing all around, and it was worth seeing the show just for the lighting and choreo, IMO.

I couldn't quite understand much of the lyrics, which led to me kind of falling off on the storyline, although I could keep up with the basics. Defintiely a weird show, and my companion and I both felt that the show kind of makes a sharp turn after Act 1. Act 1 seemed quite sad and dramatic, while Act 2 was more whimsical and happy. We both had no idea what was going on once the girl (Sally?) started singing as we couldn't understand a word, and the Nazi imagery also took us off guard.

Probably would have benefitted from knowing a bit more about the show and the album for this one, but the people around us loved it. Standing O as soon as the bows started, which was great to see. Overalll definetly worth seeing, but not sure if I'd pay NYC prices for it again."

Nazi imagery? How does that fit in? (During the Holiday Camp scenes?)

If it was Pink Floyd's The Wall, Nazi imagery would make TOTAL sense. But, this is The Who's Tommy.

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 6/23/23 at 5:59pm

Nazi imagery? How does that fit in? (During the Holiday Camp scenes?)

If it was Pink Floyd's The Wall, Nazi imagery would make TOTAL sense. But, this is The Who's Tommy.

Not sure what the song was called, but it was after Tommy becomes a rock star. His cousin and two other boys who used to make fun of him became his "security guards" with yellow armbands, Nazi-like uniforms, and at one point began goosestepping and saluting. I believe (I could be wrong) they are the same guards who later in the show beat up Sally for trying to touch Tommy. Although later the cousin also ends up hugging and protecting her, I noticed. So I really got confused lmao

[Ensemble1687570745]

Posted: 6/24/23 at 2:43am

I saw the show and cast at the Goodman this week. It was fantastic. The cast was phenomenal. I saw the 1993 production years ago which was really good but this production was great!

[Ensemble1687570745]

Posted: 6/24/23 at 2:56am

I saw this production this past week and thought it was brilliant.  I saw this musical in 1993 and loved it then. After seeing this new production , I was blown away. The cast was phenomenal. I highly recommend this.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/24/23 at 7:22am

I saw this last night with zero prior knowledge. Previously have seen Des’ Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway and this has similar design and direction choices. It feels very British of the 60s. There’s a choice to make a “laser” sound effect every time Tommy “enters” that feels cheesy and trying to be hip and cool. 

Story Spoilers: 

I also thought the story was just very bizarre and went off the rails in Act 2. So, to me, the story was basically kid witnesses a horrible domestic incident at a young age, then gets abused by his uncle and everyone is running around being like “what’s wrong with Tommy?! Why isn’t he a happy go lucky kid like everyone else?” Then his dad takes him to a crack addicted prostitute to do … something to him… The he becomes a savant at arcade games and rises to some rock star/Jesus level of fame and cult fandom. And that’s it. I can’t say I was too taken by the story or the characters but nothing is fleshed out or nuanced. Trauma is never touched on and everyone comes across pretty terrible just from a book perspective. 
 

Performance wise there were some fantastic vocals going on. My only main concern was that Act 2 felt very dull because it focuses a lot on older Tommy who doesn’t have the presence or vocals to really command the stage in a rock star fashioned - like he’s being set up to be. Also, after reading reviews of the 93 production - in this version Tommy is literally deaf blind and dumb. He just stares off in space and has a confused look on his face until the transition. It sounds like the 90s version he had a bit more swagger and rocker vibe that made you intrigued.
 

The audience ate it up and loved every second of it so it clearly has a fan base just not sure the younger generation who didn’t grow up on the album are going to find it very interesting. 

[EvanstonDad]

Posted: 6/26/23 at 10:34am

Saw this over the weekend. I am a huge fan of the original production; it goes down as one of the best things I've ever seen on stage. I had high expectations for this, which I thought were fair seeing as key members of the original team were involved. I enjoyed this and had a good time, but it does not surpass (or even equal) the original.

I suppose some of my comments below may be considered spoilers, so read on at your own peril. The staging of this production is very similar to the original, but the design is quite different. Where the first one used saturated colors and stylized sets and costumes, this one has a look much more grounded in reality, and tries harder to capture the look and feel of the time period. I preferred the more stylized approach, but that's just personal taste. They've introduced a strange framing device that I didn't care for, and honestly didn't even fully understand. ++++SPOILER+++++ The show begins with a projection reading "In the Future" and shows Tommy and the company standing silently and facing the audience. Tommy slowly puts on this strange helmet on and then the company does the same. They continue to stand still and silent for quite some time, and then the music comes in with another projection telling us we're going back into the past. Most of the first act has a subdued color palette that reminded me of WWII newsreel footage, with bursts of color occurring here and there until "Pinball Wizard," where the whole stage is turned into a giant pinball machine (the audience went nuts for this number by the way). Then later in the second act, when Tommy is at the height of his fame, we're told we've returned to the future, and the color palette again becomes more subdued, and the costumes and choreography evoke fascist (and specifically Nazi) imagery. My guess is that the production is making some point about how the cult of celebrity can lead to despotic tendencies and attract susceptible people who want someone to blindly follow (hello Trump America), but I'm only guessing, and whatever it's doing I don't think it does very well. +++END SPOILER++++

If I recall correctly, the stage crew is much more involved in this production, manually moving many of the set pieces on and off. The set pieces themselves are also more minimalist -- for example, a frame shaped like a pinball machine stands in for an actual pinball machine. I don't know if this scaling down was a conscious aesthetic choice, an economic decision, or imposed by limitations of the theatre itself, or maybe a combination of all three. 

The performances were solid, but no one really blew the lid off the joint like I was hoping. The sound design is good; I had no trouble hearing any of the singers (except once, see below), but I also know the OBC by heart so I'm not sure whether someone less familiar with the material would say the same.

This was one of the flubbiest theater performances I've ever seen. There were a lot of mistakes, nothing major but all noticeable. One of my favorite songs is "Go to the Mirror," but the actor playing the doctor had a bad mic and you could barely hear him. There's a stunt where Tommy hangs from a cable and spins rapidly for a several moments before landing on a platform, and I honestly thought the actor was going to miss it altogether. There were dropped props, I think a verse in "Sensation" got screwed up, and a stagehand almost lost control of one of the set pieces.

I would recommend this show to someone who lives in or near Chicago. I don't know that I would recommend someone make a special trip to see it. We got a deal and were able to see it for way less than full price. If I had paid a lot more for it I might have been more disappointed. I don't know that it's screaming Broadway transfer. It's just not "wow" enough for that.  

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/26/23 at 5:35pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photos-Get-A-First-Look-At-Goodmans-THE-WHOS-TOMMY-Now-Extended-Through-August-6th-20230626

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/26/23 at 7:20pm

 

[RumTumJM]

Posted: 6/26/23 at 9:04pm

EvanstonDad said: "Saw this over the weekend. I am a huge fan of the original production; it goes down as one of the best things I've ever seen on stage. I had high expectations for this, which I thought were fair seeing as key members of the original team were involved. I enjoyed this and had a good time, but it does not surpass (or even equal) the original.

I suppose some of my comments below may be considered spoilers, so read on at your own peril. The staging of this production is very similar to the original, but the design is quite different. Where the first one used saturated colors and stylized sets and costumes, this one has a look much more grounded in reality, and tries harder to capture the look and feel of the time period. I preferred the more stylized approach, but that's just personal taste. They've introduced a strange framing device that I didn't care for, and honestly didn't even fully understand. ++++SPOILER+++++ The show begins with a projection reading "In the Future" and shows Tommy and the company standing silently and facing the audience. Tommy slowly puts on this strange helmet on and then the company does the same. They continue to stand still and silent for quite some time, and then the music comes in with another projection telling us we're going back into the past. Most of the first act has a subdued color palette that reminded me of WWII newsreel footage, with bursts of color occurring here and there until "Pinball Wizard," where the whole stage is turned into a giant pinball machine (the audience went nuts for this number by the way). Then later in the second act, when Tommy is at the height of his fame, we're told we've returned to the future, and the color palette again becomes more subdued, and the costumes and choreography evoke fascist (and specifically Nazi) imagery. My guess is that the production is making some point about how the cult of celebrity can lead to despotic tendencies and attract susceptible people who want someone to blindly follow (hello Trump America), but I'm only guessing, and whatever it's doing I don't think it does very well. +++END SPOILER++++

If I recall correctly, the stage crew is much more involved in this production, manually moving many of the set pieces on and off. The set pieces themselves are also more minimalist -- for example, a frame shaped like a pinball machine stands in for an actual pinball machine. I don't know if this scaling down was a conscious aesthetic choice, an economic decision, or imposed by limitations of the theatre itself, or maybe a combination of all three.

The performances were solid, but no one really blew the lid off the joint like I was hoping. The sound design is good; I had no trouble hearing any of the singers (except once, see below), but I also know the OBC by heart so I'm not sure whether someone less familiar with the material would say the same.

This was one of the flubbiest theater performances I've ever seen. There were a lot of mistakes, nothing major but all noticeable. One of my favorite songs is "Go to the Mirror," but the actor playing the doctor had a bad mic and you could barely hear him. There's a stunt where Tommy hangs from a cable and spins rapidly for a several moments before landing on a platform, and I honestly thought the actor was going to miss it altogether. There were dropped props, I think a verse in "Sensation" got screwed up, and a stagehand almost lost control of one of the set pieces.

I would recommend this show to someone who lives in or near Chicago. I don't know that I would recommend someone make a special trip to see it. We got a deal and were able to see it for way less than full price. If I had paid a lot more for it I might have been more disappointed. I don't know that it's screaming Broadway transfer. It's just not "wow" enough for that."

What puzzles me most of all, when it comes to the use fascist/Nazi imagery, is, "Are they actually trying to make it that Tommy turns into a bad guy?" - I guess they could to make a powerful message. But that seems pretty big & bold to reinvent the story and make the kid you've been sympathizing with for so long turn into a fascist despot-like character.

[Ensemble1687359402]

Posted: 6/26/23 at 10:03pm

Perhaps the Nazi uniforms are taken from the 1975 Tommy movie. If you recall, the Marilyn Monroe cult in it has people wearing fascist/nazi-like uniforms.

I don't think they are depicting Tommy as a bad guy once he has his following. It could be up to the interpretation of the viewer and it would be very interesting but I'm not sure it is that deep. In my opinion the people who follow elevate him to a cult-like figure and follow blindly in their fanatism making decisions they think Tommy would want. The nazi uniforms would be a representation of the extremes they will go to protect their leader (who didn't ask to be in that position in the first place) and position in their cult. We all know different groups that have followers who would take things to an extreme to protect what they think is right.

[RumTumJM]

Posted: 6/26/23 at 10:11pm

Ensemble1687359402 said: "Perhaps the Nazi uniforms are taken from the 1975 Tommy movie. If you recall, the Marilyn Monroe cult in it has people wearing fascist/nazi-like uniforms.

I don't think they are depicting Tommy as a bad guy once he has his following. It could be up to the interpretation of the viewer and it would be very interesting but I'm not sure it is that deep. In my opinion the people who follow elevate him to a cult-like figure and follow blindly in their fanatism making decisions they think Tommy would want. The nazi uniforms would be a representation of the extremes they will go to protect their leader (who didn't ask to be in that position in the first place) and position in their cult. We all know different groups that have followers who would take things to an extreme to protect what they think is right."

Good points!!!

When I heard "Nazi imagery", it did get me to think of the movie, because that's so bizarre, extreme, etc. Since I haven't seen it in a LONG time, I didn't realize that there actually is a similar scene in it. - If anything, it proves that such a creative decision isn't out of the realm of possibility, when it comes to Tommy. 

 

[broadwayindie]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 9:10am

So there are a few things to add to this discussion:

The cast is excellent. All the principals are doing incredible work, Adam Jacobs is a great Captain Walker, Allison Luff is doing great work as Mrs. Walker and I do believe that Ali Louis Bourzgui is a future star. He gives a nuanced performance as Tommy, and his vocals are killer.

The mostly Chicago based ensemble is executing insane choreo. It can be tighter in some places, but on the whole it is brilliant and helps elevate the story especially in Pinball Wizard and Tommy can you hear me?

A lot has been said about the book itself, and yes it’s a mess… but it’s always been a mess. Most of my family who haven’t seen it before was confused… but this is definitely a show that lives on the music, performance, and visuals. It’s like Moulin Rouge for boomers

I think the most important thing is that when you see the show you want to sit as far back as possible. We sat like 3rd row from the back orchestra and we felt too close. Would think it probably plays best from center mid mezzanine as the visuals are a lot.

Also, there was some discussion on this but when I saw it on Thursday they were definitely using live rounds for the very loud gunshots. So heads up on that.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 10:51am

"He gives a nuanced performance as Tommy, and his vocals are killer."

Do you mean dead in the face? I thought he was fine if not forgettable in Act 1 and then in Act 2 as the actual Tommy he was pretty awful. And his vocals were struggling. I thought he was one of the weaker links and I'd imagine they'll recast if this goes to NYC.

[broadwayindie]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 11:54am

RippedMan said: ""He gives a nuanced performance as Tommy, and his vocals are killer."

Do you mean dead in the face? I thought he was fine if not forgettable in Act 1 and then in Act 2 as the actual Tommy he was pretty awful. And his vocals were struggling. I thought he was one of the weaker links and I'd imagine they'll recast if this goes to NYC."

So I saw it Thursday and he was excellent. He may be growing into the character, as it sounds like we saw two completely different performances. For what it’s worth, all of the major Chicago reviewers said similar things. I doubt that they will recast as it seems Des likes to cast an unknown in the role of Tommy, as Cerveris was.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 1:21pm

I saw it the Friday before opening and was shocked how excellent Ali Louis Bourzgui as I was sort of disappointed Tommy wasn't being played by a "name." I was completely taken with his performance. He was insanely charismatic, in full control, and mysterious. His vocals were exceptional. 

These days I see more New York theater than I do Chicago theater... and he was very much at the level of anything I've seen in New York. 

[Ensemble1687570745]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 4:15pm

I saw it last week and thought it was absolutely incredible. I had seen the 1993 production but this version pulled me in 100%. In fact, I would love to have seen it again. The cast was wonderful. The sets were minimal but quite effective. Of course the music was phenomenal. I thought the actor portraying Tommy was a perfect fit. His voice was fabulous. Yes…the plot of the musical was dark sometimes but that was not new. I feel bad some people were “triggered” but if they knew anything about this musical before they watched it…they wouldn’t have been surprised. If you love the music of The Who and love a talented cast….go see Tommy. It’s well worth it!

Updated On: 7/1/23 at 04:15 PM

[ELP]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 4:33pm

I very much hope this comes to NY!!! 
 

The 1993 production was one of the most exhilarating Broadway experiences I can ever remember - even to this day! I don’t expect this production to rise to that level but seeing this again, 30 years later, will certainly be a highlight of the coming season (fingers crossed) for me personally, especially with Des continuing to be at the helm along with the genius of one Pete Townshend!! 

[RumTumJM]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 5:08pm

broadwayindie said: "So there are a few things to add to this discussion:

The cast is excellent. All the principals are doing incredible work, Adam Jacobs is a great Captain Walker, Allison Luff is doing great work as Mrs. Walker and I do believe that Ali Louis Bourzgui is a future star. He gives a nuanced performance as Tommy, and his vocals are killer.

The mostly Chicago based ensemble is executing insane choreo. It can be tighter in some places, but on the whole it is brilliant and helps elevate the story especially in Pinball Wizard and Tommy can you hear me?

A lot has been said about the book itself, and yes it’s a mess… but it’s always been a mess. Most of my family who haven’t seen it before was confused… but this is definitely a show that lives on the music, performance, and visuals. It’s like Moulin Rouge for boomers

I think the most important thing is that when you see the show you want to sit as far back as possible. We sat like 3rd row from the back orchestra and we felt too close. Would think it probably plays best from center mid mezzanine as the visuals are a lot.

Also, there was some discussion on this but when I saw it on Thursday they were definitely using live rounds for the very loud gunshots. So heads up on that."

Interesting!

Someone else on the board, who I have no intention of doubting or trying to discredit, said that they saw the show multiple times from the first few rows & they could tell that nothing was coming from the guns.

I guess they've changed the effects or do a combo of live rounds & sound effects.

As the guy who started that aspect of this discussion, thank you very much for that intel. 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 6:49pm

We were in the front row and they used live rounds. You could hear but also smell them. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 7:37pm

It’s also very obvious before they short them (but still startling none the less)

Wasn’t my thing and I was kind of shocked this show has such a following but glad the Goodman is raking in the money! It’s a terrific venue and staff. And I loved the parents vocals and the guy that sings before Acid Queen. Wish he had sung most of the show!

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 7/3/23 at 9:35am

This show is EXCELLENT on all levels. It is electric, involving and emotional and exceptional theatre.  The performances across the board were sensational.  Production is electric between staging, choreography and multilayer and multi textured scenic design and lighting. 

THIS IS A MUST SEE

[bearhorn]

Posted: 7/9/23 at 10:10am

I loved the show back in 1993 & was excited to hear there was a remounting.  Based on the official reviews and commentary here, I decided I couldn't wait for a possible Broadway transfer.  The quick trip to Chicago was well worth it.

The orchestrations were fairly identical (yeah!) and the cast clearly worked hard.  The "futuristic" angle was interesting and I was personally glad Uncle Ernie's character was reduced somewhat.  Several scenes/songs continue to "wow", including the "Overture", "Sensation", "Pinball Wizard" and the "See Me, Feel Me / Listening To You" finale.  The vocal build of "Listening" is stunning.

There are a couple of changes I'd suggest, but the production is ready for Broadway.  I loved it, the crowd loved it, and I believe it will do well in a return to New York.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 7/9/23 at 10:25am

Will it come to NYC ? 

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 11:57pm

Just got home from tonight’s show and it packs a major wallop. What a THRILL. highly recommended. 

Ali Bourzgui is incredible and is destined to be a HUGE star. Adam Jacobs, Alison Luff, and John Ambrosino are well sung and extremely moving (extra special props to Ambrosino given the despicable nature of the role - it’s a great performance). The kids were incredible as well (Ava Doty and Ezekiel Ruiz at my performance).

I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t transfer and even more shocked if it doesn’t become a massive hit. The audience was packed and extremely effusive.