The Who's Tommy @ The Goodman — Page 3

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.