Posted: 10/31/17 at 11:55am
I understand that Tommy offers forgiveness to his family at the end of the Des McAnuff's version of the storry. The question becomes about if treating child rape as an almost glib plot point with equally glib forgiveness tacked on at the end is the best way to handle such a weighty subject matter.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 12:50pm
I'll add a +1 to loving the sound of the Broadway production. I would not judge the live orchestrations by the cast album production. I was 30, a big Who fan, and had seen them at least a few times live by that point. I was very concerned that the sound would lack any punch and be way to quiet. Was blown away by how great it sounded.
Fun fact. When the show opened, the E Street Band was on hiatus. Max Weinberg auditioned to be the show's drummer. He became the second substitute.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 12:56pm
Around the tim Townshend was writing the album, a friend introduced him to the teachings of the Indian spiritual guru Meher Baba. So, when writing it, Townshed was inspired by some of the subject matter of his teachings. The two big ones were introspection and forgiveness. So, I think that that was a theme that came into play both in the original 1969 album and then the show as well. In fact, the only bit that was autobiographical was the song "Fiddle About," where Uncle Ernie sexually abuses Tommy.
Although the plot is more linear than say, The Who's second rock opera, Quadrophenia, Townshend has admitted in interviews that there has been room for people to view things in various ways. Do keep in mind, that, when Tommy saw in the mirror his mother's boyfriend being shot and killed by his father, he not only became deaf, dumb and blind, but also entered sort of a catatonic state that he snapped out of after his mother smashes the mirror. I think that it can be argued that because of him in that state, he may not have known what was going on between the torture being done to him by Cousin Kevin and the abuse by Uncle Ernie. That could make forgiveness easy for Tommy to do because he could have been in such a state where he was oblivious to anything happening around him.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 1:04pm
Baba also taught extensively about spiritual enlightenment. Going on a journey from being spiritually unconscious to attaining the ultimate level of enlightenment.
TOMMY is just one big rock and roll allegory for Baba's GOD SPEAKS.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 1:42pm
The story and what it analogizes has evolved. The original 1969 album is very much an allegory for Meher Baba's teachings, with relatively little satire- Tommy is clearly a religious leader after his recovery. By the film, Townshend had taken it in a different direction, with Tommy as a messiah of modernity breaking through the "false religions" of sex, drugs, money and showbiz, only to find himself corrupted and toppled by these as he becomes a media sensation, more of a rock star than a preacher (note that the gospel music and sermon are now absent from the Sally Simpson scene).
By the time the story made it to Broadway, even more of the religious aspect has been taken away. Instead, we have an increasingly cynical tale of an approximately autistic child with savant syndrome becoming a media sensation, then being shocked at the way the world commodified his disability when it became trendy. It's a takedown of the sob sister/"human interest" type of tabloid journalism and daytime TV media.
Along with this evolution came an increasingly more sexualized look at the material. Songs like "Eyesight to the Blind" and "Acid Queen" became increasingly literalized depictions of pimping when displayed visually, "Uncle Ernie" became a grotesque parody of a queer pedophile (complete on film with sex toys and gay magazines), and a decidedly sexualized, sadomasochistic tone was added to the "Cousin Kevin" scenes. Concurrent with this is Quadrophenia and the early Townshend solo albums, which became more and more explicitly responses to his days as an abused child and the scars it left on his psyche and sexuality.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 1:47pm
darquegk--
I would agree with your assessment of the original album and Broadway show as Townsend crafted both of them.
However, the movie was strictly Ken Russell's vision. Via his autobiography, Townshend was not at all involved in Russell's vision. Plus, the screenplay was credited to Russell only.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 2:03pm
I feel like saying that Tommy was 100 per cent Townshed is not giving credit where credit is due. The band collaborated on the story line, and Townshend had some of the other members write a couple of songs that made it onto the album, their bassist wrote Fiddle About, and Cousin Kevin. Even their drummer had the idea of ending the story at a Holiday Camp, and though written by Townshend, he gave the writing credit to that song to their drummer Keith Moon.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 2:51pm
Am I mis-remembering or did the finale also reveal mirrors at the back of the stage reflecting the audience? I could be wrong (it was over 20 years ago), but for some reason, I remember that being an element of the show.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 3:15pm
That was the finale of the original pre-Mendes Cabaret.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 3:17pm
No, I never saw the pre-Mendes Cabaret. I remember that effect (and gasping the first time I saw it) and could have sworn it was in Tommy. This is going to drive me nuts.
Posted: 10/31/17 at 3:38pm
I LOVED Tommy in its' original incarnation! I saw that, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Carousel on my first trip to NYC as a kid. Kiss and Tommy really were equally excellent.
My favorite memory of the show is seeing a weekday matinee where Marcia Mitzman was out. I was floored by the performance gave by her understudy, who I knew would go on to do great things. Her understudy was, of course, thee Alice Ripley.
