Shows · Tommy
Tommy
Opened 1993
899 performances
Musical, Megamusical
Written in 1969 as a rock opera by Peter Townshend and recorded by the British rock group The Who, Tommy was performed by the group in a concert version around the world; at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1970 and made into a Ken Russell film in 1975. Peter Townshend and director Des McAnuff have softened the story of the young boy who loses all his senses when, at the age of four, he witnesses his father killing his mother’s lover. Unable to communicate, abused by his family and the town louts, he somehow becomes a pinball wizard; eventually recovers his senses and develops into a messianic superstar. At curtain’s drop he returns to the bosom of his family. The plot was clarified by dazzling sets and spectacular video projections. Rock purists have complained that this new version has removed all the fire and rage of the original which was written at the time of Woodstock, the Vietnam War, and other assorted ills of society which so inflamed the generation that its only solution seemed to be to drop out. Tommy. Buddy Smith (Tommy) and Paul Kandel. (Marcus/Bryan-Brown)
"FOUR WEEKS ONLY! DEC. 3-27 ONLY": the show's own period marketing line.
- Music
- Pete Townshend
- Lyrics
- Pete Townshend
- Book
- Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff
Productions3 on Broadway
Songs15 songs
Overture, Captain Walker, It’s a Boy, We’ve Won, Twenty-One, Amazing Journey, Christmas, See Me, Feel Me, Do You Think It’s Alright, Fiddle About, Eyesight to the Blind, Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, We’re Not Going to Take It
Licensing 1 entry
| US | Music Theatre International The Who's Tommy matched on title alone: a lead, not a confirmed licensor |
'Roll Over, Chuck Berry!': See Rockwell, vol. 3, 1365. 'We were \'Orric<l about the airy-fairy connotations of calling [Tommy] an opera. After all, The Who \'ere a rough, streetwise bunch of London kids .... [But] rock touring was really shitty. \Ve thought, Why should rock audiences ha\'e to listen to music in fuckin'…
Showtime A History of the Broadway Musical Theatre Larry Stempel, p. 779Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.