Even by the present’s weird requirements, Des McAnuff’s Various Future revival, which simply opened on Broadway after operating at Chicago’s Goodman Theater in the summertime, has an informal relationship with cohesion. Will Tommy turn out to be a cult chief, a primal influencer, a tyrant, a sufferer, or the entire above? Does he by some means cease growing older in his twenties? my head!
However by the point your mind catches up with the discrepancies, McAnuff’s manufacturing has moved on, carried by one earworm after one other and wall-to-wall kinetic projections (actually). The story of sensory deprivation informed by means of sensory overload appears counter-intuitive.
McAnuff actually has an intimate connection to the present. He wrote the Who’s 1969 rock opera “Tommy” with bandleader Pete Townshend, and directed the unique musical model — which gained 5 of the 11 Tony Awards for which it was nominated in 1993.
The primary occasions start in 1945 London, when 4-year-old Tommy (Cecilia Ann Pope within the present I watched) sees his father, Captain Walker (Adam Jacobs), homicide his spouse’s lover (Nathan Lucrezio). Whereas Mrs. Walker (Alison Love) ignores this drama — I feel that is what they imply by the stiff higher lip — the trauma leaves the kid “deaf, dumb and blind,” because the 55-year-old’s lyrics bluntly put it.
Years cross and we enter the Fifties, when 10-year-old Tommy (Quentin Koshiba within the present I attended) is abused by Uncle Ernie (John Ambrosino) and tortured by his cousin Kevin (Bobby Conti). Mirroring the occasions is grownup Tommy, performed by Ali Louis Borzghi, a likeable fellow with a barely aloof, dreamlike presence in a turtleneck who balances finesse and energy as a singer.
The unique album, and Ken Russell’s 1975 movie adaptation, recall a model of Townsend’s post-war years that was directly grounded and fantastical. However this “Tommy,” the present tells us, takes place in “the previous, current and future.” When the principle character turns into an idol, the present doubles down on an elegant dystopian aesthetic that made me surprise if we have been in a multiversal Britain all alongside. Sarafina Bush’s costumes reference rock music and mod trend of the Fifties and Sixties, but additionally incorporate neo-fascist army uniforms. Typically, band members put on masks that deny their individuality, making it look as if Daft Punk has taken over the duel.
The grayscale palette, with splashes of yellow as Tommy’s signature colour, creates an oppressive temper enhanced by Amanda Ziff’s stark lighting, David Korins’s stylized set and Peter Negrini’s projections.
On the identical time, the manufacturing will not be as radical as this description would possibly counsel, and recycles many inventive selections which have calcified over the many years. For instance, Christina Sagos’s “Acid Queen” is a tepid model of what Tina Turner did within the movie. (It will be fascinating to see a distinct bodily take of this one quantity, or hear a performer leaning extra towards Merry Clayton’s menacing gradual burn from the London Symphony Orchestra’s 1972 recording of the unique album.)
Nonetheless, the songs, typically small in scale, stay as distinctive as ever (which is why “The Who’s Tommy” can be efficient in a quasi-theatrical format, as evidenced by Josh Rhodes’ manufacturing at Kennedy Middle 5 years in the past. The result’s too theatrical for a chart-topping rock band within the late Sixties, but additionally too rock by Broadway requirements, even now. The corporate walks this line, a minimum of vocally, higher than that of 1993, which was extra Broadway-fied, and the orchestra, as loud appropriately, performs with a precision that doesn’t abandon the power and pleasure of the riffage. . What this “Tommy” preaches could also be just a little obscure, however when your complete forged strains as much as face the viewers and belt out the “Listening to You” finale, you consider it.
Who’s Tommy?, ongoing on the Nederlander Theater in New York. 2 hours and 10 minutes. tommythemusical.com.
