local Tommy production

[dana hartwell deer <deerdana@dekalb.dc.peachnet.edu>]

> Last week I was able to take in a local production of Tommy (which I
> inferred from the program notes has been staged very few places outside of
> the Broadway and touring shows).  This production was put on by local high
> school and college kids, and it reminded me of why Tommy is such a great
> work.
> 
> I saw the Broadway show, and though it was slick and polished, it seemed to
> me to have lost its soul.  This one was staged minimally, but the band
> rocked and the kids poured themselves into it.  It had its share of rough
> edges, but IMO that just made it better.
>

I wonder if that was the same one I saw recently at Athens, GA. Did Tommy
tote around a white guitar and were scenes changed by screens that slid across
the stage?
 
> While watching the finale, with a stage full of kids singing "Listening To
> You" as if they were about to explode, I saw why for many people (including
> me) Tommy ranks above all of Townshend's other work.  IMO it's because Tommy
> (when performed live) has a wonderfully balanced combination of hooks,
> melodies, emotion, themes, and simple yet powerful presentation that
> characterize great rock and roll.  And it has these attributes in more
> abundance than Townshend's other great works.  It is music that is timeless
> and powerful.

Yes, exactly! Well written! Tommy is one of the greatest of the greatest
musical works of all times, and certainly my favorite by a wide margin.
If the performance you saw was the same one I saw, did you notice the
extra guitar music that wasn't originally in the cast recording? Three
years ago, Pete Townshend said he didn't yet have all the guitar music
finished for Tommy but he would soon... Perhaps the recent bare bones
Tommy production incorporated that new guitar music.

- -Hart Deer
(deerdana@dekalb.dc.peachnet.edu)