Re: The Who on Broadway conjecture

["L. Bird" <pkeets@hotmail.com>]

>I vaguely remember Pete suggesting (during the '96 tour maybe) that a
>Quad production would be a good thing to find a permanent home for.
>Somehow I pictured a theme park or Vegas show or maybe a Quad theater in 
>Branson, Missouri.  I guess London is more likely though.

A THEME PARK?  GOD HE'S BEEN LISTENING TO AEROSMITH!!!  OH NOOOOO!!!


>PsychoDerelict is something I can see on stage.  I can envision that he 
>could find some collaboraters and financial backers.  Art about art seems 
>to be a theme that Hollywood likes.  For me that theme is usually hollow.  
>I cannot relate to the trials and tribulations of an artist.  I am not an 
>artist.  I don't know any artists.

But Pete does these things so well!  :)  I love Psychoderelict.  It is 
completely scalding.  I don't know how in the world Pete can be so 
matter-of-fact about these thing.

I think PSYCHODERELICT was actually cast last year, and then put on hold for 
lack of funding.  Hopefully what Pete says about capital now becoming 
available means somebody is interesting in financing it.  It's pretty much 
ready to go because he's already got a script and music and the rudiments of 
staging from the PD tour.


>I can also see that putting such a thing together might be interesting for 
>Roger (especially Quad).  The biggest downside to The Who in the theater 
>(from a TED perspective) is that John would be left out.  I don't think he 
>has a dramatic bone in his body.

If TED are doing it, John usually gets involved as a musical consultant, or 
executive producer or something.  Isn't John the techie guy who generally 
hangs out with the crew?


>The biggest downside from my perspective is the thought that my precious 
>Quadrophenia would be reworked (ala the movie and Tommy-the musical) to the 
>point where the story is changed.  I picture Jimmy receiving his salvation 
>when he becomes a teen father.  Or he's killed in a riot and his pregnant 
>girlfriend has a boy named Tommy who has troubles with his new 
>stepfather...
>
>Why can't they just write something new?  Oh yeah, Broadway would never buy 
>it.

Right.  And not only that, they have a penchant for sugar coating.  Notice 
how popular the Disney stuff is for Broadway shows these days?  That's just 
the sort of sentimental rehash that the Broadway audience loves.  Also, it's 
really hard to get a new show in, especially something on a serious note, 
because everybody is so attached to the old successes.

Which brings up the problem of whether Psychoderelict or Quad would fly in 
unaltered form.  Notice that Pete altered TOMMY to soften it, likely at the 
request of McAnuff, who was the expert after all.  It went over quite well 
(note THE CAPEMAN failed), so that pretty much justifies the approach.  
TOMMY made lots of people happy, so who are we to second-guess it?

However, Roger is something else.  Roger didn't like it.  There's a matching 
Pete interview to this Daltrey one where Pete talks about how McAnuff 
approached him to adapt Quad for Broadway, and how he talked Roger into 
working on it.  I'm under the impression that Roger produced and staged the 
Quad tour (while Pete directed).  I also gathered from the Scrooge thing 
year before last that Roger was pushing the Broadway vocal boundaries.  
Obviously he'd rather see QUAD done as more of a rock and roll show.

So what do you think?  Would Quad and PD fly without alteration of the 
storylines?


keets
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