Tommy (Broadway Review)

This weekend was my sweetheart’s birthday so we celebrated by going to the city and seeing the musical The Who’s Tommy on Broadway. Tommy is a rock opera that started in the late 60s as a concept album. It has recently come back to Broadway much to my boyfriend’s excitement (and many others). I had never seen the movie and I wasn’t familiar with the storyline. I was going into it not knowing much. During the musical, I encountered talented performers enhanced by special effects and outstanding choreography. I didn’t like all the music but the songs that I did enjoy (especially Pinball Wizard) I hummed all the way back to my hotel room.  Here’s a breakdown of the show without too many spoilers. 

A boy named Tommy experiences severe trauma as a kid and this makes him blind, deaf, and dumb. He experiences further trauma when he is raped as a boy at the hands of his own uncle (this part was incredibly hard to watch. I felt like I was going to be sick although of course we are not seen the details of this disgusting act). His cousin Kevin is cruel to him and encourages his friends to do the same, burning him with cigarettes and shutting him up in the trash bin. I give major props to the children that played young Tommy. They were masters of choreography, letting older cast members toss and spin them around and never missing a step. 

Anyway, his parents do everything they can to help Tommy, bringing him to hospitals and even a sanitorium. Because his trauma is psychosomatic they can find nothing wrong and doctors are at a loss at what to do with him. At one point, his dad even takes him to see a hooker after he is approached by several pimps. But his dad can’t go through with it. He pays the hooker and leaves with his young son before anything happens. After they exit the stage, the pimps give the prostitute her drugs and she shoots up onstage before it goes dark (this part also disturbed me). 

Well, Tommy may be deaf, dumb and blind but he “sure plays a mean pinball” The stage made use of pinball machines, working them excellently through the big musical numbers. And the musical also employed video to show aspects of the story like World War 2 or the press Tommy gets when he becomes a sensation. Utilizing classic and modern elements of storytelling this musical seems like it will be on Broadway for a while.

Tommy was played by a series of people- a 4 year old version, a 10 year old version, and a grown up Tommy (Ali Louis Bourzgui). By the end of the musical, he has regained his senses. Like I said I have never seen the movie, but my boyfriend said the ending of the Broadway musical was very different (I won’t spoil it). His parents (Alison Luff and Adam Jacobs) both performed excellently and I also thought his Cousin Kevin (Bobby Conte) also did a great job.

I am very fortunate that I got to see this show. I found it an inspiration. For someone to overcome that much pain and to come so far, it's always a lesson I tuck into the folds of my heart. Bravo Broadway. Well done indeed.