This spring, it's time to go on an "Amazing Journey." The first revival of The Who's TOMMY on Broadway, created by Tony Award® winners Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff, reinvents the five-time Tony®-winning rock musical for a new generation
Meet Tommy, the pinball wizard. As both a groundbreaking album and a spectacular stage show, the mythic yet moving story of how Tommy goes from a troubled child to pinball prodigy to local celebrity continues to exhilarate audiences with songs like “I’m Free,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “We're Not Gonna Take It,” and “Pinball Wizard.”
Experience The Who's timeless hits anew in this critically acclaimed production, now in a reimagined, technologically stunning new staging by original director/co-creator McAnuff. As Chicago Concert Review raved, "One of the most iconic concept collections makes history all over again."
There are standout performances. Mop-headed Ali Louis Bourzgui, who plays Tommy as a young adult, has stage presence and good pipes, and Alison Luff, playing Tommy’s mother, Mrs. Walker, brings real grit to her one solo, “Smash the Mirror.” Maybe if you’d missed the ’70s, when The Who’s exceptional album stirred the hearts of kids making enough noise to change the world, you wouldn’t care that this production of “Tommy” is basically for old people, and not for a new generation.
Still, the songs, which are often bite-size, remain as distinctive as they’ve ever been (which is why “The Who’s Tommy” can also be effective in a semi-staged format, as evidenced by Josh Rhodes’s production at the Kennedy Center five years ago). The score was very theatrical for a chart-topping rock band in the late ’60s, but it’s also very rock by Broadway standards, even now. The company walks that line, at least vocally, better than the one from 1993, which was more Broadwayfied, and the orchestra, which is as loud as it needs to be, plays with a precision that does not forsake energy and the joys of riffage. What this “Tommy” is preaching might be a little murky, but when the entire cast lines up to face the audience and belts the “Listening to You” finale, by golly, you believe.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $40
Where: https://lottery.broadwaydirect.com/show/tommy-ny
When: Entries for the digital lottery open at 9:00am EST one day before the performance.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Winners are drawn the same day at 3:00pm EST and will have one hour to pay for their tickets online.
1979 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
1993 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1996 | West End |
London Production West End |
2006 |
Bay Street Theatre Revival |
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2019 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
50th anniversary of the release of the groundbreaking original album of Tommy Washington, DC (Regional) |
2024 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Fight Choreography | Steve Rankin |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Ali Louis Bourzgui |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Musical | Des McAnuff |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | The Who's Tommy |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Lorin Latarro |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical | Ali Louis Bourzgui |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Amanda Zieve |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | The Who's Tommy |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Sound Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Gareth Owen |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Video/Projections (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Peter Nigrini |
2024 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award | Ali Louis Bourzgui |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Who's Tommy |
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