© Worcester Telegram & Gazette April 19, 1999 New "Tommy" Lacks Verve Of Old Young Cast Tries, But Misses Mark by Jules Becker
BOSTON - "Tommy, can we hear you?" Can fans of the breakthrough, now 30-year-old recording at the heart of the rock-opera musical The Who's Tommy hear the heart and soul of the score that powerfully ushered in a kind of musical revolution on Broadway? Or must they settle for the toned-down "concert" staging that rarely shakes things up at the Colonial Theatre? Anyone who saw Tommy thunder through Boston several years ago is not likely to forget its dynamite rock rhythms, its quantum leap forward lighting and its fresh warning about the ease with which the hero-worshipping masses sacrifice their freedom to hollow messiahs. If that experience was an inspired rock epiphany for many theatergoers, the revival reminds us how powerful The Who's music can be - often without doing it justice. TRIMMED DOWN This anniversary production is billed as "new," and it is new, with a vengeance. Trimmed down by director Worth Gardner to a "concert" version, the latest revival largely resorts to John Farrell's stage-dominating steel-girder sets and Jeffrey S. Koger's lighting. The latter is striking in its red and pink shadings, and sometimes blinding with its neon. But T. Richard Fitzgerald's sound design surprisingly doesn't have the pounding force of a real rock concert. Much of the problem here lies with the ensemble. While the young men and women who play the variety of minor supporting roles - lads, lasses, reporters, guards and crowd members among them - sing and dance with considerable energy, they often seem to be overpowering Tommy with a Chicago-style razzle-dazzle. It ultimately does a disservice to both musicals. When traumatized deaf, dumb and blind young Tommy (who has seen his returning soldier father kill his mother's lover) goes through a succession of disappointing "treatments," too often the ensemble takes charge dressed in basic black. Thus, the musical's memorable sendups of those treatments are blunted. SOME PROBLEMS The problems with Gardner's direction and conductor Scot Woolley's less-than-thunderous conducting are all the more regrettable in a staging with many individual virtues. Michael Seelbach captures Tommy's innocence - especially vocally on such numbers as the famous "See Me, Feel Me" - and possesses the right dynamism as the cured hero to draw adulation from crowds. Lisa Asher, moving as Mrs. Walker, and Christopher Monteleone, suitably ineffectual as Captain Walker, reach a memorable harmony on the standout duet "I Believe My Own Eyes." Ross Ramone does well as Tommy at age 10, but Gardner inexplicably has him doubling as Tommy at age 4 when the director ought to have a still younger performer fill the role. BEST PERFORMANCE The best performance comes from Paul Dobie, scary as Tommy's pedophile Uncle Ernie, who also achieves pathos as an alcoholic misfit. At least Gardner has given Dobie a chance to show his gifts at dark humor in a fresh and effectively suggestive reworking of the satirical "Tommy's Holiday Camp.". Michael Gruber seems older than the usual Cousin Kevin, but brings lively nastiness to the part. Tommy - character and musical alike - was a true sensation when it first rocked Broadway and Boston. The concert version at the Colonial repeatedly recalls The Who's own pinball wizardry at music making, but rarely rises to their achievement.

© Worcester Telegram & Gazette
April 19, 1999

New "Tommy" Lacks Verve Of Old
Young Cast Tries, But Misses Mark
by Jules Becker

BOSTON - "Tommy, can we hear you?" Can fans of the breakthrough, now 30-year-old recording at the heart of the rock-opera musical The Who's Tommy hear the heart and soul of the score that powerfully ushered in a kind of musical revolution on Broadway? Or must they settle for the toned-down "concert" staging that rarely shakes things up at the Colonial Theatre?

Anyone who saw Tommy thunder through Boston several years ago is not likely to forget its dynamite rock rhythms, its quantum leap forward lighting and its fresh warning about the ease with which the hero-worshipping masses sacrifice their freedom to hollow messiahs. If that experience was an inspired rock epiphany for many theatergoers, the revival reminds us how powerful The Who's music can be - often without doing it justice.

TRIMMED DOWN

This anniversary production is billed as "new," and it is new, with a vengeance. Trimmed down by director Worth Gardner to a "concert" version, the latest revival largely resorts to John Farrell's stage-dominating steel-girder sets and Jeffrey S. Koger's lighting. The latter is striking in its red and pink shadings, and sometimes blinding with its neon. But T. Richard Fitzgerald's sound design surprisingly doesn't have the pounding force of a real rock concert.

Much of the problem here lies with the ensemble. While the young men and women who play the variety of minor supporting roles - lads, lasses, reporters, guards and crowd members among them - sing and dance with considerable energy, they often seem to be overpowering Tommy with a Chicago-style razzle-dazzle. It ultimately does a disservice to both musicals.

When traumatized deaf, dumb and blind young Tommy (who has seen his returning soldier father kill his mother's lover) goes through a succession of disappointing "treatments," too often the ensemble takes charge dressed in basic black. Thus, the musical's memorable sendups of those treatments are blunted.

SOME PROBLEMS

The problems with Gardner's direction and conductor Scot Woolley's less-than-thunderous conducting are all the more regrettable in a staging with many individual virtues. Michael Seelbach captures Tommy's innocence - especially vocally on such numbers as the famous "See Me, Feel Me" - and possesses the right dynamism as the cured hero to draw adulation from crowds.

Lisa Asher, moving as Mrs. Walker, and Christopher Monteleone, suitably ineffectual as Captain Walker, reach a memorable harmony on the standout duet "I Believe My Own Eyes." Ross Ramone does well as Tommy at age 10, but Gardner inexplicably has him doubling as Tommy at age 4 when the director ought to have a still younger performer fill the role.

BEST PERFORMANCE

The best performance comes from Paul Dobie, scary as Tommy's pedophile Uncle Ernie, who also achieves pathos as an alcoholic misfit. At least Gardner has given Dobie a chance to show his gifts at dark humor in a fresh and effectively suggestive reworking of the satirical "Tommy's Holiday Camp.". Michael Gruber seems older than the usual Cousin Kevin, but brings lively nastiness to the part.

Tommy - character and musical alike - was a true sensation when it first rocked Broadway and Boston. The concert version at the Colonial repeatedly recalls The Who's own pinball wizardry at music making, but rarely rises to their achievement.

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