Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Tommy." Spotlight on Theater Notes

Tommy." Spotlight on Theater Notes

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 381 837 CS 508 904

AUTHOR Carr, John C. TITLE 's "." Spotlight on Theater Notes. INSTITUTION John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE [95] NOTE 9p.; Produced by the Performance Plus Program, Kennedy Center Education Department. Funding also provided by the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund. For other guides in this series, see CS 508 902-906. PUB TYPE Guides General (050)

EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Acting; *Cultural Enrichment; *Drama; Higher Education; Interviews; *Playwriting; Popular Culture; *; Secondary Education IDENTIFIERS Historical Background; Musicals; *Tommy ()

ABSTRACT This booklet presents a variety of materials concerning The Who's rock opera "Tommy." The booklet discusses the plot, the character of Tommy, highlights of "Tommy"'s 25-year history, the evolution of "Tommy," biographical information on the producer, director, actors and designers, awards won by the rock opera, "Tommy"'s statement about power, and "Tommy" as high-tech theater. (RS)

Reproduct3ons supplied by MRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *;:*-4%***';')YA-**I'Cii).:***)'.',%)%**).:*********1:*****)%**)%***A).:********1%i-A*),I'A****).(**;C:,' y

po Ii. ohea e es I ,

fa

s,

e; , 64 - uce #1_,.,,tePerfo arid- .a.40RIOs roarand eCenter Eaucahon pe aend A,. U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION ° Points of view or opinions stated In this CENTER (ERIC) document do not necessarily represent This document has been reproduced as official OERI position or policy received from the person or organization onginoting it 4 El Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality

0

PY AVAILABLE Tommy: The Story Tommy is a story of alienation, the conse- He uses his fame to express his long- quences of celebrity, and finally, the healing repressed rage but begins to resolve it when a powers of reconciliation. fan is hurt because of him. In the current treatment of The Who's 25- His great turning point occurs when he year -old rock opera, the story is told with a refuses to give his disciples easy spiritual minimum of dialogue. We follow the story's answers and they in turn abandon him. On the characters and events through songs, dance, verge of returning to his former withdrawn and the new wizardry of stage technology. state, he recognizes to risk emotional The title character is the musical's central engagement with his family and returns to figure. When Tommy is four, his father returns them in an act of reconciliation. from a World War II prisoner-of-war camp, dis- his wife with her lover, and kills him. Tommy witnesses the murder; the trauma of the experience causes him to become deaf, Defining Tommy: speechless, and blind. Later, he is sexually The Character assaulted by an uncle, an event that compli- cates his withdrawal from the world. The character of Tommy is very much a tabula Years later Tommy discovers and rasa, or blank slate, on which audiences can becomes a n.:ighborhood champion, the write their own interpretations. "," yet his illness remains a mys- During much of the show's action, he is, as a tery no doctor can cure. At 20, on his own, he song lyric describes him, a "deaf, dumb, and suddenly emerges from his trauma. The news blind kid." He reveals little and littleis of the miracle cure spreads like wild fire but, revealed about him. Throughout the show his ironically, his elevation to celebrity and the essential personality is ambiguous. He is both adulation of his fans alienates him further. a boy and man of mystery. Unwillingly he assumes a messiah-like position. Tommy is who and what you want him to be.

r.

a, Is

#....'''

4'' ' 0 ''...*4

..,--- . i Sf' rt c- A, 1, 4

,....1" q ,m, , , .4htk 1If ,, 4,,'

1 41 ..0., I I/. 44114 ,",. 4 li', I' 1,45144*. -44 al M.' ., --- -, -'., ,...5 b,, 4 1 , 'L

'----m...... , ,.. 3 characteristic of a Who concert was its What's In Tommy's ending, in which the performers Name? destroyed their instruments, an activitytechnically knownas is straightforward about autodestruction. Coming as the the fact that the name Tommy was cho- climax of an already rebellious sen for its resonance. performance, the violence became Tommy is a common British name, but it the group's resounding message of is also the name by which privates in the anarchy. British Army are called, just as American G.I.s Before The Who there was the are called Joe. Detours, a group composed of Townshend also invites us to hear in the Pete Townshend (lyricist and gui- name "to me," which he says is the direction of tarist),RogerDaltrey(lead the musical's action: toward Tommy. singer),and JohnEntwistle Townshend, a devotee of guru , (bassist). Seeking another image, attaches significance to the letters "o-m" in the group added a drummer (Keith Tommy, seeing and hearing them as "om," the Moon) and changed its name to The Who. standard sound used as a mantra in Eastern Moon died in 1978 and was replaced by meditation. When, Tommy was written in the . The Who disbanded in 1982. late , "om" was well known, particularly among those in the . The sound is employed as a symbol of spiritual centered- ness and peace. Tommy's last name is Walker, which well suits a character in search of him- Is there special meaning self. to the fact that Tommy While their names are different, Tommy and becomesthe"Pinball Pete Townshend share some similarities. izard"? From an existen- Townshend says that recently he has begun to tialviewpoint,thepinball see autobiographical elements in the musical. game mtht be seen as a metaphor for life. A In addition to his observation that he always ball is let loose on a hazardous course, bounces wrote in the voice of "a guy who was 15 or 16 from "bumper" to "bumper," and ultimately in ('s) Shepherd's Bush in 1964," rolls out of the game and is replaced by anoth- Townshend also acknowledges that he was er ball. The same view raises two questions: influenced in his writing by an upsetting child- "What's the point: a high score?" and "So hood experience with one of his father's what?" Those questions seem to align them- friends. Certainly the rebellious tone of his selves with those that Tommy music and the destruction of instruments that himself confronts. was integral to live performances with The Is pinball a metaphor Who also speaks of emotional turbulence seek- forrockandroll? ing release. Perhaps. After ail, Tommy and his disciples use the game as a myste- Who? rious way to communicate withoneanother. In case you've been out of town since the Hasn't popular music of the last 40 mid-'60s, the rock music group The years been used that way by young Who was formed in 1965 and promptly people eager to share mes- set about creating one of the major leg- rE..,:7.4y-",:\ sages that older people may ends of popular music. A distinguishing find threatening or incom- prehensible?

r; ZIP;11, t 1) 'rind() '1rrx11MT )T:4; :Aears, e*fi rommy:TSom g,0111

h 190x': 69oii341.1 1,1\4 , 199 The Who provide The recording of Tommy A dance version of 's film The Who's Tommy The new T'mmy a press premiere becomes a hit. Tommy by Les Grands treatment of Tommy opens on Broadway, plays the of the music In Ballets Canadians plays appears. winning five Tony Opera House. London The Who perform Tommy the Kennedy Center's Awards. at the Metropolit-:..,i Opera. Opera House. Thi Who perform Tommy at 4 than 30 cities, including Chicago, Boston, San Tommy: The Evolution Francisco, , Dallas, Houston, Tommy is one of the cultural phenomena of the Atlanta, and Philadelphia. last generation. It began life as a record album Following Washington, the will and has evolved through various forms to the play an engagement in Nashville. full-fledged staged musical that will fill the Opera House for five weeks. "Rock opera" was new terminology in 1969 when The Who recorded Tommy. By the fol- Tommy's "Father": lowing year, the popularity of the album made Pete Townshend Tommy's composer, lyricist, and co-author Pete Townshend is frequently faced with the ques- tion: why another version of a work he created 25 years ago? Speaking towriter Michael Goldstein, Townshend confessed, "The most pressing rea- A.. son is my personal drive to move into musical theater. I've waited a long time, sitting on vari- ous rights like a mother hen, for some sign that St the public is ready to fill theaters to see my shows rather than sheds to see The Who."* Beyond that Townshend explains that Tommy still had some distance to go to be fully satisfy- ing. He says that this version is the "definitive" one. Another reason Townshend accepted the challenge to re-work Tommy is the show's rhythm. "There is a real desire," he says, "even among theatergoers delighting in shows like Phantom, , and Les Miz, to be exposed to musicals based on the basic percussion rhythms of this age. We drive to drums, make love to drums, and cook and eat to drums. They are simply everywhere. Everywhere it clear that audiences wanted live concert pre- except great music theater." sentations of the piece. And so The Who Townshend is, of course, a legendary rocker toured the opera houses of Cologne, West and the driving force behind The Who. He Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, and was the group's song writer and from Amsterdam to cheering acclaim. Finally, the 1962 until the broke up in 1982. He has group performed an intended "final" concert written hundreds of songs, at least 20 of which at New York's House. have hit the top of the charts. In 1971 and '72, concerts which included Townshend admits that he and the other other rock stars were given. In the mid 1970s a members of The WhoRoger Daltrey, John version appeared in Los Angeles and on tour Entwistle, Keith Moonoriginally saw Tommy in Australia. A Tommy revue was produced in as an attempt to make something "so gross, so London's West End in 1978. pretentious, so dangerous that we' [di get The infamous Ken Russell film version of respect and attention."** Tommy appeared in1975, featuring Ann- Prominent as a pop icon in the countercul- Margret, , , Eric ture of the '60s and '70s, Townshend thrived Clapton, , and The Who's Roger on the practice of autodestruction in which he Daltrey. Les Grands Ballets Canadiens mounted and the other band members destroyed their a dance interpretation of Tommy in 1971. instruments at the end of a concert. In part, The current, revised, and fully staged version Tommy came out of that effort to express the of Tommy opened at California's La Jolla rebellion of adolescence. The anti-all-authority Playhouse in early 1993 before moving on to cry of the period had been heard earlier in his Broadway that April. songs "," "Substitute," "I Can't The Opera House production is nearing the Explain," and "," but it end of a 15- month tour. Before its Washington appearance the cast has performed in more " Theater Week, April 26 May 2,1993 5 " Playbill, August, 1993 found its focus in the song cycle, or if you pre- and Outer Critics Circle awards. Earlier he fer, rock opera called Tommy. received a Tony for his direction of the musical Townshend has not wanted for recognition. , seen in the Opera House in 1986. He has been nominated for two Grammys and In addition to a roster of plays at La Jolla, he an Oscar (for the score of Tommy), and also directed Lee Blessing's A Walk in the Woods received the 1993 Tony Award for Best Original on Broadway and for tour in Russia and Score (also for Tommy). He's been recognized Lithuania. with the International Rock Life Achievement Not content with an already-hectic schedule, Award and inducted into the Rock-and-Roll McAnuff has been a member of the faculty of Hall of Fame. New York's Juilliard School and is now an Townshend is riding on a new wave of adjunctprofessorattheUniversityof acclaim for his 25-year-old brainchild. Old fans California-San Diego. are finding new meaning in Tommy, while new ones see it as an emotional haven in an increas- ingly difficult world. Directsr/Co-Author: Des MeAnuff Des McAnuff, Tommy's powerhousedirector and co-author, is a man whose time has come. With this show he has helped push, pull, and drag musical theater toward the 21st century. "The theatre is often reactionary," he says. "Look atitshistory. First it was, 'We don't want candles, we want the sun.' Then, 'We don't want lights, we want candles.' The tradition of Sondheim and Loesser will continue, but I want to demystify the theater and welcome in other composers Ch reo rapher who've been on the charts.... Theatre is an ongoing evolution."* Inadditionto co-authoringthis25th The distance from the anniversary production of Tommy, McAnuff Bronx to Broadway is has brought to it as director a visceral tension not so great. But for and vibrancy of movement. Bronx-born choreogra- One of McAnuff's notionsthat rock-and- pher Wayne Cilento, roll's controlled explosion of rage was a release who has made the jour- for the devastating emotional impact of ney, it might just as well Hitler's evilsubtextually informs numerous be thousands of miles. aspects of the show in its current form. It wasn't until he was a At the moment, McAnuff is directing the teenager and landed a new Broadway-bound production of How to role in a high school Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, star- musical that he discovered dance. That was in ring Matthew Broderick, which opens a Ibur- Westchester, which in career terms, made it a week Opera House run in January. He recently little closer to Broadway. was the artistic director of California's La Jolla Cilento got still closer to the Bright Lights Playhouse, a position he held for more than 10 when he realized in college that what he want- years. He has also directed in numerous other ed to study was professional dancing and not venues, including at the Stratford (Canada) pharmacy. Summer stock and other showbiz Festival. jobs followed. And then, suddenly, the dis- For his directorial contributions to Tommy, tance between and Broadway was McAnuff received the 1993 Tony, Drama Desk, bridged: a successful audition for the original Thrater Wyk, April 26-May 2,1993 company of . He was one of the show's standouts, singing "I Can Do That." Soon he was choreographing television com- Wow! What a Look! mercials and sometimes performing in them. Many of the awards Tommy has received are for More choreography followed, but so did the show's unique look. "The designers are as another show-stopping role, this one in Bob much the stars of the production as the music, Fosse's Dancin. After that it was back and actors, or director," is the way a Los Angeles forth between performing and choreograph- Times review put it. ing. JohnArnone'sscenery,Wendall K. Finally, Tommy came along. The results not Harrington's projections, David C. Woolard's only produced audience cheers but earned costumes, and Chris Parry's lighting relate to him the 1993 Tony and Drama Desk awards. and support one another to an unusually high The uniqueness of his work in Tommy is the degree. Videos created by Batwin and Robin way the dances flow through and around the Productions and sound provided by Steve story. Cilento points out that the Tommy expe- Canyon Kennedy contribute further to a total, rience was a new one for him because "it came stunning effect. out of a scene and then expandedblew up. Reviewing Tommy for , Then it went right back into the scene and Frank Rich observed that its theatrical style moved along."* "coalesces as a continuous wave of songs, Working with Director Des McAnuff was not seer zs, kaleidoscopic design and dance." new, though. The two had worked on a nation- While director Des McAnuff and choreogra- al tour of and on a production of A Funny pher Wayne Cilento conceived the "continu- Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the ous wave" Rich describes, the credit must be . Currently they've reunited shared with Tommy's design team. for the upcoming How to Succeed in Business John Arnone received all three of the major Without Really Trying. It didn't take much time theater awards for his design for Tommythe for Cilento to say yes to McAnuffs request that Tony, the Drama Desk, and the Outer Critics he provide the movement for Tommy. "I was Circle Award. He has designed for major pro- excited about it because it was rock-and-roll ducers, directors, and theater and dance com- and it wasn't a revival.... I'm a younger gener- panies throughout the country. He designed ation and I wanted to do something different the sets for the new How to Succeed in Business and new.-I knew it would be fun and right up Without Really Trying. Among his other recog- ouralleybecauseit'srock-and-roll."* nitions are the American Theatre Wing Award *Dance Pages Magazine, Summer, 1993. and two Obies. Wendall K. Harrington has made major con- tributionstosuchshowsasThe Heidi Chronicles, The Will Rogers , and My One and Only, all of which have played at the Kennedy Center. She was the producer of "Words on Fire" shown on PBS. David C. Woolard's work has been seen at the Kennedy Center in A Few Good Men. Other work includes the recent off-Broadway hit Jeffrey. He has worked widely in the country's regional theaters, including the La Jolla Playhouse, where the current production of Tommy originated. Chris Parry received the Tony Award for his lighting design for Tom my. He has designed numerous productions for Great Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as well as for London's National Theatre. His designs for the RSC production of The Winter's Tale were admired at the Kennedy Center last season. A teacher of lighting design at the University of Southern California, San Diego, he also designs productions throughout the . Linda Batwin and Robin Silvestri are the directors of Batwin and Robin Productions, a multimedia design company. They have pro- to know that Townshend is a devotee of guru Meher Baba (which means "compassionate Why s in father"). A teacher in the Sufi tradition, Meher Baba embraced followers of all life styles and a (PI Y) faiths. NAciTie? As in Eastern philosophy, Tommy demon- From Antigone to Julius strates that enlightenment of the mind and Caesar to Heddo Gabler to Mame: names as soul never comes from the outside, regardless play titles have a long of the beneficence or wisdom of the source. history. How many of Tommy ultimately recognizes that he must the following name- play titles do you know? reject the temptation to control others. At the How many have same time, he forgives his abusive familyand played at the Kennedy seeks fulfillment and harmony with them. Center? Tommy seems to embrace with Townshend (Answers on page 8.) the concept most associated with Meher Baba, 1. 's "Don't worry. Be happy.' adaptation of this 19th - century melodroma was showered with .

2. Hershel Bernardi Tom y: Shifting Time originated the title role of this 1968 musical. Peri ds John Raitt played the In the current production of Tommy, the action role on its first tour. Anthony Quinnoldthe ranges from the end of World War II toI963 honors for a later tour approximately 20 years. This is a shift from the 3. This setting of the 1969 album, which ranged from musical examined the the end of World War Ithrough several troubled relationship between a silent film decades of the century. star and her director- The shift forward, emphasizing the '50s, lover. allows the show's characters and events to be 4. This bittersweet interpreted against a background of social comedy is the second complacency in Britain, a background that play in Preston Jones' also includes the decline of international A Texas Trilogy. power. Tommy's themes are underscoredwith 5. Zoe Caldwell drew the realization that the sun was, at last, setting rave reviews for her duced and staged numerous films, exhibit performance in this videos, theater, corporate, and publicity events on the British Empire. monodrama about one of this century's over the last 12 years. Director Des McAnuff explains another aspect of the change from several decades to a renowned American Steve Canyon Kennedy has been a produc- female writers. tion sound engineer for such shows as cats, 20-year period. Moving from the song cycle nature of the album to a fully conceived musi- 6. This monodrama Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, and about a great African- cal required that the action take on a stronger Aspects of Love. American singer and narrative line. The consequence was a slowing actor starred Avery down of Tommy's ascent to fame so that his cli- Brooks. mactic, self-confrontation takes on a greater 7. William Shakespeare believability and delivers a stronger emotional wrote this history play Tommys Statement abouta -bottled impact. spider' with his fellow b.:tut Pow r actor. Richard Burbage. The power of a messiah-like figure and the pos- in mind. sibilities of how that power may he used are 8. Robert Morse Three Tommys seemed to be a strong thematic elements in Tommy. The essen- double for the real-life tial issue has little to do with good or evil but Tommy takes place over a 20-year period, from writer he played in this a great deal to do with trust anddistrust of the early 1940s until about 1963. monodrama authority. To show aspects of Tommy's development, Dorothy Loudon. who The anti-authority stance of the countercul- three actors portray Tommy at ages 4. 10. and played in flop otter 20. Occasionally they interact with one anoth- flop, finally got a big hit ture of the 19(i0s (remember -Don't trust any- with this long running one over 30''?1 flavors this aspect ofTommy. It er to demonstrate inquiring aspectsof his per- musical sonality and the impact of his accumulating is helpful to bear in mind that Townshend was 10. This play by a member of the countercultureand that, experiences. Ultimately, the three Tommvs Sophocles is sometimes additionally, he was one of the first rock stars to lead to the character's self-connection and to called 'thn perfect tragedy cinlvace Eastern spiritual philosophy. It also the acceptance that permits him to return to helps to explain the c urrent ending of Tommy his family. Answers to. Tommy's Star: Play QUIz, page 7. Steve Isaacs

1. Heading Tommy's cast of 30 is Steve Isaacs, 2 Zorba widely known to viewers of MTV. 3. Mack and Mabel Rewind: A native of California, Isaacs gradu- 4.Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Ober fonder ated from Hollywood's Musicians Institute. 5. Lillian Using the name "Sparky," he performed and 6.Paul Robeson hosted shows extensively on the popular coffee- 7. Richard III house scene of Los Angeles. 8. Tru 9. Fast forward 1: Discovered by MTV (the 10. Oedipus Rex video channel), Isaacs quickly became a popu- All of the shows have lar veejay the video equivalent of a radio disc played at the Kennedy jockey. "MTV was a real mixed blessing," Isaacs Center. Tommy as High Tech says. "It was really fun for a while, but fame was Give yourself two points the worst thing that could happen to me, I was for each correct Theater answer. Total: 20 points. a veejay on MTV, making pretty good money, "Sprintingto the cutting edge of high-tech people were dreaming of having my life, and I 20-18: You get your name over the title. theater,Torn mystimulates the senses you didn't was more unhappy than I've been in my whole know vou had." life." 17-14: You get your name just below the David Patrick Stearns, USA Today Fast forward 2: Isaacs left MTV to tour with title. his band, American Psycho, until it broke up in 1993. 13-9: Your name is The effect Stearns describes is created in large featured. part through highly sophisticated stage tech Fast forward 3: Asked to audition for Tommy, 8-5: Your name is nology developed over the last 20 Years. he proved to be the right man in the right among the spear Thirteen personal computers exercise much place. carriers. of the control of Tommy behind the scenes. Play: Ta-Da: Steve Isaacs in Tommy! 4.0: There is virtue in The computers trigger thousands of video pro- anonymity. jections and slide an array of the show's flying props into position. Twenty-seven slide projec- tors aim at a 30-foot-wide screen, registering a barrage of imagesall of which can be frozen The Who's Tommy on screen to make a backdrop or can he flashed so quickly they create a sense of as prize winner motion. Opening in April 1993, at New York's St. There are 375 lights arranged in five tiers. James Theater (where it is approaching its Some of them, also controlled by computer, 700th performance), Tommy was just in are "robotic," rotating and changing colors as time to claim 14 prestigious theater awards well as following performers automatically. for the 1992-93 season. A video tower, with 36-inch screens, projects The Spotlight Its five Tony Awards include: images from a lasei disc. The screens some- On Theater Best Score times show live images shot from on-stage. Best Director discussion Fire, haze, and fog contribute to what direc- Best Choreography will be held on tor Des McAnuff describes as an overall hallu- Thursday, Best Scenic Design cinogenic effect. Best Lighting Design January 5, from How about people? Sixty-five of them are 6:15-7 p.m. in required behind the scenes to make ibmmy Six Drama Desk Awards were received for: the Kennedy work. Property, wardrobe, wig, and makeup Best Director personnel, stage managers. computer, and pro- Best Orchestrations Center's Opera jection operators, as well as stage hands and Best Choreographs. House. carpenters, tend to the show's demands. Best Set Design Best Lighting Design Best Sound Design blip +Y11111111111 - Writer: John C. Carr The Kennedy Center Outer Critics Circle Awards numbered Production photos: . K."r Arr. RIP nrennwal ou, three: Marcus/ .ASHES D WO:,E'4SOHN CHAIRMAN LAWRENCEJMOO PqESIDENT Outstanding Musical 141( E CORDON ASSOVAIE MANAGING D9FCTOP ECA EDUCAMON Outstanding Direction

I undinq of the Performance PluS Program is provided by the U S Outstanding Design Deportment of Education and the Kennedy Center COrPOrate Fund 8

Top View