For as much commercial success as has been achieved by the iconic British rock band, The Who, I’m sorry to have to admit that I’ve never really been a fan. Not to say I can’t appreciate the success they’ve achieved over the past 50 years – yes, it’s been that long – and many accolades should be thrown their way in acknowledgement of that success. Their style and my preferences don’t always align musically, however. That said, in keeping with my philosophy of music appreciation, there are certainly some aspects of The Who’s art that can be appreciated by most music lovers, and possibly more surprisingly, many theatre lovers as well.
At the announcement that Palm Canyon Theatre in Palm Springs was preparing to mount a production of THE WHO’s TOMMY, the infamous rock opera recorded by the group in 1969 (I was young then; however, I do remember it), my first thought was, “my, that’s ambitions!” I have, however, considered all of the productions that I’ve see Palm Canyon Theatre produce considerably aggressive. This production was no exception.
Having seen TOMMY on Broadway back in 1993, I’ll admit to not remembering much of the premiss or the music for that matter. I just remember that it was flashy, bright, loud, and full of bells and whistles – literally. It is, after all, a story about a boy and a pinball machine. As I was re-watching the show this time, although the musical style wasn’t something that I loved, I will say that the thought came back to me that the Broadway varnish that the shows original creators applied to the score actually did make it somewhat more mainstream than the original rock opera album had been back in the 60’s. And after watching Palm Canyon’s production, I was definitely able to retrieve some additional nuggets of hope, if you will, that allowed me to be even more open-minded about the book and the score.
TOMMY’s story is complicated, and requires a bit of thought if you really want to extract its full meaning. In fact, TOMMY can mean different things to different people, and I’m sure it’s possible to read too much into the plot, so I will avoid that here. Just know that TOMMY is a story about acceptance, hope, love, recognition, fame, regression, repression, abuse, recovery, and much more. In short, Tommy becomes traumatized after witnessing his father commit murder and enters a catatonic state until pinball awakens him to a world of fame and celebrity.
Palm Canyon’s production of TOMMMY boasts some solid performances and some that are quite memorable as well. Alexander Bedham (4-year-old Tommy) and Stephen David Lee (10-year-old Tommy) were were spot on as the two younger iterations of the boy as they portrayed an excellent transformation from Tommy’s happy-go-lucky younger child self to the catatonic Tommy that we come to know throughout Act 1. What made the show sing, literally, was Nick Sloan playing Tommy as he grew into adulthood and discovered who he was and what his life should be. Nick did a formidable job transitioning us from the pop-version “rock opera Tommy” to the “musical theatre Tommy.” Nick’s performance helped us feel as though we were watching a story unfold rather than simply listening to a rock concert.
Other memorable performances included Ben Reece and Juli Rosser as Mr. and Mrs. Walker – Tommy’s parents, and Don Kelley as Uncle Ernie. The trio work well together in painting the sometimes quite dysfunctional picture that makes up Tommy’s family. Keisha D’Alessandro took control of the stage as Acid Queen; however, there were a few what seemed like mic problems that prevented her voice from conveying the strength that exuded from her personality.
Overall this was a good production and worth the trip if you are in or near the Palm Springs, CA. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.palmcanyontheatre.org.
