TOMMY HAWKS

posted by James Reel

    OK, I’m confused:

    What, exactly, is The Who's rock opera Tommy really trying to tell us? The UA's Arizona Repertory Theatre is putting on a very good production of the show, but in the end, in trying to figure out what writer-composer Pete Townshend's social point may be, I feel as deaf, dumb and blind as the musical's title character.
    Tommy is more mess than message, and no wonder. It started out in the late 1960s as a loose-knit concept album with a clearly anti-establishment finale. In the mid 1970s, Ken Russell turned it into one of his typical cinematic acid trips, and while the story got fleshed out, certain essential plot details were changed along the way. Finally, in the early 1990s, Townshend collaborated with stage director Des McAnuff on a Broadway version that thoroughly muddled whatever themes Tommy may have had in its earlier incarnations. …
    In short, despite its ambiguous attitude toward narcissism and the cult of celebrity, Tommy now heartily embraces Reagan-Thatcher social ideals. Preserve the nuclear family; just say no to drugs.
    An amazing journey, indeed.