Review: THE WHO'S TOMMY Ignites the Goodman's Stage Like Never Before

When Ali Louis Bourzgui as Tommy Walker belts out “I’m a sensation,” you better believe it. The Goodman’s new production of TOMMY is indeed a sensation. This is a wholly re-imagined production. Director Des McAnuff and The Who’s Pete Townshend have again teamed up to tweak their book from the original Tony Award-winning musical from 1993 that itself was based on the 1969 album.

The end result is both a timely and timeless rock opera; a sensational and sumptuous feast for both the eyes and ears. You can’t help but fall under the spell of the pinball wizard Tommy.

A four-year-old Tommy (in this performance played by Presley Rose Jones; a role she alternates with Ava Rose Doty) is traumatized after witnessing his father (Adam Jacobs, who originated the role of Aladdin on Broadway)  murder her mother’s lover after returning home from a prisoner of war camp and being declared dead. Tommy’s trauma is further compounded when his mother (Alison Luff, who astute theatergoers may remember from her stellar performance as Elphaba in the touring production of WICKED that blew into town a few years ago) and father tell the impressionable boy “you didn’t see it, you didn’t hear it, you won’t say nothing at all.”, which forces the boy to essentially project his soul into a large mirror that hangs in the Walker home.  

Bourzgui gives a star-making performance as the adult Tommy. No offense to The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey or the rest of the band, but it’s unlikely you’ll ever hear these songs performed better. The role requires Bourzgui to sing for most of the show with a level of intensity befitting of a child/adult desperately trying to bring repressed feelings and words to the surface. Bourzgui’s voice also blends seamlessly with his younger selves (Doty and the 10-year-old Tommy played in this performance by Annabel Finch and shared in alternate performances by Ezekiel Ruiz).

Jacobs and Luff are also well cast, sharing much chemistry. When they reach the point of hopelessness as they do in “I Believe My Own Eyes,” both bring the frustration and pain of not being able to help their child to the forefront (albeit still oblivious to the role they played in their son’s condition).

As Tommy’s cousin Kevin, Bobby Conte finds the right balance between comedy and cruelty. As a child, he initially sees Tommy as a toy to play with and as he grows older, he becomes a bully to his helpless cousin before falling under the thrall of Tommy’s miraculous pinball skills.

Normally, the roll of Uncle Ernie is portrayed squarely as “camp” perhaps as a way to defuse the horrific reality of molestation contained in the song “Fiddle About” (music and lyrics by The Who’s bassist John Entwistle). John Ambrosino’s Ernie feels shame from what he has done in that one drunken night and it follows him through the rest of the show. It also helps that “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” (music and lyrics by The Who’s late drummer Keith Moon), a song in which Uncle Ernie later profits off of his nephew’s affliction, has been axed from this production.  

With the recent passing of Tina Turner (who gave an iconic performance of  the Acid Queen in the original 1975 film), Christina Sajous has some big shoes to fill, but she manages to make the role her own. It’s a challenging role given that her character is essentially a junkie to whom Captain Walker turns to after traditional medicine fails to cure Tommy. She plans to drug and possibly seduce the 10-year-old boy. It’s as disturbing as the earlier scene with Uncle Ernie, but through Sajous’ soulful performance you come to realize that in her drug-induced haze she thinks she is doing what needs to be done to cure the boy.

As Sally Simpson, Tommy’s biggest fan who’s devotion to her idol nearly gets her killed, Haley Gustafson channels a teen girl’s obsession with the star and longs for a human connection with him. However, it remains hard to sit through events that transpire in the song “Sally Simpson” without thinking about the horrific real life events at a The Who concert in Cincinnati in 1979 in which 11 fans were crushed to death in a stampede.  

McAnuff’s flawless direction of the cast of 29, coupled with minimal set design by David Korins (HAMILTON), lighting by Amanda Zieve and truly extraordinary projection design by Peter Nigrini, craft an experience that at time feels like a living, breathing work of art that is operatic in scope. If Broadway doesn’t snatch this show up, opera companies should.

The costume design by Sarafina Bush is appropriately period when it needs to be (lots of black leather jackets to reflect the greaser era, for instance). The most chilling of designs are the faceless metal masks of the “monsters” Tommy sees around him from the solicitor who is trying to put his father in jail to the multiple doppelgangers of his drunk uncle Ernie who molests the vulnerable boy, to the army of doctors that continually poke and prod Tommy in an effort to cure him. It’s no wonder Tommy turns to the “quiet vibration land” of the mirror. 

These metal masks, which resemble the shiny spheres of pinballs, make sense. Tommy equates them with the pinballs and perhaps smacks the pinballs around as a subtle way of fighting back against his demons. Suffice to say, the masks are the stuff of nightmares and a fitting addition to this reimaging. 

The choreography by Lorin Latarro, whose past credits include WAITRESS, MRS. DOUBTFIRE and the most recent revival of INTO THE WOODS, manages to tip her hat just enough to dance crazes of the various eras (1940’s Swing, 1950’s Jive and Jitterbug among others), but she also manages to create unique movement in “Pinball Wizard” that captures the youthful enthusiasm teens develope for the miracle deaf, dumb and blind kid who rules the pinball tables as well as vengeful, angry protest moves that come from their subsequent disillusionment with their would-be savior in “We’re Not Going to Take It.”

The nine-piece band, led by Rick Fox, brings the fire of Townshend’s score to life, including the iconic acoustic guitar riff of “Pinball Wizard.” The score feels surprisingly modern given it was written more than half a century ago. 

Townshend’s score has often been overshadowed by the man himself (one of the most celebrated rock guitarists of all time if not the most celebrated). And while his electric guitar riffs revolutionized rock music, the Goodman’s production succeeds in highlighting his astute musical capabilities outside of the world of rock and roll. One can only hope that his rock opera THE IRON GIANT (based on the book by Robert Nadler that itself was adapted into the celebrated, non-musical film “The Iron Giant” that Townshend co-produced) finally finds its way to the stage as a result.

McAnuff and Townshend have certainly proved they are more than capable at revisiting shows and reimaging them for a modern audience. The biggest change happens immediately at the opening. We are presented with a dystopian future in which “Tommyheads” (the cult of Tommy’s fans) don VR helmets to better mimic the sensory isolation of their hero.

It’s a dark and frightening moment, but in an age when half of America is caught up in a political cult of personality that threatens the very fabric of our Republic while the other half is oblivious to it thanks to an incessant need to keep their heads down, looking  at their own phones while website algorithms prevent them from being engaged in the world around them, you realize the future of TOMMY is already here.

Here's hoping we take the show’s ending  of “Listening to You” to heart, stop the self isolation and again begin listening, seeing and feeling all the world has to offer before it is too late.

TOMMY has been extended a second time and now runs through August 6 at the Goodman’s Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn. For tickets, head to goodmantheatre.org

All photos by Liz Lauren, courtesy of the Goodman. 

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