Mosman Musical Society presents The Who’s Tommy @ The Zenith Theatre Chatswood

acid-queen

Mosman Musical Society’s revival of the rock opera  THE WHO’S TOMMY is a fun and entertaining production ably led by director Anthony Young.  This opera was written by Pete Townsend and Des McAnuff and is adapted from The Who’s 1969 double album rock opera Tommy also by Pete Townsend with additional material by John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Sonny Boy Williamson.  The work first opened in San Diego in 1992 and then went on to Broadway in 1993 taking out 6 Tony Awards.

The prologue begins in 1940 and flows into Act 1 revealing Tommy’s parents dysfunctional marriage (the roles are well played by Daisy Lawrence and George Hannaford). The exposition is done very effectively using a quick flow of short vignettes linked by audio-visual projections setting the scenes of the actions and music. These projections are a feature of the entire musical highlighting the mood and adding to the colour and interest.

After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother’s lover by his father, Tommy is traumatised into catatonia, and he suffers abuse at the hands of his sadistic relatives and neighbours. These include the perverted Uncle Ernie,  played by James Parbery, and the evil cousin Kevin, played by Sam Ducker

The story follows Tommy from the age of four to a young man, with three people playing the part of Tommy at various ages, Charlie Jackson at age four and Oliver Barbarich at age 10. Tim Garnham’s performance in the lead role as both the narrator and Tommy as a teenager/young man is strong and his singing  is clear.

As an adolescent, Tommy’s uncanny knack for playing pinball is discovered, and after various attempts to “cure” Tommy, such as his encounter with the acid queen, played by Elizabeth Duong, his mother finally breaks through his catatonia . Tommy becomes an international pinball superstar and messiah. However fame is not all he expected and when his fans turn away he turns back to his family, and embraces them in acceptance, before he cathartically reunites with his younger selves onstage.

The ensemble, many of whom play multiple roles are in fine form, with a mixture of well-choreographed dancing and singing, well orchestrated by Lisa Frisina.

The large number of set changes is managed well and the wide range of costume changes -costume designer- Susan Boyle- adds to the life and hubris of the production. The lighting design by James Wallis is vibrant and Jessica Manning leads a fine orchestra.

THE WHO’S TOMMY is playing the Zenith Theatre Chatswood until the 27th June. For performance times and bookings visit –http://www.mosmanmusicalsociety.com.au/