The Who's Tommy

The Who's Tommy is a rock musical by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff based on The Who's 1969 double album rock opera Tommy, also by Pete Townshend, with additional material by John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Sonny Boy Williamson.

Productions

The musical opened at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, on 1 July 1992. The Broadway theatre debut was at the St. James Theatre on 29 March 1993 with 27 previews running thru 10 April. The show then officially "Opened" on 22 April 1993 and closed on 17 June 1995, after 899 performances. Directed by Des McAnuff with choreography by Wayne Cilento, the original cast included Michael Cerveris (Tommy), Marcia Mitzman (Mrs. Walker), Jonathan Dokuchitz (Captain Walker) and Cheryl Freeman (The Gypsy/Acid Queen) plus an ensemble that included Alice Ripley, Christian Hoff, Norm Lewis, Paul Kandel, Tracy Nicole Chapman, Michael Gardner and Sherie Rene Scott. The play subsequently was produced by various touring companies throughout North America and Europe.

Musical

Musical may refer to:

See also

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing.

The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers".

The musical film was a natural development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater; performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if there is a live audience watching. In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it.

Musical films in the Western world

The classical sound era

The 1930s through the early 1950s are considered to be the golden age of the musical film, when the genre's popularity was at its highest in the Western world.

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan. The Princess Theatre musicals and other smart shows like Of Thee I Sing (1931) were artistic steps forward beyond revues and other frothy entertainments of the early 20th century and led to such groundbreaking works as Show Boat (1927) and Oklahoma! (1943). Some of the most famous and iconic musicals through the decades that followed include West Side Story (1957), The Fantasticks (1960), Hair (1967), A Chorus Line (1975), Les Misérables (1985), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), Rent (1996), The Producers (2001) and Wicked (2003).

Tommy

Tommy is a given name that is usually the English diminutive of Thomas. The name also could refer to:

People with the given name Tommy

Tommy Oliver

Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a character from the universe of the American live action television franchise Power Rangers. He is a main character in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, as well as four of its successive incarnations Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers Dino Thunder (where he returns as a legendary Power Ranger veteran). He also appeared in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red", the Power Rangers S.P.D. episode "Wormhole", and in the Power Rangers Super Megaforce episode "Legendary Battle. He has been portrayed by actor Jason David Frank in most all of his appearances, but in the episode "Wormhole", he appeared only in Ranger form and was voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. He was also infrequently portrayed by actor Michael R. Gotto in instances where the story required depicting the character during childhood, such as in the series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.

According to the character's fictional history, Tommy is a legend among the Power Rangers community and is considered to be the greatest Power Ranger of all time, having been five different Power Rangers — the Green Ranger, the White Ranger, Zeo Ranger V–Red, the Red Turbo Ranger, and the Dino Thunder Black Ranger — and a part of four Ranger teams over the years. In addition, Tommy is a lifelong practitioner of the martial arts; during the first season of Power Rangers, he was referred to as having a third-degree black belt in karate. By Power Rangers Dino Thunder, he is a 6th degree black belt. ("Return of the Ranger", Power Rangers Dino Thunder - Collision Course DVD)

Tommy (soundtrack)

Tommy is a soundtrack album by The Who with contributions from numerous artists. The soundtrack was used in the 1975 Tommy film that was based on the original album that was released by The Who in 1969. Pete Townshend oversaw the production of this double-LP recording that returned the music to its rock roots, and on which the unrecorded orchestral arrangements he had envisaged for the original Tommy LP were realised by the extensive use of synthesiser.

The soundtrack LP also employed many leading sessions musicians including Caleb Quaye, Phil Chen and Nicky Hopkins (who also receives a "Special Thanks" in the album credits for help with the arrangements) as well as members of The Faces' Ronnie Wood and future Keith Moon replacement Kenney Jones. The song "Pinball Wizard", performed by Elton John, was a major hit when released as a single. Although the music for this song is performed by "The Elton John Band", as he was calling his musical team, the film depicts John being backed by The Who (dressed in pound-note suits). Townshend performs additional synthesizer and/or guitar on all tracks. Credits to "The Who" indicate performances by Townshend, John Entwistle and Moon jointly, regardless of vocalist.