Press reel from the 1993 Broadway premiere of The Who's "Tommy"-- Michael Cerveris in the title role, Alice Ripley, Sherie Rene Scott, Norm Lewis among the talented ensemble.
Can we just stop for a moment to marvel at the amazingness of this original cast? I mean you've got Broadway superstar Michael Cerveris (at the beginning of his Broadway career!) alongside a host of people at the beginning of their fantastic careers (on Broadway or elsewhere). People like Norm Lewis, Sherie Renee Scott, Alice Ripley, Christian Hoff, Michael McElroy, Cheryl Freeman, Paul Kandel, Romain Fruge (stepping in as Cousin Kevin in these shots cause he was the swing) and Marcia Mitzman (who had already wowed some people as Svetlana in the Broadway production of Chess opposite the equally fantastic Judy Kuhn!). Just brilliant! I love this!
I played thr Acid Queen in a local production many years ago. It's an amazing show and I was lucky to go backstage on Broadway! I knew Bill Buell and got to meet Anthony Barille, Paul and Michael Cerveris. Such memories!
New production helmed by the original director, Des McAnuff, premiering at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago this week. I'm going to see it this Sunday and I can hardly wait. My favorite rock musical of all time.
For my 18th birthday, my mom took me to see this. To this day, one of the most fantastic birthday gifts I've ever received! I'm so happy to have found this video. 🙂
I got the chance to see this live on Broadway in spring of 1995 and I will forever cherish that experience. Still, one of my life goals is to own the Data East Tommy pinball machine based on this show.
Tech ruins shows. I don't want a childish spectacle, I want a raw performance. Also - the new production choreography looks like cirque de Soleil. Please just dance and leave the gymnastics at the Olympics. Tech is a sorry excuse for bad plot lines.
I have seen Cheryl Freeman do this role multiple times as a geeky little 13 year old and she consistently blew me away. This was one of my favorite versions of this tour.
I feel like the London actor did a better job of looking blind. In the London version, the Tommy was looking directly in front of himself and having a more lose actions, it made him feel like he wasn't trying to play pinball while not being able to hear or see. The Broadway version just feels stiff and the look on his face makes it look like hes trying to remember something.
When he is singing he is expressing, he is not acting "blind" at that point. He is catatonic when not expressing himself in song however. Cerveris was exceptional, as was Steve Isaaks on the tour. Never got to see the London actor, might want to check that out!
I want to know why theater companies are so afraid to cast rockers in the role of Tommy. The part was written for Roger Daltrey! Just once I'd like to see this production with a lead who knows how to wail with his voice. I really dislike this insistence on singing Tommy with a Broadway style voice. It sounds so proper and so contrived. It has always been a *rock* opera. Every production I've seen has had a screaming rock band backing it, but the lead part is sung by a squeaky clean crooner. BAH!!!
Is the Acid Queen song supposed to be a metaphor for giving Tommy acid or is it literal, where she's going to take his virginity? That's the only song in this that confused me.
@@Rex-gu1bu It's both. In the 1975 film they made that very clear. Well, different versions might have different interpretations to cater to their markets, but "just give me one night" and "Your boy won't be a boy no more, young but not a child" suggest sex to me, and "your mind must learn to roam" plus all of the bodily reactions *after* her work is done in the last verse suggest drugs.
A little bit of both. There's this recurring theme in the musical about the things we do to fill the holes in our soul. And in order to fill the holes in Tommy's soul, his parents expose him to sex and drugs the form of the Acid Queen.
