Broadway in Tucson Review: 'The Who's Tommy'

A rebellious acid trip to the psychedelic 1960s, "The Who's Tommy" obliterates the senses with thumping bass lines, dazzling visuals and clockwork choreography, set to an iconic double album that still manages to seem ahead of its time more than a half century after its release.

Pete Townshend's gutteral vision of iconoclastic defiance against a hypocritical society strums a tune of underdog triumph, egging on its audience to clap and stomp in time, at least when they aren't too awestruck to do so.

The classic seems new, because it largely is. Even if you've got the music on heavy Spotify rotation and spent your teen years watching the 1975 Elton John film while chemically enhanced, you've never seen this version of "Tommy" before. 

The touring production is based on the 30th anniversary version of the show, which includes rewritten lyrics, revamped effects and a suite of projections.

The story folows the unlikely rise of a boy, left numb and trauamatized by domestic violence, who loses the ability to see, hear or speak. Or is it that he just deems the world unworthy of seeing, hearing or being spoken to? 

Enduring belittling, bullying and dubious, increasingly desperate medical treatments, Tommy stumbles upon a knack for obliterating pinball leaderboards, rising to the status of counterculture celebrity. It's all set to a relentless succession of "The Who" tunes, each calibrated to punctuate the emotional resonance of the scene. There's no intermission because the orchestra and cast don't have the patience to pause for even a moment.

Collin Matthew Flannigan rocks out as the title character, his unruly mop often serving as something of a co-star, courtesy of close-up projections in the background. Even when silent, his pungent expressions and decisive gestures speak as much as when he starts to belt out tunes.

Mia Bergstrom desperate and bewildered turn as Tommy's mother provides a striking counterpoint to Tommy's indomitable inner drive, and Zach Fogel's stern turn as his aloof and stubborn father are a relection of the social norms Tommy seeks to expose and obliterate.

This revved-up version of "Tommy" doesn't settle for drawing on '60s nostalgia. It reached back into the era and brings it front and center, generating time travel by jolting the feeling of the era into the modern agek rather than looking back at longing for it. The show unfolds with the rhythm and flow of a concert, pulsing to a rhythm all its own. As audience members, you are as helpless and momentum-fueled as a pinball sprung forward to brighten the scoreboard with a blinding light.

"The Who's Tommy" plays through Oct. 25 at Centennial Hall. Buy tickets here.