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TOMMY

The Original "The Who's Tommy: The Broadway Revival" logo

"The Who's Tommy: The Broadway Revival" is the first ever Broadway Revival by Ackley Attack Musicals. With music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, and based off the ever popular film, this all-new revival will take on Broadway then ever before.

Musical Summary[]

Act I[]

  • Prologue
1940: Against the backdrop of World War II in London appears a montage of Captain and Mrs. Walker meeting, their marriage, Captain Walker's deployment to parachute into Germany, and his capture and imprisonment in a Prisoner-of-war camp ("Overture"). Back in London at 22 Heathfield Gardens, Uncle Ernie delivers a care package to his pregnant sister-in-law just as two officers arrive to bring them the tragic news that Captain Walker is missing and presumed dead ("Captain Walker").
  • Scene One
1941: Two nurses gently hand Mrs. Walker her newborn son ("It's a Boy").
  • Scene Two
1945: American troops liberate Walker's POW camp, and tell him the war in Europe is over ("We've Won").
  • Scene Three
Believing her husband dead, Mrs. Walker has a new lover, and they celebrate her twenty-first birthday and discuss getting married together with now four-year-old Tommy. To their surprise, Captain Walker enters the house as Mrs. Walker and her lover embrace ("Twenty-One"). In shock, Mrs. Walker reaches out to touch him, but a fight erupts between Walker and the boyfriend. Tommy is watching the fight, and Mrs. Walker turns him towards the mirror in hopes of him not seeing the fight. Through the mirror, Tommy sees his father shoot dead his mother's new boyfriend. Mr. and Mrs. Walker embrace, but soon realise what Tommy has witnessed, and violently shake him, telling him he didn't see or hear anything ("What About the Boy"). The police arrive to investigate, while Tommy gazes at the mirror. A narrator (Tommy's older self) appears, visible only to Tommy, and invites the audience to witness Tommy's journey ("Amazing Journey").
  • Scene Four
Captain Walker is tried for the lover's murder, but found not guilty by reasons of self-defense. However, the family celebration dies down as they realise Tommy is now deaf, dumb, and blind, when he fails to show emotion towards his father's release.
  • Scene Five
Mr. and Mrs. Walker take him to a hospital, where a battery of doctors and nurses, to no avail, examine Tommy ("Sparks"). 1950: Tommy is nearly ten years old but the narrator reiterates that his state remains the same ("Amazing Journey (Reprise)").
  • Scene Six
1950: The Walkers take ten-year-old Tommy to church and host a family dinner ("Christmas"). Although they try to enjoy the party, they can't help but think that Tommy doesn't know that it is Christmas or understand its meaning. Everyone is stunned when Tommy responds to Uncle Ernie's playing the French Horn. Mr. Walker, in a desperate attempt to reach his son, shouts "Tommy, can you hear me?" multiple times. Older Tommy, only visible to young Tommy, sings to him. ("See Me, Feel Me").
  • Scene Seven
Back home, the Walkers worry about whether to leave Tommy with the drunken Uncle Ernie ("Do You Think It's Alright?"), but they convince themselves that Tommy will be fine. After the two leave, Ernie molests him ("Fiddle About").
  • Scene Eight
Tommy's next babysitter, Cousin Kevin, and his friends, taunt and bully him mercilessly ("Cousin Kevin"). The group then takes Tommy to a youth club where, to everyone's astonishment, he plays pinball brilliantly ("Sensation").
  • Scene Nine
Encouraged, the Walkers try yet another doctor, a psychiatrist, who tests Tommy without success ("Sparks (Reprise)").
  • Scene Ten
The desperate Mr. Walker is approached by The Hawker and Harmonica Player ("Eyesight to the Blind") who promise a miraculous cure for Tommy. They take Mr. Walker and young Tommy to the Isle of Dogs to find a prostitute called The Gypsy.
  • Scene Eleven
The Gypsy tries to convince Mr. Walker to let her spend time alone with Tommy, introducing him to sex and drugs ("The Acid Queen"). Mr. Walker, horrified by the Gyspy's methods, snatches the boy and runs away.
  • Scene Twelve

Act II[]

1958: The act ends as Cousin Kevin a group of teenagers await 17-year-old Tommy's appearance at the amusement arcade as his skills propel his rise to local popularity ("Pinball Wizard")
  • Underture
1960: Tommy has become the pinball champion and hero of the neighbourhood lads. ("Underture").
  • Scene Thirteen
The father, still in search of a cure, convinces his wife to try once more ("There's a Doctor").
  • Scene Fourteen
They take Tommy to specialists ("Go to the Mirror!") for elaborate tests, but to no avail. The doctors discover that Tommy's senses do work but is for some reason not processing what he sees or hears and that no one can free Tommy from his catatonic state but himself.
  • Scene Fifteen
On the street a group of local louts surround Tommy ("Tommy, Can You Hear Me?") and carry him home.
  • Scene Sixteen
The parents, at their wits' end and considering having Tommy institutionalised, compassionately confront one another ("I Believe My Own Eyes"). Tommy stares into the mirror as his mother tries desperately to reach him one last time ("Smash the Mirror"). Out of rage, frustration, and desperation, she shatters the mirror that Tommy continually gazed at for years. With the mirror in pieces, Tommy becomes conscious ("I'm Free") and leaves home.
  • Scene Seventeen
1961-1963: While his cure hits the news ("Miracle Cure"), Tommy is idolised by the public and the press ("Sensation (Reprise)"), and begins appearing in stadiums, playing pinball with a helmet that temporarily blinds and deafens him ("Pinball Wizard (Reprise)").
  • Scene Eighteen
Uncle Ernie tries to capitalise on Tommy's newfound stardom, by selling Tommy souvenirs in a carnival-like setting ("Tommy's Holiday Camp").
  • Scene Nineteen
On the night of the grand opening party for Tommy's holiday camp, teenager Sally Simpson manages to sneak out of her parents' home to attend Tommy's appearance. She gets on stage and tries to touch Tommy but in the commotion he unknowingly pushes her off the stage, she falls and is pummelled by the guards ("Sally Simpson"). Tommy, in horror, stops the show and tends to her.
  • Scene Twenty
Realising how caught up in the celebrity machine he is due to the remarkable recovery of his senses, Tommy wishes to do something in return for his fans and invites them all back to his house ("Welcome"). Once there, the fans grow and grow in size, though Tommy wishes to make room for one and all. Sally then asks Tommy how she can be more like him and less like herself ("Sally Simpson's Question"). He is confused, and insists that there is no reason for anyone to be like him, when everyone else already possesses the gifts that he was deprived of most of his life. He suddenly realises that although he had thought his fame came from his miraculous recovery, it in fact arose because others hoped he would assume the role of a kind of spiritual leader, based on his knowledge of what it is like not to hear, see, or communicate for so long. Now, disenchanted with their hero for failing to provide the answers they wanted to be told, the crowd turns on him and leaves ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy hears the voice of his ten-year-old self ("See Me, Feel Me") and for a moment, to the horror of his family, seems to be reverting to his old state. But instead he turns to his family, whom he has ignored during his stardom, embraces them in acceptance, and reunites with his younger selves ("Listening to You"). The entire ensemble joins him and his family on stage. After they all leave, the 4 year old Tommy, 10 year old Tommy, and adult Tommy dramatically end looking out in different directions

Songs[]

Act I[]

  • Overture
  • Captain Walker
  • It's a Boy
  • We've won!
  • 21
  • What About the Boy
  • Amazing Journey
  • Sparks
  • Amazing Journey (Reprise)
  • Christmas
  • See Me, Feel Me
  • Do you think It's Alright?
  • Fiddle About
  • See Me, Feel Me (Reprise)
  • Cousin Kevin
  • Sensation
  • Sparks (Reprise)
  • Eyesight to the Blind
  • The Acid Queen
  • Pinball Wizard

Act II[]

  • Underture (Entr'ache)
  • There's a Doctor
  • Go to the Mirror!
  • Listening to You
  • Tommy, Can You Hear Me?
  • I Believe My Own Eyes
  • Smash the Mirror
  • I'm Free
  • Miracle Cure
  • Sensation (Repirse)
  • I'm Free (Repirse)/Pinball Wizard
  • Tommy's Holiday Camp
  • Sally Simpson
  • Welcome
  • Sally Simpson's Question
  • We're Not Gonna Take It
  • See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You (Reprise)

Gallery[]

Memorable Quotes[]

TBA

Background Information[]

Production Information[]

Domestic Premieres[]

  • TBA

International Premieres[]

  • TBA

Errors[]

Allusions[]

Cast[]

  • ???????? as Tommy (Age 16-25)
  • ???????? as Tommy-Age 4
  • ???????? as Tommy-Age 10
  • ???????? as Captain Walker (Age 25-35)
  • ???????? as Mrs. Walker (Age 18-30)
  • ???????? as Cousin Kevin (Age 15-20)
  • ???????? as Uncle Ernie (Age 30-45)
  • ???????? as The Lover (Age 25-30)
  • ???????? as The Hawker (Age 20-50)
  • ???????? as The Acid Queen (Age 20-35)
  • ???????? as The Specialist (Age 30-50)
  • ???????? as Sally Simpson (Age 13-20)

Awards[]

  • TBA

Related Articles[]

Shows[]

Musicals[]

Contact Information[]