5/10/2005
Tommy, Liverpool Empire
May 10 2005
By Laura Davis, Daily Post
PETE TOWNSHEND'S rock musical is a riot of sound, dance and pyrotechnics as the cast whirl themselves through costume and character changes quicker than the rhythm of the pounding music.
Tommy opens with a fast moving tableau of a young couple who fall in love and marry during the Second World War. Then, while the girl is pregnant with their son, her husband is declared missing, presumed killed in a parachute jump across enemy lines.
The boy is perfectly happy until his father returns home from war and gets into a brawl with her new fiance.
Witnessing his father shoot his love rival dead, the four-year-old Tommy finds himself apparently unable to hear, see or speak.
Despite the strong soundtrack and vigorous dance numbers, the first half of the show is sometimes disturbing to watch, particularly when the boy's dirty Uncle Ernie takes advantage of his disability to satisfy his own desires.
All the while he is teased and shoved by his bullying cousin Kevin and even taken to see a prostitute by his own father in an effort to shake him out of his supposed stupor. Tommy remains calm, practically inert and unable to react to his surroundings.
It is only when he begins to play on a pinball machine that he feels alive once more and is eventually able to face his demons.
Cue The Who's legendary rock track Pinball Wizard - the only song in the show that really makes you want to jump up off your seat - and a view of the rest of Tommy's life as he copes with adoration from obsessed fans and his family's shortcomings.
Jonathan Wilkes as Tommy lights up the stage, either when strutting like a peacock to Townshend's score or wishing Everton FC good luck in Europe when addressing the audience after the musical is over.
Landi Oshinowo gave a truly divaesque performance as Gypsy, the Acid Queen resplendent in leather, who claims she can cure Tommy in a single night.
Despite a flimsy storyline, the musical is one to remember. It'll be sure to get you singing Pinball Wizard in your sleep for at least a week.
By Laura Davis, Daily Post
PETE TOWNSHEND'S rock musical is a riot of sound, dance and pyrotechnics as the cast whirl themselves through costume and character changes quicker than the rhythm of the pounding music.
Tommy opens with a fast moving tableau of a young couple who fall in love and marry during the Second World War. Then, while the girl is pregnant with their son, her husband is declared missing, presumed killed in a parachute jump across enemy lines.
The boy is perfectly happy until his father returns home from war and gets into a brawl with her new fiance.
Witnessing his father shoot his love rival dead, the four-year-old Tommy finds himself apparently unable to hear, see or speak.
Despite the strong soundtrack and vigorous dance numbers, the first half of the show is sometimes disturbing to watch, particularly when the boy's dirty Uncle Ernie takes advantage of his disability to satisfy his own desires.
All the while he is teased and shoved by his bullying cousin Kevin and even taken to see a prostitute by his own father in an effort to shake him out of his supposed stupor. Tommy remains calm, practically inert and unable to react to his surroundings.
It is only when he begins to play on a pinball machine that he feels alive once more and is eventually able to face his demons.
Cue The Who's legendary rock track Pinball Wizard - the only song in the show that really makes you want to jump up off your seat - and a view of the rest of Tommy's life as he copes with adoration from obsessed fans and his family's shortcomings.
Jonathan Wilkes as Tommy lights up the stage, either when strutting like a peacock to Townshend's score or wishing Everton FC good luck in Europe when addressing the audience after the musical is over.
Landi Oshinowo gave a truly divaesque performance as Gypsy, the Acid Queen resplendent in leather, who claims she can cure Tommy in a single night.
Despite a flimsy storyline, the musical is one to remember. It'll be sure to get you singing Pinball Wizard in your sleep for at least a week.
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