THE WHO’S TOMMY Broadway Previews- Page 6

[BentleyB]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 9:14am

PipingHotPiccolo said: "quizking101 said: "I echo most of the sentiment of the previous post. I did find myself lost a few times because the minimalism doesn’t help keep the involved story on track sometimes.

Ali Bourgzi is currently my personal front runner for the Tony. The man has a set of pipes on him that could blow the roof off the Nederlander and had the charisma to match when he is portraying the thoughts of Tommy’s “locked in” self.

“Pinball Wizard” was a highlight for sure (and probably their Tony number), but also “I’m Free” gave Ali a chance to really show off his rock vocal range and “Smash That Mirror” gave Alison Luff the same opportunity. Bobby Conte also has a nice meaty supporting role and I could see him in an awards race too.

David Paul Kidder did a fantastic job as Captain Walker given his extremely limited rehearsal, but also AFRA HINES WAS FANTASTIC. She was giving something between Nicole Scherzinger and Tina Turner and, as I’ve told others, you never would have guessed that she had 2 hours of rehearsal. At the stage door, the entire line was screaming for both of them and David was tearing up.

Final Note: Ihave never, in seeing nearly 300 shows in my life - experienced a standing ovation before the finale number was over. That was an electric moment"

But did it feel earned? The show doesnt allow for many traditional applause moments, so maybe i misjudged, but it just felt messy and the audience felt mostly muted except for a few obvious Tommy-heads who were rocking along to a score they already knew. The standing ovation/burst of appreciation came out of left field for my group, we thought it was "planted" at first. And it came at such an odd time- the actors were still singing, in a pretty boringly staged moment?

Always glad others are enjoying what eludes me."

At curtain call my group (12 in all) sat in stunned silence and eventually decided it best to go with the flow and stand so they could get out of the theater easier than maneuvering out from a seated position.  They all stared at me as I sat clapping.  The show did not earn a standing ovation in my opinion and my friends know that I will not stand up for something that does not meet the standard.  There are too many given, not earned standing ovations now. And it is no longer special.  I also sat at “The Notebook.”

 

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 10:40am

Mitch101 said: "My friend and I used that forced standing ovation to make an easy and fast exit. This was such a disaster. If anyone can prove the “In the future” concept works I will eat my hat. The evening felt like a director had decided to fire his original collaborators to prove to the world the original success (and awe) was all because of him. What this revival proved is that is not the case. Bring back Bob Crowley!"

I wouldn't argue the "in the future" concept is based in any sort of realism, since the book still (inexplicably) starts in 1940. But it does fit the structure of Tommy as a parable. The "in the future" aspect is a warning-- of history repeating itself, of the cult of celebrity/organized religion. I still think the book should have been updated to start in 2000. That way, it really does mirror (no pun intended) celebrity in the internet age and the rise of the authoritarian celebrity.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 2:23pm

The company will perform from the show this Tuesday on Jimmy Fallon, and Pete Townshend will sit down for an interview as well. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 4:20pm

Even the 1940s update from the stage show and the movie was a revision; the original album and concert tour were set in the years between the two world wars. And it made even less sense that way!

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 4:52pm

BentleyB said:

At curtain call my group (12 in all) sat in stunned silence and eventually decided it best to go with the flow and stand so they could get out of the theater easier than maneuvering out from a seated position. They all stared at me as I sat clapping. The show did not earn a standing ovation in my opinion and my friends know that I will not stand up for something that does not meet the standard. There are too many given, not earned standing ovations now. And it is no longer special. I also sat at “The Notebook.”


Well aren't you precious...

 

 

 

[BentleyB]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 5:12pm

JSquared2 said: "BentleyB said:

At curtain call my group (12 in all) sat in stunned silence and eventually decided it best to go with the flow and stand so they could get out of the theater easier than maneuvering out from a seated position. They all stared at me as I sat clapping. The show did not earn a standing ovation in my opinion and my friends know that I will not stand up for something that does not meet the standard. There are too many given, not earned standing ovations now. And it is no longer special. I also sat at “The Notebook.”


Well aren't you precious...

Thanks honey and bless your heart. 



"

 

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 6:56pm

BentleyB said: "At curtain call my group (12 in all) sat in stunned silence and eventually decided it best to go with the flow and stand so they could get out of the theater easier than maneuvering out from a seated position. They all stared at me as I sat clapping. The show did not earn a standing ovation in my opinion and my friends know that I will not stand up for something that does not meet the standard. There are too many given, not earned standing ovations now. And it is no longer special. I also sat at “The Notebook.”

My understanding is pre-WW2, standing ovations on Broadway didn't even exist. So the idea standing ovations used to have this one meaning and it's changed is true, but giving standing ovations for great performances wasn't the starting off point either.

How audiences respond to performances continues to evolve, and right now being the only person not to give a standing ovation (if there's not a physical reason you can't), is going to come off a little rude and hostile. Whatever your original intent. 

Plus, even if you want to reserve standing ovations for things you love, at this point there's no way for the performers to know that's why you stood up.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 3/22/24 at 7:01pm

just wanna clarify re my comments about the standing ovation-- setting aside whether they are generally earned or overused, my point was not surprise that the show got a standing O, it was that it happened long before they were done singing that final song. it was a very strange but spontaneous burst of excitement by an audience that i thought was not all that into the show (i was clearly wrong!). 

at the Notebook, there was *also* a spontaneous, excited, before-the-show-was-over standing ovation, but (i) there was a natural prompt for it (might be a spoiler, but theres a set change that happens towards the end) and (ii) the audience had been audibly weeping and enraptured the whole time, so it wasnt surprising when everyone rose around me. 

didnt mean to open a debate about standing ovations in general----the hard work by the Tommy ensemble and the fine performances certainly earned the usual amount of audience praise as much as any other show, i just was surprised at the timing/passion of it. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 3/23/24 at 2:46pm

I certainly don't think every show deserves a standing ovation but I usually do stand because I want to see the curtain call.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/23/24 at 2:49pm

Mr. Wormwood said: "I certainly don't think every show deserves a standing ovation but I usually do stand because I want to see the curtain call."

Spot-on. Also, you’ve got to appreciate the hard-working company, regardless of a show’s quality. 

[smidge]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 1:04am

The way Listening to You is staged, I feel like some people are thinking it’s the curtain call. So they start standing and other people go along with it so they can see.

[lopside]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 11:24am

With ‘Tommy’ Revival, Pete Townshend Is Talking to a New Generation https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/theater/pete-townshend-tommy-broadway.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=565c9de6-38ca-43d4-a7af-04eb4f68da69

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 11:44am

Please make links clickable. If not, please don’t bother next time. Understood?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/theater/pete-townshend-tommy-broadway.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=565c9de6-38ca-43d4-a7af-04eb4f68da69

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 11:51am

If i knew how to share an unclickable link, i'd share ten of them right now. 

[blasvader]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 11:56am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Please make links clickable. If not, please don’t bother next time. Understood?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/theater/pete-townshend-tommy-broadway.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=565c9de6-38ca-43d4-a7af-04eb4f68da69"

This board is never beating the allegations for condescending posts and toxicity.  I don't know if it's worth subjecting oneself to it just for the three people who are genuinely engaged and and are worth reading.

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 1:15pm

smidge said: "The way Listening to You is staged, I feel like some people are thinking it’s the curtain call. So they start standing and other people go along with it so they can see."

And when they realize it's NOT the end, they start sitting back down thereby missing the final stage picture which is quite beautiful and moving.

 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 5:47pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Please make links clickable. If not, please don’t bother next time. Understood?"

It's not difficult to copy and paste a link. Well, for me, anyhow.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 6:01pm

"It's not difficult to copy and paste a link. Well, for me, anyhow."

Me either - ha ha,

[pair-o-dice]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 7:06pm

Understood?  HAHAHA - or what?!?  Do you not understand tone??? Or are you intentionally acting like a condescending know-it-all?  

This is a community, and guess what, not everyone on here is computer savvy.  Do you know how many times my mother calls me with a computer question that is so simple?  Not everyone spends all day on message boards and knows the ins and outs of it...understood?

And next time, if someone's post REALLY bothers you why don't you DM them and say "hey, your post sounded interesting but the link didn't work.  They can be a little tricky, here's how you make them work".  If something is GENUINELY a problem for you - DON'T BE A JERK (for no reason at all) BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. 

Sorry, just every time I come on here, it seems every interesting thread I'm following has one person who finds a way to make it spiral into a reminder of how rude people can be sometimes. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 7:15pm

For the unaware, and the just plain mean, when you click Reply, the site initially brings up a box that looks like this: 



As you can see, this box doesn't have the options for Bold/Italics/bullet points/etc. at the top. This is a plain text box, so any link posted in it will be published as text rather than be converted to a link. 

After a few seconds, the site is supposed to convert this text reply field into one that turns everything into HTML, with all the little options at the top. Any link posted in this box is automatically converted into a clickable link.



Therefore, if a nonclickable link was posted, that means that the site didn't convert over to the web formatting box before the poster pasted the link. This does happen every so often. When I'm posting reviews on opening nights I frequently have to wait for the right box to appear, and occasionally have to refresh the page entirely, or go back a page and hit Reply again. This is actually what I had to do just now in order to get these screenshots. After well over 30 seconds the box still hadn't converted, so I had to page back and hit Reply again.  

That is not the fault of the poster, especially if they don't know they need to wait for the correct reply box to appear. I have to believe that no one deliberately posts an unclickable link. That would require them reverting the converted link back to plain text in the HTML box, which is absurd. Being a jerk on the other hand is usually quite deliberate.

Understood?

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 3/24/24 at 10:59pm

i think we are reading you loud and clear, bud, no worries. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/26/24 at 10:36pm

…anywho. I went again tonight as a guest of a press night attendee.

I stand by my original review for the most part.

The only differences were that Adam Jacobs and Christina Sajous were in the show tonight. Jacobs was vocally fantastic and definitely had good chemistry with Luff and command of his role. 

However, Christine Sajous…yikes. I never expected someone who has done rock musicals before to be so middling. She seemed out of it and not by character choice. Honestly, I’m glad I saw Afra

[suzycat]

Posted: 3/27/24 at 3:43pm

Fallon:

https://youtu.be/Mjv_dftuPqY?si=HKS8jj1rwgicAn6E

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 3/27/24 at 4:18pm

"Fallon: https://youtu.be/Mjv_dftuPqY?si=HKS8jj1rwgicAn6E"

The best thing about that clip was a 78-year-old Pete Townsend playing guitar. I was totally underwhelmed with the lead vocal which is sad because I loved this show when it opened many years ago.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 3/27/24 at 4:40pm

Absolutely LOVED this production and I hope I can find an affordable ticket for a return trip. It was so refreshing to have something like this on Broadway. It seems like some of the negative reviews on the board might have enjoyed it more if you understand that this is NOT a typical musical. It's not a standard book musical and it does not have linear storytelling. If you understand that going in and accept the wild ride, it's mighty enjoyable. 

Ali has an incredible voice and presence. He will definitely get a Tony nomination. Not sure if the supporting players have enough material to get nominated, everyone gets their moment, but otherwise not much else to do. 

Pinball Wizard is incredibly staged. Part of me wishes there was a pinball machine set piece, but I get that they were keeping it in line with the representational/abstract set design. That design worked brilliantly to pull you into the weird world it sets up, so I suppose I wouldn't want to break the formula for one scene.

The acid queen sequence is the only let down as it really is staged quite poorly. Which was a shock because I found every other moment to be staged with such specificity and with a thrilling build in intensity. But the acid queen moment feels like they hadn't solidified it yet. Was just lacking overall direction.

Oh and the SOUND. Gareth should win another Tony for this. You feel it in your body without it being too overpowering and the whole theater is just thundering along. The sound design really is just as big a star in this show as the music imo.

Enjoyed this immensely and cant wait to go again. Incredible night out.