Tommy ... Can You Hear Me?

I don’t think I took a breath for a full five minutes as I watched the first scene of The Gallery Player’s production of The Who’s Tommy (original book, music and lyrics by Pete Townshend). I’m not kidding, I literally sat there, stunned … amazed really, at what I was seeing, hearing … feeling. Between the orchestra booming out the amazing score, the lighting (designed by Chris Walsh) which convincingly transformed  Michael Kramer’s set into a hatch through which men parachuted down to uncertainty, and the wonderful projection screens that held images of war, destruction, and carnage … well it was all I could do to blink. No doubt about it, Tommy starts with the velocity of a pinball released from the chute … and is the definition of breathtaking.

Thankfully, after an opening that large, the musical soon gently lands you back down in your seat where you’re able to breathe again, and take in the surroundings. For those who don’t know the story, it’s easy enough for me to quote one of Tommy’s most famous songs … That deaf, dumb, blind kid sure plays a mean pinball. But of course … there’s more.

I came to The Who by way of pop-culture – I didn’t grow up with older siblings and I wasn’t much of a classic rock fan in my youth – quite frankly I knew that Who Are You was the theme song for CSI and that it was the group’s signature song, but I had no idea that the other 2 CSI franchises’ theme songs Won’t Get Fooled Again (Miami) and Baba O’Reilly  (New York) were also The Who. Just so you know where I’m starting from here.

So I wasn’t exactly going into Tommy ready to hum every song. That’s probably a good thing, because it meant I was able to experience each song fresh, and in the context of this production (directed by Tom Wojtunik) rather than do that “aha!” thing that, let’s be honest, everyone did the minute the first few notes of Pinball Wizard sounded.

The story of Tommy is a lot more layered, complicated, and complex than Pinball Wizard led me to believe. When we first see Tommy he’s a tiny boy of four, and Anthony Pierini couldn’t be more adorable … or more convincing. I was astonished at how he was able to hold his own on this stage full of seasoned adults, and just stare, catatonically, as people moved and crashed about him and constantly pulled, pushed, and carried him off to another dizzying adventure. Tommy, doesn’t start out dissociated. He starts out as a darling little boy who unfortunately sees some awful things and is desperately told by his mother “Mrs. Walker” (Anna Lise Jensen) and his father, Captain Walker (Tommy Foster) You didn’t hear it / You didn’t see it / You won’t say nothing to no-one / ever in your life / You never heard it / Oh, how absurd it/ All seems without any proof / … Never tell a soul / What you know is the Truth. And with that  … POOF … little Tommy is gone. Just a shell, and a sad little shell at that.

The spirit of Adult Tommy (Brett Travis) [acting as 'Narrator' till Act II] pops in and out, weaving through the people like a ghost and plaintively begging his parents to “See Me, Feel Me”. His baffled parents don’t actually know what to do, they lead Tommy from one doctor to another for years, (so many years that he’s now played by an older Daniel Henri Luttway) and they begin to carelessly forget that he’s actually a person locked up in there as they leave him alone with wicked Uncle Ernie (Nathan Brisby) and cruel Cousin Kevin (David Perlman). Again, to watch young Daniel Henri Luttway be tossed about is even more unnerving, especially during song like “Fiddle About” and “Gypsy Queen”. Both scenes involve far too much sexuality than one little boy should be able to handle; it’s not quite clear what either Uncle Ernie or the Gypsy Queen (Marcie Henderson who doesn’t hold back and comes across as a cross between salvation and sin) do to this boy, but whatever it is, it’s just not right.  And it certainly isn’t doing anything to break him of his dream-like state.

It’s only when Tommy gets put in front of a pinball machine that he … well, we’ve all heard the song. He’s got crazy flipper fingers … he plays by sense of smell, or so it seems. This phenomenal skill leads him to become a cult figure, followed around by street thug and teeny bopper alike. But of course it doesn’t phase him a bit, he’s as removed and catatonic as ever. When Anna Lise Jensen sings “Smash The Mirror” it’s absolutely heartbreaking, you can feel the anguish of a mother who’s tried to love a son who, for years, never gave so much as a nod in her direction. Of course, when she smashes the mirror she breaks the spell … Tommy is free. But is he really? Somehow, seeing all he has to live up to now, how much he has to give back to this seething crowd that always wants more, MORE, MORE! puts him in more of a box than his frozen mind ever did.

Ultimately, Tommy is a tale about redemption, about finding yourself, about making that connection and yes … it’s about Pinball.

Catch this show while it’s still here: Tommy runs until May 24th at The Gallery Players (199 14th Street Brooklyn, NY – New York 11215 btwn. 4th & 5th Avenues) 

For more ticket information click here.

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William Inge’s classic Bus Stop was written in the mid-fifties and at The Gallery Players’ production everything right down to set designer Edward Morris’ bread box and costume designer Meredith Neal’s use of horn-rimmed glasses reflect that awww-shucks time period.  But even if director Heather Siobhan Curran had decided to take a little creative license and move the whole thing up to 2009, the plot wouldn’t allow it … for one very simple reason.  In the middle of the night when a bus must pull into a roadside diner due to bad weather, instead of people sitting off to the side, watching Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on hulu.com, checking their emailing from their Android, updating their FaceBook profiles, Twittering about how boring it is to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, or even just (yawn) listening to their iPod, they actually talk to each other.  Sooooooo last century.

The last time I had all the time in the world to tell my life story in a no-distractions-allowed environment was when I was on a jury back in 1992; after 3 weeks I knew all about how Con Edison worked, the entire contents of a bachelor’s refrigerator, heard Vietnam War stories from a vet, and discussed the Torah with a rabbinical student. These were fascinating stories; but they came out slowly and over the course of weeks. The characters of Bus Stop just have the one night …

Front and center in this story are Grace (Annie Paul) and Elma (Rebecca Dealy), two waitresses pulling the night shift at the diner.  Grace is in her 40s and has been married a while; she’s wise in a way you become when the whole world passes in front of you one bus at a time, stopping in for a bit on the way to “somewhere else”.  Elma, on the other hand, is just a kid … so Grace gets to know more around her, gets to be the one who’s seen it all and done it all, gets to be the sage one with the world weary advice and the experience.  But in one night, Elma’s about to learn that there is a whole other world out there, things her 17 year old self didn’t know existed, and things her great friend Grace wasn’t so aware of either.  When the sheriff, Will (Brad Thomason) stops by to tell them that the roads are closed and they’re about to get a bus-load of visitors both Grace and Elma get excited for different reasons.

Grace, it seems, has a little flirtation going on with Carl, the Bus Driver (Justin Herfel). And of course Elma’s just grateful for the extra company.  And what company it turns out to be — a seemingly distinguished “Dr.” Lyman (John Blaylock) who immediately takes a shine to the young waitress and woos her with poetry, charm and alcohol fueled bravado.  Also swept into the little diner is 19 year old Cherie (Alisha Spielmann) a self-proclaimed chanteuse who is being abducted by an amorous and insistent young cowboy, Bo (Brad Lewandowski),  who means to take her to his ranch in Montana and make her his wife.  He is accompanied by his fellow cowboy, Virgil (Shawn Parsons).

Throughout the night everyone starts parceling out little pieces of themselves, some just to pass the time, some to persuade, some to detract, some to see how far they can get.  Sometimes there’s an ulterior motive, sometimes there’s no motive at all, and some times things just slip out by accident.  What starts to happen is we see that everyone isn’t as different as they seemed originally; at first Elma and Cherie seemed worlds apart but on closer inspection they’re only 2 years different in age, and throughout the night they’re both being pursued aggressively.  While Bo may be brutish in his approach, throwing Cherie over his shoulder at times and stumbling through his words, Dr. Lyman is no less aggressive as he tries to convince Elma to meet him in Topeka for a symphony.  His words may be smooth, his manner may be suave, but underneath he’s exactly the same as Bo, and even a bit worse.  One man runs after his woman like a crashing cymbal, the other quietly loops around her like a fluttering harp, but in the end they both expect these women to be taken for a song.

One of the most charming parts of the play comes mid-way when, after Grace and Carl have both seemingly disappeared on different errands (but have met up in Grace’s apartment over the diner), Elma decides to pass the time (and break the tension) by having everyone perform in a Judy Garland/Mikey Rooney “Hey! Let’s put on a floor show!” type of way.  Her enthusiasm is delightful and her desire to bring everyone’s talent to the table is done with joy and sincerity.  Under Ms. Curran’s direction what easily could have been hokey and meandering turned the energy up a notched and drew the audience closer to these characters.

Still, little floor show or not, all those hours spent in close quarters with nothing to do but examine your own life and your relationship to others can drive you a little crazy, and eventually everyone has their breakdown.  But this is, after all 1955, and their individual breakdowns lead to breakthroughs; this is an old fashioned story with an old fashioned set up, arch and resolution … by the time the bus can get moving again everyone’s made up their minds about whatever it was that was bothering them at the start and everyone somehow gets themselves resolved to the right path.

This great play will be running for a few more performances and no matter which one you catch, you’re welcome to join Michael Pressman, director of the recent Broadway revival of Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba, who will be participating in a panel discussion at the end of the final show.  Do yourself a favor, pull off to the side of the road and take a break at this Bus Stop.

Remaining Performance Schedule

Thu. March 26th 8 pm, Fri. March 27th 8 pm, Sat. March 28th 2 pm – matinee, Sat. March 28th 8 pm, Sun. March 29th 3 pm – matinee/panel discussion following

Click here for tickets

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