'Tommy' rocks Theatre Cambrian

In May of 1969, the British rock band The Who released their fourth studio album, Tommy. In just a few short years, this album was the start of a new genre, changing the face of theatre and music alike.

Since its release, the original album has sold 20 million copies and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The album tells the story of a young boy named Tommy Walker, who becomes deprived of his sight, speech and hearing after witnessing a traumatic event as a young boy. After years of constant bullying and abuse from his family and peers, it is discovered that he has an uncanny talent for the game pinball. After his mother breaks through his catatonia, he is healed and viewed as a living miracle by people who later become disciples in his religious cult.

Tommy was nearly completely composed by the band's guitarist, Pete Townshend, who dedicated the album to Meher Baba.

Baba was an Indian spiritual master who claimed to be the Avatar of God in human form. The guitarist was so fascinated with Baba’s devotion to compassion, love and introspection, that he saw the Indian as a muse when writing lyrics for Tommy.

This double feature album was highly acclaimed by music critics when it was released, and is often referred to as The Who’s breakthrough album. In 1970, Tommy made it onto the Billboard top 200 list, coming in No. 4.

In 2003, Tommy was included in Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time, coming in at number 96. The album was also ranked number 90 on VH1's 100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll and appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Perhaps most notably, in 1998 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value. And in 2005-2006 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even ran an exhibit on Tommy called "Tommy: The Amazing Journey.”

Tommy was the very first musical art form to be billed overtly as a rock opera. However, unlike modern rock operas, the production was not accompanied by an entire theatrical show. Tommy was simply a concert where The Who performed all the songs from their album.

The Seattle Opera was the first to present a fully staged production of Tommy in their Moore Theatre. This production debuted in 1971 and was directed by Richard Pearlman. In 1972 Tommy hit the stage in London, this time in an orchestral format. This production was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and were joined by The Who as well as a star studded cast of performers.

This version traveled to Australia where it continued to present two more shows. In 1991, Townshend broke his wrist and was unable to play guitar. To fill his time, he, along with director Des McAnuff, wrote the Broadway musical version of Tommy that ran from 1993 to 1995.

The musical was an immediate success that lead McAnuff and the choreographer to win Tony Awards. In 2013, McAnuff revisited Tommy during the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Now, nearly 50 years after its original album release, Theatre Cambrian presents the rock opera Tommy for the second time in company history.

This production will be presented by local artists throughout February until the 28th. More details about this show and any other production can be found at the Theatre Cambrian website, theatrecambrian.ca.