As he entered a suite at the Carlyle hotel in Manhattan, Pete Townshend mentioned that an afternoon meeting had been canceled. “So,” he added, “we have lots of time to talk.”
Townshend is one of rock’s great singers, songwriters, and guitarists, and he’s also among music’s pre-eminent talkers. Since the Who first took the stage 60 years ago, he has considered interviews to be an adjunct to his music, a parallel way for him to clarify or interrogate the ideas he pours into songs.
In 1969, the Who released “Tommy,” a rock opera written mostly by Townshend, although the bassist John Entwistle contributed the songs “Cousin Kevin” and “Fiddle About,” and the drummer Keith Moon suggested the premise of “Tommy’s Holiday Camp.” Townshend expected the double album to fade quickly, in the way of most records. Instead, it took root in pop culture, and in short succession was adapted by a ballet group in Montreal, the Seattle Opera, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Then, most memorably, it was a delirious 1975 film directed by Ken Russell.
The “Tommy” hoopla had faded before it was adapted for Broadway in 1993, with a book by Townshend and the show’s director, Des McAnuff. In a review in The New York Times, Frank Rich called it “stunning” and “the authentic rock musical that has eluded Broadway for two generations.” It ran for two years and garnered Tony Awards for McAnuff’s direction and Townshend’s score.
Last year, the pair revived “Tommy” in a reimagined version at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, where it drew candescent reviews, and on March 28, it opens at the Nederlander Theater, with Ali Louis Bourzgui making his Broadway debut in the title role.
Townshend’s plot revolves around Tommy Walker, who witnesses a murder when he is 4 and, in response to the trauma, turns into the “deaf, dumb and blind kid” described in the show’s most famous song, “Pinball Wizard.” Sexual abuse, narcissism, cults, and celebrity are contemplated — all topics that connect the show to today. If anything, it’s more pertinent now than it was in 1969.
