Opera rocks out in wild, sensory "Tommy" update

The grouping of words "rock opera" seems a contradiction.

But if opera is spectacle, if opera is dramatic storytelling, then "The Who's Tommy" fits right in. Just as in traditional opera, nearly all of the dialog is sung in this musical, which Village Theatre will present starting Friday at the Everett Performing Arts Center.

"It's by far the most electrifying and colorful show that I have ever done," said Michael K. Lee, who plays Tommy.

"It's sensory overload," Lee added. "There's video and still projections, and the colors are very vibrant. These are all seen through the mind's eye of a teenager of today."

Director Brian Yorkey said the show rivals any of the theater's past productions, including "Evita," "Cats" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," for sheer complexity.

Three oversized pinball machines light up, smoke and even explode. A projection screen spans the height of the stage. There are strobe effects and dozens of moving lights. Two turntables embedded in the stage operate independently. A cast of about 25 singers and dancers performs more than 30 songs and reprises, with a rock 'n' roll band in the pit, each musician individually wired into the sound board.

The show has been restaged around a modern-day youth who discovers the rock opera "Tommy" through some old records in his parents' basement. He figures out how to work the turntable, turns on the record and "Tommy" unfolds in front of the audience, with the 15-year-old putting himself in the center of the story.

"It's vivid, and it's punk rock and heavy metal and crosses all sorts of eras, because a kid today brings all kinds of images to whatever he imagines," Yorkey said.

"With 'Tommy,' we said, 'Let's help a new generation appreciate this music.' We knew baby boomers who loved it already will come along for the ride."

Composed by Pete Townshend, "Tommy" is a strange fable of a young man traumatized in his youth into a psychological state of being deaf, mute and blind. The Who recorded the concept album in 1969. It led to a film starring Roger Daltrey in 1975 and eventually, with Des McAnuff, became a Tony-award-winning Broadway musical in 1993.

British youth Tommy Walker (Michael K. Lee) finds his father (Brandon O'Neill) has come back from a World War II POW camp to discover Mrs. Walker (Catherine Carpenter Cox) has taken a lover. Tommy witnesses a fatal altercation between his dad and his mother's lover, and the two guilty parents whisper to the boy that if anybody asks him, "He saw nothing, he heard nothing, and nothing ever happened," said Lee.

They invalidate what he saw and turn him into a senseless, emotionless person at the whim and mercy of various bullies and strange people: sadistic Cousin Kevin (Jadd Davis), scary Uncle Ernie (Matt Wolfe), and the Gypsy/Acid Queen (Lisa Estridge).

Timothy McCuen Piggee plays a doctor in the story, and "Miracle Cure" is sung as Tommy comes back to life, when his sight, hearing and feelings return. With his newfound prowess at pinball ("Pinball Wizard"), he's a national sensation in England.

Now Kevin the sadist is his bodyguard, Ernie the molester is selling Tommy T-shirts, and grotesque fans and camp followers attach themselves to him. It's a story about not only surviving trauma but also about fame and its distortions. "I'm Free" establishes Tommy as a cult figure.

Though it's darker and edgier than what Village Theatre usually does, Yorkey says the show contains themes Village has taken on before.

"This is about a kid who faces trauma and who struggles to overcome it," Yorkey says. "He takes his rage out into the world, but he comes home and reconciles with the people and embraces his family and understands the most important connections we make are with the people we love."

The show has been playing to standing ovations (and a handful of walkouts for the mature themes) since May 9 in Issaquah. The creative team, including choreographer Kathryn Van Meter, music director Tim Symons, set and light designer Alex Berry and director Yorkey, have been involved with the weeklong transfer of the show to Everett, where it will play the next three weeks. Yorkey says as a result of all those prior performances, "Everett audiences will be getting the best version of the show."

With the insight of many weeks in the role, Lee says the overall message of "Tommy" is "embracing everything about your life, as that's what it's going to take to be who you are.

"So many times, awful things happen in our life we wish we could forget," Lee said. "But those are the things that shape our character and who we become. In order to feel, hear and see everything we can, you can't limit [experiences] to one part of your life. It's about all of your life: good, bad, happy, sad, painful and joyful. And then you become the person you're meant to be."

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com