I saw a local theater production of this last night. The music was played by a group of five musicians and sung by a company of 12 people.
There was almost no staging or choreography. The people came on stage and sang, and when anyone danced, it looked like what a person would do standing in his living room and dancing to a recorded song.
So, basically, it was a concert version.
I know that Tommy has been produced on stage by the Seattle Opera Company in 1971 and on Broadway in 1991. Does anyone know if either of these productions had sets and costumes and choreography and such, or were they basically just concerts (albeit with a larger cast) as well?
I can’t speak to the 1971 version, but I saw the 91 version and it was fully staged with costumes and everything. It was fairly elaborate and made a pretty big impression on my 10 year old brain. One of the three performances that I went to that pushed me into pursuing a career in theater. That said, I am not sure it was actually good.
I saw the national tour version of the Broadway show, and I also remember seeing some sort of TV special about the actual Broadway production. Both had dancing, sets, costumes, etc. I just checked YouTube and there are some bootleg videos of the Broadway production out there if you’re curious to see it, although the sound and picture quality is quite bad.
ETA: Wikipedia tells me that Tommy actually won Tony awards for choreography, scenic design, and lighting design, and was nominated for costume design.
I’ve seen several versions the stage production, including the original in La Jolla. (Didn’t see the Broadway version, but I do have the t-shirt ) They have all been a little different depending on the budget and ambition of the acting company. The “lightest” version I’ve seen didn’t have much more than a pinball machine as the main set piece. At the other end of the spectrum, the version put on by the Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose featured full-blown stage and lighting effects, and they had a kick-ass band to boot.
I remember a concert version being done decades ago - I can’t remember if it was before or after the movie was released. IIRC, it consisted of the songs from the album being sung, and between songs, the “cast members” would talk about the characters.
) They have all been a little different depending on the budget and ambition of the acting company. The “lightest” version I’ve seen didn’t have much more than a pinball machine as the main set piece. At the other end of the spectrum, the version put on by the Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose featured full-blown stage and lighting effects, and they had a kick-ass band to boot.