E! On Broadway - the Who's Tommy page 2

E! On Broadway -The Who's Tommy
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Des McAnuff (director):
The goal in Tommy from the beginning
was finding a way to tell the story without
messing with the original score too much.
And not adding a lot of spoken dialogue
in order to advance the story.

E!:
What sets Tommy apart from other musicals is
the way that high tech staging and non-stop
choreography is intergrated into the storyline.

Wayne Cilento (choreographer):
It was definitely incorporated within the
movement so the set design I would say
dances also. We're very new generation.
There is a young crew back there and they're
really into this. And the company just works hard.
Everyone's unique and different - Everyone's individual.
We didn't want when we were casting it we
didn't want dancers who looked like dancers.
We wanted everyone to be special within themself.
I just feel like everyone is a principal in the show.

Jonathan Dokuchitz (Captain Walker):
It's not your ordinary music.
It like I'm standing offstage saying
"oh my gosh I'm singing a Who song" you know?
Which is great. It makes it really ..
when that downbeat hits -
no matter what your energy is-
no matter how you're feeling about anything else during the day- you're like charged and ready to go.

E!
So much time is spent in the wig room
that it has become the social hotspot backstage.

The cast sings "Happy Birthday" to
Jonathan.

Jonathan takes a really deep breath..

Then very cooly extinguishes the
candle with his fingers.

E!
It has been said that Tommy has helped
revitalize Broadway by filling seats with young people.

Scott:
I would say that fifty percent of our audience
has never been to a Broadway show before.
And in the previews as it was said earlier it was
like 75% had never been to a Broadway show.
They were asking our telecharge operators
how to get to the theatre and how they should dress.

Pete:
It's about integrating audiences.
It's not about educating either audience.
I think that people who don't yet go to Broadway will go
- I'm sure they'll have a great time.
The people that are used to Broadway -
that think well I'll try Tommy - I think they're going to love it.

Des:
I think that the Broadway theatre has to awaken
to the fact that it's gradually losing touch with
younger people. And Tommy's an antedote for
that and is hopefully part of some long time solution.
Some people in the Broadway theatre maybe slightly
threatened by that because it's not the genre
that they are used to working at.

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