The Who's `Tommy' Opened Here In 1971

It's a little-known fact that the first theatrical production of the Who's "Tommy" was staged here by Seattle Opera in 1971. The ambitious multimedia show starred Bette Midler and Steve Curry and played the Moore Theatre for two and a half weeks.

Pete Townshend never mentions it, and few, if any, books on the Who acknowledge it even existed. In all the recent hoopla surrounding the current production of "The Who's Tommy," the historic Seattle production has been ignored.

That's too bad because it was a memorable show. Midler was then largely unknown, so her over-the-top vocal delivery and bawdy sensuality caused quite a sensation. Wayne Johnson, then The Seattle Times' theater critic, called her "unnecessarily coarse and stagey," but those of us of "the young generation" were bowled over.

She played the Acid Queen with show-stopping ferocity. The intensely physical performance of that song, with Midler and Curry careening all over the stage amid flashing visuals, captured a bad acid trip.

Midler also played Tommy's mother, emphasizing the character's villainy. She was nearly nude in a couple of scenes - when Tommy sees her in bed with her lover and in the dance that accompanied the song "The Hawker." Midler never again revealed as much as she did in "Tommy."

Curry, who was in the original Broadway production of "Hair," was impressive in the title role. He had a good singing voice and was an excellent actor and dancer. He also had nude scenes; in fact, most of the 17-member cast was nude for the finale.

Like today's "The Who's Tommy," the production altered some of the songs and changed their order for dramatic purposes, rather than exactly follow The Who's recording. The show made imaginative use of film and slides to fill in some of the gaps in the story. The images were projected onto several scrims, and back-projected onto a screen at the rear of the stage, lending the visuals something of a 3-D effect. It would probably look primitive today, but then it was mind-blowing.

The music for the Seattle production was by a rock band called Cannon Ball under the direction of Norm Durkee, still a figure on the local music scene.

If the production had been a bust, or the leads unknown, the way it has been overlooked would be understandable. But it was a near-great "Tommy" and deserves to be remembered.

Townshend, who gave his approval to Seattle Opera for the production, ignored it from the beginning. When the band played here later that same year in the Coliseum, he made no mention of it, even though the show ended with a medley from "Tommy."

The Seattle Opera's "Tommy" was especially significant because it was the only full theatrical production of the rock opera prior to "The Who's Tommy," except for a brief run of an unsuccessful production at the Queen's Theatre in London in 1975.

The most famous "Tommy" is, of course, Ken Russell's outrageous 1975 film version, with Ann-Margaret, Elton John, Jack Nicholson, Eric Clapton, Oliver Reed, and Tina Turner as the Acid Queen.

There have been many recorded versions of "Tommy," including symphonic interpretations and all-star productions. The most recent, recorded at two charity performances in Los Angeles in 1989, featured Elton John, Billy Idol, Phil Collins, Steve Winwood, Patti LaBelle and the Who. It was the subject of a two-hour broadcast on the Fox network.