Des McAnuff, who directed and co-conceived The Who’s Tommy when it first rocked Broadway 30 years ago, has reimagined Pete Townshend’s rock musical as more timeless fable about a boy whose battle with early trauma leads to some very specialized fame. McAnuff treats the Nederlander Theatre like a gamer’s ideal screen, with floating windows and moving setpieces and stylized projections that mimic the sensory overload of immersive VR games. Newcomer Ali Louis Bourzgui stuns as young Tommy, at first a wounded and dazed bystander who gradually comes into his rockstar persona. With his soaring falsetto, he more than owns the spotlight.
You can read my full review in the June/July issue of Musicals magazine.
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