Flicker House Productions announced today a one-week extension of their new production of The Who's Tommy. The production will now run through July 6, when it must close, at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood.
The cast includes Tony nominee
Alice Ripley, known for her New York roles in "
Next to Normal," "Side Show," "Sunset Boulevard," "Les Misérables" and the
Des McAnuff production of "The Who's Tommy," as Mrs. Walker;
Aleks Pevec as Tommy;
Jenna Leigh Green as Sally Simpson;
Tom Schmid as Captain Walker; and Hank Adams as Uncle Ernie.
The production introduces high definition 3-D Sound, presented by EXP3D, a new audio system that does for sound what 3-D and its lenses does for motion pictures. The sound will inhabit a fully dimensional space, inside and outside each guest's body.
The production is directed by Brian Purcell, who directed "Chess," the special event at the Ford Amphitheatre last summer. The musical director is
Dan Redfeld, the choreographer is Denise Leitner. The sound is designed by James Johnson, who created the EXP3D sound delivery system for this production.
With EXP3D, each guest will have headphones to wear, the equivalent of movie 3-D glasses for this production. Unlike conventional headphone experience, where the soundscape is a straight line between the wearer's ears, EXP3D sound gives the listener a fully dimensional room of sound with height, width, and depth.
Tommy director Brian Purcell says, "EXP3D is the best sound you'll ever see. It allows us to do Tommy in an entirely new way - and for the first time the audience will truly be inside Tommy's head as he experiences the events of the play.
Johnson takes the live sound, mix it for the 3-D soundscape, and then deliver it to each audience member through the headphones, which work in conjunction with sound delivered through speakers.
Purcell says, "While most of the sound will be heard in the headphones, we will also employ theatrical sound you really can feel, just like in state-of-the-art movie theatres, that can only be delivered through conventional speakers. The speakers will also carry all of the sound of the show, so that audience members who are headphone adverse have a complete experience." Headphone distribution is provided by MagicFire Inc.
As the movie was to the seventies, and the Broadway staging was to the nineties, Purcell and his collaborators have a new concept for the piece for this decade. Purcell said, "We envision a 'Tommy' that takes place inside of Tommy's own head to track his experience of his story. This gives us an entirely new canvas to present this work, which has meant so much to the three generations that have come up since the album's original release."
The production is directed by Brian Purcell, who directed "Chess," the special event at the Ford Amphitheatre last summer; which was among the most popular and highest grossing attractions in the Ford's history. The musical director is
Dan Redfeld and the choreographer is Denise Leitner. The scenery is by Brodie Alan Steele, the lighting is by Jared A. Sayeg, costumes by Vandy Scoates, and the fight director is John James Hickey.
The Who's Tommy is one of the most phenomenal works of the rock era. Originally released as a two-record set in 1969, and composed by
Pete Townshend, with songs contributed by Who bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon, it was the work that started a new genre - the rock opera. Since its first release, it has been continuously performed live, including the tremendously successful Broadway staging in 1993.
Tommy was inspired by and written to convey the experience and the enlightenment Townsend felt he received after being taught by Meher Baba, a Persian man born in India who became a spiritual master and teacher and anti-drug advocate.
It is a metaphorical story of different states of consciousness.
For ticket information and show times please visit
www.thewhostommy.com
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