Quick! Shout out your favorite rock opera!
Did you just shout “Tommy” and cause the guy at the cubicle next to you or cafe table to look at you quizzically? Well, that’s what you should have shouted. If you said “Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell” — well, we feel sorry for you.
Anyway, fans of The Who’s Tommy can rejoice because the 2nd Street Theater has announced that it will be bringing the 1969 classic to life on stage in Bend. Co-directed by the theater’s Maralyn Thoma and Sandy Klein, the show is set to open on January 13 and run through January 28. This is the first in-house production for the 2nd Street since it folded the production side of the theater in 2010.
“It’s an ambitious project and it is all my fault,” Klein joked, “I wanted a show that I’d enjoy as much as Evil Dead.”
The production was also natural fit, considering Thoma actually appeared in a 1970 production of Tommy in Los Angeles, thus is certainly familiar with the material.
You can get an early look at this production on Friday, December 16 (8pm, $10) at a special Sneak Preview Concert at the 2nd Street that will feature a set from the Tommy band and other performances.
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2011.
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Thanks for the plug Mike. The band rocks.
There’s a band? Excellent! I heard that 2nd Street Theater was going to put on “Tommy,” and asked one of the directors (forget who, my bad) whether there would be a band. She wasn’t sure the theater could afford a band. “There’s gotta be a band — you can’t karaoke `Tommy,'” I insisted. The town is filled with excellent musicians and the music is a hoot to play. I’m pleased that the company is going live, not canned. Mrs Elliott and I will be there!