SHOW INFORMATION: Through August 3. Fri – Sat at 8PM, Sun at 3PM. At the Q Theatre on the campus of CCBC – Catonsville. Tickets are $20 at the door and $18 in advance. Go to www.winterslaneproductions.org for information.
◊◊◊ out of five. 2 hours, 15 minutes, including intermission. Adult language, themes, sexuality, drug use and use of firearms.
Winters Lane Productions has always been one to take risks – a brief look at their history shows that, with shows like The Life and Dreamgirls under their belts. So it really isn't all that surprising that they'd tackle The Who's Tommy, which opened this past weekend at CCBC – Catonsville. What is surprising is the unevenness of the endeavor, which results in a well-intentioned, but not great night of local theatre.
As I discussed in my recent review of West Side Story at Toby's Baltimore, there are definite pros and cons to using a recorded score. Like West Side, it makes sense with a show as huge and through-composed as Tommy. The immense amounts of staging required nearly make a recording a must, given that it never changes and can be thoroughly relied upon. Still, this Tommy suffers considerably more for the lack of a live set of musicians – it is first and foremost a rock opera, after all. And the lack of oomph that a live performance would give the show is noticeably lacking – that is to say, perhaps that safety in a recorded score is a tad too safe. And it isn't for lack of talent on the part of the cast or its director, Anya Randall Nebel.
The gigantic Q Theatre stage, made more so by a decided lack of scenery, affords the equally huge cast plenty of space to work in, and the sheer quantity of space takes up that much more musical time to move from place to place. The Overture alone is a 5 to 6 minute piece of nonstop staging. One imagines the logistics of planning it, along with the numerous costume changes for each cast member must be mind numbing. But, while the Broadway version of Tommy (not to be confused with the record version or the film version) was non-stop dance and stylized movement, here we have what amounts to walking in patterns to (mostly) the beat of the music. And watching people walk around an empty stage gets pretty old pretty fast. That said, when the cast finally gets to dance (choreography by Becca Vourvoulas) they do a very respectable job, hinting that they just might have been up for more throughout. The young men of the company are especially good dancers, led by one of local theatre's better dancers, Michael Rostek, who plays the Pinball Wizard among other roles. The young ladies of the ensemble fare less successfully, as more than a few of them seem more interested in how their gauzy skirts twirl or how their outrageous wigs stay still while they shake themselves into a frenzy rather than trying to create any sense of character.
The main cast - the Walker family – nearly makes up for all of the show's shortcomings. Mark Briner brings a world-weary edginess to his role as Captain Walker. He looks exhausted, desperate, and bitter all at once which gives his character considerable depth. He also has a nice voice and he uniformly remembers both his accent and emotion. He is particularly good in his duets with Mrs. Walker, "Do You Think It's Alright?" and "I Believe My Own Eyes." Gary Adamsen's Uncle Ernie is creepy from start to finish – a sort of Uncle Fester/serial killer sort of vibe, if you will. This makes the uncomfortable song, "Fiddle About" all the more uncomfortable, but it also renders "Tommy's Holiday Camp" a decidedly unfunny, grotesque act in the second half. Chris Rudy is a scene-stealer, so focused and in the moment is he. He easily loses himself in the bratty and later sinister aspects of Cousin Kevin. His scene where he piles little Tommy into a trash can and rolls him down the stage is chilling. But it is his easy smile that both lures you in and repels you when it is too late that makes his transformation into Tommy's keeper and advisor completely realistic.
