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Video: The Company of THE WHO'S TOMMY Celebrates Opening Night
May 15, 2024
The Walker family has officially taken up residence on 41st Street. The newly reimagined Broadway production of The Who's Tommy opened just last night at the Nederlander Theatre. In this video, watch as the cast and creative team celebrate the big night before the curtain went up!
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Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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The Who's Tommy is back on Broadway, and we're here on opening night to celebrate with the company
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Standing here on opening night, what's made this whole experience so special for you
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with working on Tommy? It's been feeling the legacy of this thing
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So like, you know, you work on new musicals and that's such a cool beast in its own thing
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And then doing a revival like this, especially like this is a revival of a show
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that was also already based on an album and a whole cult following already
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So there's just years that exist within this piece. So working on it, it's like, you feel
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and last night we had our alumni night, so you feel like the Who, all the fans of the Who
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everyone that like loved this and followed it through the 60s, 70s. And then like our alumni who did their original show
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you just feel all of those people and their souls in this piece. And so when you're doing it, it's just
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yeah, I don't know, you feel like you're standing on the shoulders of millions, it's crazy
1:01
Oh man, working with Des and this entire company has been such a dream come true
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I think there's 16 Broadway debuts in this cast and it's been so special to be a part of that journey
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And then to also work with people like Adam Jacobs, it's not his Broadway debut, obviously
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but it's just been, it's, this is an incredible group of people
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The thing that's made it most special is probably the fact that I did this show
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my first rehearsal in Chicago, an hour before we started our first rehearsal in Chicago, I found out I was pregnant
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So I did this show up until I was five months pregnant. And then now doing the show as a new mom
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playing Mrs. Walker, it's just been a whole new experience. And I just feel like my work is deepened
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and the show feels that much more special, so. It feels amazing to be back here doing what I love
1:50
It's been almost 10 years from Aladdin to right across the street to this
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And it's amazing, I love it. What's made this so special with working on Tommy
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I think this story is so powerful in a way, you know, that people relate to in a lot of different ways
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It's a darker story. And as an actor, I haven't had a lot of opportunity
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to sort of stretch those muscles and go deep with characters. And so this has been great
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I mean, I did this show when I was 15 years old in community theater in Happen Bay, California
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So to now work with Des and to meet, you know, we had alumni night
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I met Anthony Burrell. We met so many of the original cast members
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To feel like a very small part of the pantheon and legacy of the show is the thing
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that's most moving to me, absolutely. I mean, it's just an exceptional piece of art
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And to get a chance to go in there and dissect songs
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and put your mark on them, it's unbelievable. I don't really, it's such an unbelievable thing
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as an actor to be given that material. Wow, living in the world of Tommy
2:56
I mean, there's a sense of focus. There's a sense of agility
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You have to be daring. You have to be able to, especially in my character
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have no limits, you know, vocally, physically. And I think there's something about this show
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that's really allowed us to free ourselves. And that's interesting because one of the songs
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in our show is like, I'm free. Audiences love this show, generation after generation
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Why is that? You know, first of all, I think this new generation, Gen Z, they own it
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It's theirs. And I think they treat it like it's a brand new show
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And you know, I think there is a spirit of rebellion in that generation that echoes the generation
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of the 60s and 70s that Pete was a part of and I was a part of too
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So that's what it is. I mean, I think that's what's universal. There is something really rebellious
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about this music and this story. You know, Tommy, Holden Caulfield rejected adulthood
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in Catcher in the Rye. Tommy rejects existence as we know it
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There's no, the anti-hero can't go further than Tommy. And I think that there's a real universal power to that
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This is a full circle moment for you because you danced in your basement
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right with your family to Tommy? Oh yeah, my older brother is one of him will be here tonight
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We would listen to that record over and over and over and over again
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So what's made it so magical? You've worked on so many wonderful projects
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What's made this one so magical? I think that the music is so good
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that you start with the music and then Dez is so good
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And then David Korins is so good. And everybody just works so hard and so together
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What you're seeing is one vision on the stage. You know, working with Dez is unlike any other
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He's very demanding, but it brings out your absolute best. And he is such a gracious collaborator
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It's like, you know, when you get positive feedback from him, it's kind of better than anything else possible
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Because you know, it's like just the highest compliment you can receive. And so when you get it right for Dez
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then you really have it right. As you know, I've worked on some really, really incredible epic shows
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Some many shows that have gone into In the Tony. There's something happening here
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in particular at the end of each act, where the connectivity in the room
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and the performers is so electric. It literally moves people to stand up
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in the middle of the show. And I've never experienced that. I've never experienced that in any live event ever
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And it happens consistently. And it happened in Chicago. The first time it happened, we thought
5:43
oh wow, this is really weird. That must've been like a zipped up Saturday night crowd
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And it happens every night. That's special
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