The Who's Tommy, produced by the Brandeis Department of Theater Arts and currently being performed at Spingold Theater, takes the audience on a magical and psychedelic journey. The plot follows a boy named Tommy who, after witnessing his father murder his mother's lover, is told by his parent to forget about the incident. These instructions have a strange effect on Tommy; he soon loses his hearing, sight and ability to speak completely. Tommy is the victim of several abuses, including a pedophilic uncle and bullying cousin, two people who readily take advantage Tommy's disability. Meanwhile, Tommy's parents are always searching for ways to cure him. During their search, they encounter a range of characters, such as the Acid Queen and an innovative doctor. Tommy somehow finds solace in pinball, a game that he can play better than anyone else. As the plot unfolds, Tommy's journey continues to get stranger and stranger.

In this production of Tommy, directors Gary Simons and Eric Hill added a contemporary quality, changing the setting of the second half of the show to the present day. However, this change isn't very coherent, since the beginning of the show is still set in the earlier part of the 20th century. This was just one of a few changes that made the play less comprehensible.

While the Spingold production of Tommy was entertaining overall, there were certain flaws that cannot be overlooked. The most distracting flaw was the sound problem that plagued the second act. It may have just been a technical difficulty, but every time someone went to speak or sing their microphone was turned off. Timothy Espinosa (GRAD), who played the adult Tommy, had the most problems. This was particularly frustrating because he was the most talented performer.

Another general complaint was the choreography. The dancing throughout most of the show seemed silly and sometimes even unnecessarily robotic. At first, I thought it might have something to do with the surreal quality of the show. However, as I kept watching I noticed many more corny and unoriginal dance moves.

The show was enjoyable until it got to the song, "Acid Queen." Shanessa Sweeney (GRAD), who played the Acid Queen came out dressed in a spectacular outfit. However, her singing of it was a letdown. The song called for a strong, commanding voice and she was unable to supply one. The resulting effort sounded weak and even a little flat at times. Soon after "Acid Queen" there was another disappointment regarding the singing. "Pinball Wizard," which is probably the most well known song from the show, sounded terrible. The energy and fun normally driving this song was completely missing. It was also strange to see two girls in skirts singing, "ever since I was a young boy..."

This led into another oddity of the show. In the beginning, Tommy's mother, Mrs. Walker, has a lover because she thinks that her husband is dead. In the show, the lover was played by a woman, which would normally be fine except that there was no attempt to even make her slightly resemble a man. It made the scene a little confusing at first and was just a bit out of place. There was another change made in this respect. In the original show, Tommy's cousin is named "Cousin Kevin," however, in this production they changed the name to "Cousin Kelly" because again, this part was played by a woman. However, unlike the lover, this still worked with the rest of the show and the actress, Gwen Tulin '06, did a great job.

By far the strongest member of the show was Espinosa. His voice completely dominated the rest of the cast and was very impressive. His professional experience shined through in his performance. Victor Moisescu, who played four year old Tommy, and Angie Jepson (GRAD), who played 10-year-old Tommy were both very good. Jepson was especially impressive in her portrayal, it was very believable that she couldn't see, hear or speak. Two other notable performances were Jordan Butterfield '07 as Mrs. Walker and Thomas Keating, of the Actors Equity Association, as Captain Walker. Their vocal performances were impressive, and they were completely realistic as Tommy's parents.

Another enjoyable aspect of the show was the sets. They were very impressive, constantly changing and gave the show the funky feel intended by the show's creators, The Who.

Tommy was enjoyable, but it would not be on the top of my list of things to see this season. Hopefully, the show's producers will be able to work out some of the kinks in future performances, allowing the performers to do better justice to this much beloved musical.