This production is the first professional production of ‘The Who’s Tommy’ in Australian, a musical version of the seminal rock opera album of the same name with music and lyrics by Pete Townsend and book by Townsend and Des McAnuff. It was produced by Victorian Opera at the Palais Theatre St Kilda in 2022, having been delayed twice by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. The design sought to embrace the rock origins of both the music and the venue, with the Palais Theatre being known as a contemporary music venue in recent years. A rough ‘rock ‘n roll’ aesthetic familiar to the venue was embraced, with Tommy able to unite the onstage band with the stage action as he ascends into rock stardom as part of the narrative. The open space was transformable into multiple locations readily, with an imposing pair of LED screens in mirror formation suspended over the space providing both context to stage actions and invoking the inner psychological state of the eponymic character.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Design / architectural Work
Place
Melbourne, AustraliaVenue
Palais TheatreNTRO Publisher
Victorian OperaMedium
Design for Live PerformanceResearch Statement
This production is the first professional production of ‘The Who’s Tommy’ in Australian, a musical version of the seminal rock opera album of the same name with music and lyrics by Pete Townsend and book by Townsend and Des McAnuff. It was produced by Victorian Opera at the Palais Theatre St Kilda in 2022, having been delayed twice by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.
The design sought to embrace the rock origins of both the music and the venue, with the Palais Theatre being known as a contemporary music venue in recent years. A rough ‘rock ‘n roll’ aesthetic familiar to the venue was embraced, with Tommy able to unite the onstage band with the stage action as he ascends into rock stardom as part of the narrative. The open space was transformable into multiple locations readily, with an imposing pair of LED screens in mirror formation suspended over the space providing both context to stage actions and invoking the inner psychological state of the eponymic character.
The excellence of this work is evidenced by:
• The producing company, Victorian Opera, is the state opera company of Victoria and a member of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group, receiving both federal and state arts funding.
• The production received a broad range of critical reviews from major national publications, notably from the Age newspaper by Elizabeth Flux, The Australian by Chris Boyd, Limelight magazine by Patricia Maunder, Time Out by Anne-Marie Peard, The Guardian by Tim Byrne, and Australian Arts Review by Paul Selar.Size or Duration of Work
I hr 40 mins, 6 performances
