emelwhy i know there´s a difference between musical/film. Isn´t it always? I watched film clips of the movie online and i really liked it. But i haven´t seen the entire film yet. Did you know that Tommy was also performed in Germany? 1995 in Offenbach! Thanks for the Wiki-article.
The film to Broadway musical transformation of Tommy is the reverse of the usual process which most often goes from stage production first then movie. (Although Tommy was, of course, performed in concert by The WHO for many years before the film was made.)
For those who have never seen the musical production (SPOILER ALERT) here is a summary of the show as it will (most likely) be performed at BTF:
Plot
Act I
1940: Against the backdrop of World War II appears a montage of Mr. and Mrs. Walker meeting, their marriage, Captain Walker's departure for WWII, and his capture in a POW camp ("Overture"). Back in London, two officers arrive at 22 Heathfield Gardens to bring a pregnant Mrs. Walker the tragic news that Mr. Walker is missing and presumed dead( "Captain Walker").
1941: A nurse gently hands Mrs. Walker her newborn son ("It's a Boy").
1945: The USA intercepts Walker's POW camp, he is freed and heads home. Believing her husband dead, Mrs. Walker finds a boyfriend, and they celebrate her twenty-first birthday and discuss getting married together with now four-year-old Tommy. To his surprise, Captain Walker arrives as Mrs. Walker and her boyfriend embrace. ("Twenty-One"). In shock, Mrs. Walker reaches out to touch him, but a fight erupts between Walker and the boyfriend. Tommy is watching the fight, and Mrs. Walker turns him towards the mirror in hopes of him not seeing the fight. Through the mirror, Tommy sees his father kill his mother's new boyfriend. Mr. and Mrs. Walker embrace, but soon realise what Tommy has witnessed, and violently shake him, telling him he didn't see or hear anything ("What About the Boy"). The police arrive to investigate, while Tommy gazes at the mirror. A narrator (Tommy's older self) appears, visible only to Tommy ("Amazing Journey"), and invites the audience to witness Tommy's journey.
Captain Walker is tried, but found not guilty. However, the family celebration dies down as they realise Tommy is now deaf, dumb, and blind, when he fails to show emotion towards his father's release. Mr. and Mrs. Walker take him to a hospital, where a battery of doctors and nurses, to no avail, examine Tommy
("Sparks").
1950: The Walkers take ten-year-old Tommy to church and to a family dinner ("Christmas"). Although they try to enjoy the party, they can't help but think that Tommy doesn't know that it is Christmas. Everyone is stunned when Tommy responds to Uncle Ernie's playing the French Horn. Mr. Walker, in a desperate attempt to reach his son, asks "Tommy can you hear me?" multiple times. Older Tommy, only visible to young Tommy, sings to him. ("See Me, Feel Me"). Back home, the Walkers worry about whether to leave Tommy with the drunken Uncle Ernie ("Do You Think It's Alright"), but they convince themselves that Tommy will be fine.After the two leave, Ernie molests him ("Fiddle About"). Tommy's next babysitter, Cousin Kevin, and his friends, taunt and bully him mercilessly ("Cousin Kevin"). The group then takes Tommy to a youth club where, to everyone's astonishment, he plays pinball brilliantly ("Sensation"). Encouraged, the Walkers try yet another doctor, a psychiatrist, who tests Tommy without
success ("Sparks (Reprise)").
The desperate Mr. Walker is approached by The Hawker and Harmonica Player ("Eyesight to the Blind") who promise a miraculous cure for Tommy. They take Mr. Walker and young Tommy to the Isle of Dogs to find a prostitute called The Gypsy ("Acid Queen"). Mr. Walker, horrified by the Gyspy's methods, snatches the boy and runs away. The act ends in 1958 as a group of teenagers await 17-year-old Tommy's appearance at the amusement arcade ("Pinball Wizard").
Act II
1960: Tommy has become the pinball champion and hero of the neighbourhood lads. ("Underture"). The father, still in search of a cure, convinces his wife to try once more ("There's a Doctor"). They take Tommy to specialists ("Go to the Mirror/Listening to You") for elaborate tests, but to no avail. The doctors discover that no one can free Tommy from his catatonic state but himself.
On the street a group of local louts surround Tommy ("Tommy, Can You Hear Me?") and carry him home. The parents, at their wit's end and considering having Tommy institutionalised, compassionately confront one another ("I Believe My Own eyes"). Tommy stares into the mirror as his mother tries desperately to reach him one last time ("Smash the Mirror"). Out of rage, frustration, and desperation, she shatters the mirror that Tommy continually gazed at for years.
With the mirror in pieces, Tommy becomes conscious ("I'm Free") and leaves home, while his cure hits the news ("Miracle Cure").
1961-1963: Tommy is idolised by the public and the press ("Pinball Wizard (Reprise)"), and begins appearing in stadiums, while Uncle Ernie tries to capitalise on his stardom, by selling Tommy souvenirs in a carnival-like setting ("Tommy's Holiday Camp").
On the night of the concert, Teenage Sally Simpson manages to sneak out and attend Tommy's concert. She gets on stage and tries to touch Tommy but, when he pushes her aside, she falls and is pummelled by the guards ("Sally Simpson"). Tommy, in horror, realises how caught up in the celebrity machine he has become. He tends to her and invites everyone back to his house ("Welcome"). Once there, Sally asks Tommy how she can be more like him and less like herself ("Sally Simpson's Question"). He is confused, and insists that there is no reason to be like him, when everyone can be themselves.
Disenchanted with their hero for failing to provide exciting answers, the crowd turns on him and leaves ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy hears the voice of his ten-year-old self ("See Me, Feel Me") and for a moment, to the horror of his family, seems to be reverting to his old state. But instead he turns to his
family, whom he has ignored during his stardom, embraces them in acceptance, and reunites with his younger selves ("Listening to You"). The entire ensemble joins him and his family on stage. After they all leave, the 4 year old Tommy, 10 year old Tommy, and adult Tommy dramatically end looking out in different directions.