Remember Jones will perform The Who’s “Tommy” album in its entirety in Deal, Sept. 7-8.
Remember Jones and “special guests” will perform The Who’s landmark “Tommy” album in its entirety, Sept. 7-8 at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal.
Just in case anyone is wondering: This will NOT be a production of the musical “The Who’s Tommy,” which ran on Broadway from 1993 to 1995 and has frequently been presented elsewhere since then. This will be a concert version of the 24 songs on the double album.
(June 18 Update: Most of the cast has been announced. Joining Remember Jones as Tommy will be Lance Larson as Uncle Ernie; Daimon Santa Maria (of Bone and Marrow) as Cousin Kevin; JaQuita May as The Acid Queen; Bobby Lynch as The Pinball Wizard; Taylor Tote as Sally Simpson; Billy Walton as The Hawker; and Rick Barry as The Specialist. Joe Bellia of The Weeklings will play drums.)
“Tommy” was released 50 years ago — on May 23, 1969 — and even though it wasn’t the first rock opera, it was the first one to gain widespread attention. The tale of a deaf, dumb and blind boy who becomes a champion pinball player and then the reluctant leader of a religious cult yielded a major hit single in “Pinball Wizard,” and was made into a movie in 1975 before being reinvented, yet again, as a musical.
Tickets are available at axelrodartscenter.com.
Remember Jones has previously performed albums ranging from Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black to Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak in their entirety.
The Who, featuring original members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, are on tour themselves this year. Upcoming shows include Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, Sept. 1; and the Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., Sept. 15.
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