'The Who's Tommy' at The Arts at Angeloria's - My Review

Pictured: Tommy and Young Tommy Photo by The Arts at Angeloria's

A new venue has opened in Southington and it was such an honor to attend the first matinee of the first show ever presented in the Black Box at The Arts at Angeloria’s. Producer/Artistic Director Angeloria Holm follows in the footsteps of famous women like Florence Griswold who so loved the arts and the artists who created it and she has opened her private and beautiful home for the sole purpose of cultivating the arts. For the inaugural production she chose ‘The Who’s Tommy.’ Not a particularly easy selection for a venue that needed to construct both a set and a house in order to get the show on the stage, not to mention adding lights and sound, a place for the orchestra and much more. And yet, Lori and lots of her friends and an amazing cast of mostly local performers pulled it off beautifully.

Stacy Capodilupo directed the cast and no doubt possesses a talent for problem solving for making the musical fit in this space. She served as stage manager as well. Ed Rosenblatt was the vocal director and helped the singers blend beautifully on the rich harmonies. He calls ‘Tommy’ the first great rock opera that features the music of iconic rock band, The Who. Nathaniel Baker directed the outstanding orchestra...more on them later.

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I loved this show with music and lyrics by The Who’s Pete Townshend, with the book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff and additional music and lyrics by John Entwhistle and Keith Moon. All the awesome songs like “Sensation,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” are here and pieces I remembered from the film version. Not all easy to sing, but so much fun to hear again.

‘The Who’s Tommy’ continues on March 11, 12, 18, 19 at 7:30pm and March 13 at 2:00pm. The easy to find venue at 223 Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike in Southington is directly off 691.