ROCK OPERA ‘TOMMY’ TO BE STAGED

Some rock historians may argue the point, but for all intents the Who’s “Tommy” was the quintessential rock opera of the 1960s, almost single-handedly defining the form upon its release in 1969.

“Tommy” made musical history again the following year when the Who performed the work in its entirety in New York, becoming the first rock group to play the hallowed Metropolitan Opera House.

But for what is considered a landmark in the rock ‘n’ roll repertoire, “Tommy” is rarely performed theatrically, and most people’s visual conception of the work stems from Ken Russell’s excessive and erratic 1975 film. That void will be at least temporarily filled when Saddleback College mounts a new production that will run today through Sunday and Feb. 19 through 22 in the Mission Viejo campus’s McKinney Theatre.

The Southern California premiere of “Tommy” was in 1971 at South Coast Repertory, and it was also staged in the ‘70s at USC. But attempts to present the ambitious story of a young boy who is traumatized and finds enlightenment only after becoming deaf, mute and blind, have tapered off since the early ‘70s.

The chief problem in performing “Tommy” is that the Who’s leader and songwriter, Peter Townshend, never designed it specifically for the stage, said Patrick J. Fennell, who is directing Saddleback’s version.

“There is no vocal score and no script like you would have for most musicals,” Fennell said. “There are only the lyrics and the concert version.” (Fennell was referring to a 1972 recording that featured the Who, Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr and other rock stars backed by the London Symphony Orchestra.)

In addition, performance rights must be granted personally by Townshend, who approved the Saddleback staging by Fennell and choreographer Cyrus Parker. (Townshend was recording this week in London and was unavailable for comment, a spokeswoman said.)

Even though Saddleback received Townshend’s OK, Fennell said, “there were none of the usual materials that go along with a contract. We did a lot of searching, but found no score.” So he and Parker simply went back to the original double album as the source of their production.

“We’re building our show around the lyrics and trying to go back to the original ideas extant in the score in the album,” Fennell said.

As to the “Tommy” film, Fennell said, “I don’t even want to talk about that. We have tried to keep the cast members from going back and seeing it again. The movie distorted some of the plot lines and ideas in the original, so we’re trying not to think about that. I’m just a little bit concerned that some people might have been turned off by the movie and because of that not come to see our production.”

Fennell said the idea to stage “Tommy” came in 1984 after Saddleback produced another rock opera, “Jesus Christ Superstar.” “That was an exciting endeavor, and we started thinking about the next show we’d like to do. We wanted something that would have some of the same ideas and the same challenges, but also offer new challenges. So we came up with ‘Tommy.’ ”

Fennell said he’s striving to treat the show’s rock with integrity by assembling a band made up of “excellent local rock musicians” rather than a more conventional pit orchestra. The cast, however, will be filled by Saddleback students.

Because “Tommy” is so strongly identified with the 1960s, Fennell admitted that “there are some problems with being tied to that era. On one hand, it is a product of the ‘60s, but it can be looked at from today’s perspective.”

As an example, Fennell pointed to the lecherous Uncle Ernie character who abuses Tommy physically and sexually. “In 1969,” Fennell said, “the idea of the dirty uncle was almost comical. We find out today that not only is it not comical, but it is more pervasive than anyone ever thought. So Uncle Ernie is looked at differently because of the passing years.

“We have tried not to make it a ‘60s museum piece because that would lose the universal qualities of the work.”

Because he and Parker were rock fans in the ‘60s, Fennell said, “we like the music a great deal and identified with it. It still lives with us, even though it was written many years ago. We are children of the ‘60s--not children in the ‘60s.”