Shubert’s Final Whimper: ‘Tommy’

Let’s heave a sigh for the Shubert Theatre, slated soon for demolition.

For two weeks, however, the Shubert is hosting one more for the road--literally. A new production of “The Who’s Tommy” is launching its tour here.

This is one finale that’s less than grand.

Those who remember only the Des McAnuff-staged version of “Tommy” from La Jolla, Broadway or its national tour are in for a letdown. The pizazz is kaput.

The visual effects in the McAnuff “Tommy” were eye-popping. At times the audience felt as if it were inside one of the pinball wizard’s games.

In the Tony Stevens staging at the Shubert, the effects are almost entirely in the lighting. The show is eye-closing--in response to a couple of bright flashes--more than eye-popping. The dazzling projections of the original are missing. A brief attempt to approximate the pinball action with actors as game pieces looks like an exercise by a high school drill team.

One of the original’s most memorable moments was an illusion of paratroopers dropping from their plane into the skies. Here it looks as if they’re jumping off a platform onto a stage and then walking off.

Regarding those paratroopers: In the McAnuff version, they were clearly engaged in World War II--a change from the album by the Who, which began in the World War I era. That change made sense, in terms of the target audience. Most of the rock generation was born of parents who went through World War II.

Apparently, the producers of the current production are hoping to attract an audience younger than the boomers who make up most of the Who fans. So the dates of events and eras are blurred.

From the way the actors are dressed in the opening scenes--women in miniskirts, for example--we’re no longer in the ‘40s, but the new period is unclear. Gradually, as the show goes on, the costumes and hairstyles make things a bit clearer. We’re in the MTV era.

Tommy’s mother wears high heels and a tight skirt as she does the laundry. Tommy’s cousin has bright blond spiked hair.

The choreography also appears ready-made for a music video. However, the characters are vaguely British. So the question of which war is going on in the opening scenes remains unanswered. Are they fighting for the defense of the Falklands? Maybe it’s the current war against terrorism.

Regardless, the fuzziness of the historical context makes an already weightless show even more so.

The cast projects a bland anonymity, but they’re fairly proficient with the song and dance. There are two Tommys, not three as in the original McAnuff version, so the appropriately blank-faced Jacob S. Porter must play Tommy from birth to the teen years, when Michael Seelbach takes over. Seelbach looks a bit too android-like, even after the “deaf, dumb and blind boy” has broken out of his catatonia, but he sings well.

Actually, although Who purists will disagree, the Pete Townshend score is in capable hands, and the sound level never approaches jackhammer levels.

The Shubert opened in 1972 with “Follies,” which is set in a partially demolished theater and looks back at previous musical styles with bittersweetness. It would have been a much more appropriate choice as the swan song for a theater that was the home of many of L.A.’s long-running and most spectacular shows, including a couple of notable U.S. premieres.

Still, even with “Tommy” and with the theater’s arduous parking garage and puzzling escalators, it’s hard not to feel a pang of regret over the fate of the Shubert.

Thanks for the memories.

*

“The Who’s Tommy,” Shubert Theatre, 2020 Avenue of the Stars, Century City. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Ends Dec. 30. $40-$60. (800) 447-7400. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

Jacob S. Porter...Young Tommy

Michael Seelbach...Tommy

Lisa Capps...Mrs. Walker

Michael Berry...Captain Walker

Christopher Russo...Uncle Ernie

Don Brewer...The Lover

Daniel C. Levine...Cousin Kevin

Monique L. Midgette...Gypsy

Produced by Jeffrey Finn. Music and lyrics by Pete Townshend. Book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff. Additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon. Directed and choreographed by Tony Stevens. Musical direction by Keith Levenson. Set by Edward Pierce. Lighting by Jeffrey S. Koger. Sound by Lucas J. Corrubia Jr. Costumes by Bobby Pearce. Stage manager Bryan Young.