Tommy | C-

The Livingston Theatre Company is an extraordinarily talented group of actors and producers, which is why their unmoving performance of The Who's Tommy was such a disappointment.

For the closing of its 12th season, the Company performed Tommy from Apr. 22 to 25 in the newly renovated Livingston Student Center. The Livingston Hall stage, while fit for guest speakers and talent shows, was constructed rather unsuitably for theater productions. The Company fought hard for a more theater-friendly stage during construction last semester, but it seems the administration hampered their vision considerably. In terms of seating, stage set, and sound system, the move from the higher-end Crossroads Theatre was definitely a downgrade.

Tommy, a rock musical set in the 1950s, opens with the murder of Mrs. Walker's (Selena Drobnick} lover by her husband Captain Walker (David Destro) who she had thought dead for six years. Tommy (Brian Aitken/Tyler Abelson), the young son of Mr. and Mrs. Walker, witnesses the murder. Horrified, the Walkers tell their son, "you didn't hear it, you didn't see it! You never heard it". Traumatized Tommy takes their instructions to heart and becomes deaf, dumb, and blind. Tommy and his parents frantically search for a cure, ranging from medical doctors to a witch-like character, who refers to herself as "The Acid Queen" (Arabelle Luke). Eventually discouraged, his parents leave him in the care of his creepy Uncle Ernie (Joey Braccino) and his bully of a cousin (David Seamon). Even through these traumatic episodes, Tommy remains stoic. One day, Tommy begins to play on a pinball machine, and his skills draw in a throng of fans. Dealing with his sudden rise to fame and miraculously cured condition, Tommy must now decide what is important – his fans or his family.

Producing a play is a multi-faceted task. It is an insane juggling act involving casting, choreography, set design, songs, among many other factors. Nevertheless, the end product is supposed to seem like it was executed with ease. In Tommy, the storyline jumped abruptly from song to song. The band backstage was phenomenal, yet they were so loud that they completely drowned out the actors, whose British accents only made it more difficult in understanding the musical. A large white screen displaying computer images was, at best, a cheap way to compensate for the theatrical shortcomings of the Livingston stage. It was distracting, and Tommy might have been better without it.

However, this is not to say that the production was a total flop. Some scenes were acted with incredible skill. The song, "Fiddle About", during which Uncle Ernie molests Tommy, had a great balance of the dark, ambiguous, and eerie. Arabelle Luke delivered an energized performance as the Acid Queen with ground-shaking vocals. Joey Braccino's depiction of wacky Uncle Ernie was convincingly repulsive and sinister. In these scenes and characters, the true talent of the Livingston Theatre Company managed to shine.

With absolute knockouts like Rent and Sweeney Todd in their repertoire, it was surprising and dismaying to find Tommy lacked the same oomph. It was, perhaps, a combination of the mediocre script, new stage, and the faintly forced quality in some of the acting. All production companies, unfortunately, have their highs and lows.