The Who's "Tommy" (pt. 5) - Fiddle About

Do You Think It's Alright? / Fiddle About / See Me, Feel Me

Performed by the Avondale Theatre Company. July 16-18, 2009. The production was put together in three weeks of building and rehearsals at Avondale High School in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The cast and crew was made up of current high school students, alumni going all the way back to the class of 1991, younger kids in the school district, and three teachers.

I (the music director and guitarist) dedicate this performance to diehard fans like me who agree with Roger Daltrey about the Broadway version's orchestrations sounding too watered down and not enough like The Who.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• The Who
• Tommy
• The Who's Tommy
• Fiddle About
• Pete Townshend
• Roger Daltrey
• John Entwistle
• Keith Moon
• Avondale Theatre Company

[bratmaster]

I actually really like how you decided to interpret this song. My daughter just played 10 yr. old tommy in our local production, and believe me I was not too thrilled about her involvement in this song. We had some crticism for watering down our version, but honestly, what are people wanting? To see a child actually being molested on stage? Wish that whoever wrote the stage version could have either omitted or altered the song in some way to make it more stage-friendly.

[sbamkmfdmdfmk]

@bratmaster Thanks! When we received our box of librettos from MTI, there was a note to groups that Pete approved of productions cutting either Fiddle About and Acid Queen depending on what the needs of the company/audience. Not wanting to cut anything in our show (in fact we ADDED songs not in the Broadway libretto!), we ended up reworking Fiddle About and also changed the setting of Acid Queen so that Tommy was a teenager instead of a 10-year-old. Congrats to your daughter in her role!.

[bratmaster]

@sbamkmfdmdfmk yes, I noticed your addition in "cousin kevin" - that was really smart; there is no lead in for the song so it really can get confusing to audience members without an explanation. We did not cut anything either - I sent you some videos of a couple songs from our show, but not sure you got them. (You can click on my account to view them all there). My daughter played the 10 yr. old Tommy, and my son was the 4 yr. old Tommy - it was very fun!

[sbamkmfdmdfmk]

@bratmaster I did watch them - both your kids did a great job! The company did a nice job staging the show! The song we added for Cousin Kevin was actually an outtake The Who had recorded for Tommy with Keith Moon singing but was cut from the album and later released on their Odds & Sods compilation. As far as I know, we were the first group to ever perform it! I'm glad our videos were able to help!!!

[atgskater14]

I was wondering how anyone would make this song into a play but this was interesting

[texasjaynyc]

@sbamkmfdmdfmk If your audience can't handle the show as it is intended due to the subject matter, maybe you should pick a different show. As to your point about adding material, I'm curious if you got permission for that alteration?

[sbamkmfdmdfmk]

@mysocaman I also would've preferred to keep the song as it originally is intended, but given our audience, the alternative would've been to just cut the song altogether.... I don't think that'd have been preferable.

[mysocaman]

@sbamkmfdmdfmk I agree with Snappy! I get it....changing the show for an audience...but it takes away from the true essence of the show...All that Tommy went through! Its not the same! Makes it a different show!

[Darkessrules]

My school did this play and I just can't get enough of the songs. We altered this song however by it making it suggestive and putting a blanket on the "bed" and having Uncle Ernie put the blaket over his legs whilst Tommy was also under it and then the rest of the song and all that.

[tompetom2]

Great production, well done.

[MegaTSkillz]

LOL UNCLE ERNIE LOOKS LIKE A TRUE PEDO!! Tommy's ending part sounds good.

[bratmaster]

... and btw, the videos of your production helped the kids greatly to understand what was going on in each scene and how to act - thanks!