Tommy's Highlights

ACT I
1940: Against the backdrop of World War II appears a montage of the Walkers’ meeting, courtship, marriage, Captain Walker’s departure for the front and capture, and his internment in a POW camp – “Overture.” 1941: Back in London, a nurse gently hands Mrs. Walker her newborn son – “It’s a Boy.” 1945: When Captain Walker is freed, he arrives home to find Mrs. Walker celebrating her birthday with her lover and four-year-old son. Looking in a mirror, Tommy sees the furious Captain Walker shoot and kill the lover. The police arrive to investigate while Tommy just stares at his own reflection as his parents realize he is now deaf, dumb and blind. The narrator – Tommy’s older self – appears, visible only to Tommy – “Amazing Journey.” 1950: The Walkers take ten-year-old Tommy to church and to a family dinner (“Christmas”) where he responds to Uncle Ernie’s playing the French Horn and the older Tommy’s unseen presence – “See Me, Feel Me.” Back home, the Walkers worry about whether to leave Tommy with the drunken Uncle Ernie who, once he is alone with Tommy, molests him – “Fiddle About.” Tommy’s next babysitter, Cousin Kevin, takes him to the youth club where, to everyone’s astonishment, Tommy plays pinball brilliantly – “Sensation.” A desperate Mr. Walker is approached by The Hawker and Harmonica Player who promise a miraculous cure for Tommy. They take father and son to the Isle of Dogs to find a prostitute called The Gypsy (“Acid Queen”), although at the last minute Mr. Walker snatches the boy back from her in horror. The act ends in 1958 as a group of teenagers await Tommy’s appearance at the amusement arcade – “Pinball Wizard.”

ACT II
1960: Tommy has become the pinball champion and hero of the neighborhood lads. Mr. and Mrs. Walker take Tommy to specialists (“Go to the Mirror/Listening to You”) for elaborate tests, to no avail. The Walkers, at their wit’s end and considering having Tommy institutionalized, compassionately confront one another – “I Believe My Own Eyes.” Tommy stares into the mirror as Mrs. Walker tries desperately to reach him – “Smash the Mirror.” With the mirror in pieces, Tommy becomes conscious (“I’m Free”) and leaves home. 1961–1963: Tommy is lionized by the public and the press (“Pinball Wizard”) and begins appearing in stadiums, where teenage Sally Simpson manages to get on stage and touch Tommy but, when he pushes her aside, she falls and is pummeled by the guards – “Sally Simpson.” Aghast, Tommy realizes how caught up in the celebrity machine he has become. He tends to her and invites everyone back to his house where Sally asks Tommy how she can be more like him. He insists there is no reason to be like him; who she is, is enough. Disenchanted with their hero for failing to provide instant salvation, the crowd turns on him and leaves. Tommy hears the voice of his ten-year-old self (“See Me, Feel Me”), turns to his family and embraces them in acceptance and reunion with his younger selves – “Listening to You.”

– Rita D. Jacobs
Editorial Director, Tommy: The Making of a Broadway Musical
Pantheon Books 1993