# Tommy at the Stratford Festival



## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

I got to see the official opening performance of Tommy at the Stratford Festival last night - complete with Pete Townshend taking a bow with the cast at the end of the show!

Looks like it's going to sell as well as Jesus Christ Superstar did, so if you've been thinking about going, get your tickets booked!

The guitarists on the show are two exceptional guys from Kitchener - Kevin Ramessar and Dave Thompson!


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

That's a great theatre for music. I saw Oscar Peterson there, acoustically, and Bruce Cockburn with a full band.

Tommy should do very well. I'd like to go.

Peace, Mooh.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Anyone know the size of that venue


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Anyone know the size of that venue


Here's the skinny on the Avon theatre.

http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/about/theatre.aspx?id=1866

Going to see Tommy on June 20th. Can't wait! Got a great deal on the tix too, $49 one day sale last week for Orchestra level seats!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I saw Dave Thompson play jazz at a gig in a restaurant in Elora a few years back. There were very few people in the restaurant that evening and his family invited me to sit at their table, as I knew the drummer.

He certainly is a great guitarist !! I saw him again later at the Jazz Festival in Waterloo.

Cheers

Dave


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

Mooh said:


> That's a great theatre for music. I saw Oscar Peterson there, acoustically, and Bruce Cockburn with a full band.
> 
> Tommy should do very well. I'd like to go.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Performance was actually at the Avon Theatre, not the big house. I saw Oscar at the Festival Theatre too, with Ulf Wakenius on guitar.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Would love to see this again. I caught it twice several years ago in TO


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Merlin said:


> Performance was actually at the Avon Theatre, not the big house. I saw Oscar at the Festival Theatre too, with Ulf Wakenius on guitar.


Oh, sorry. Oscar was solo when we saw him. My sister used to work the box office there, and once in a rare while would tip me off about tickets.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm going on June 30. We've had our tickets for months.

I'm excited about the show. I know and love many of the songs.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

The show has this advisory.

*Audience Advisory *
Most suitable for ages 12 and up, but parental discretion is advised. The story deals with mature themes, including sexuality and violence, and the dialogue includes some profanity and other strong language.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Yup, that would make sense. The story is not without its horror.

I enjoyed the movie when it came out and later went back and bought the original albums.

Great music IMO.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Milkman said:


> I enjoyed the movie when it came out and later went back and bought the original albums.
> 
> Great music IMO.


+1

The original album was Townshend at the height of his musical powers (even if he didn't have the concept entirely figured out during the recording process). I even enjoyed the film enough to buy the soundtrack; it was interesting to hear some of the other tunes & different artist's interpretation of the classics. 

How far off from the original album is the musical?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Our seats are three rows from the stage. Should be a blast.


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

Milkman said:


> Our seats are three rows from the stage. Should be a blast.


Be prepared for the first chord in the show. We were sitting at the back wall, and felt like we nearly got pushed through it.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Merlin said:


> Be prepared for the first chord in the show. We were sitting at the back wall, and felt like we nearly got pushed through it.


Really? it's going to get loud? I'll bring hearing protection but as long as the sound is good, I expect and enjoy it a bit loud.


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

Milkman said:


> Really? it's going to get loud? I'll bring hearing protection but as long as the sound is good, I expect and enjoy it a bit loud.


It's not damagingly loud...but it ain't Shakespeare with lutes and recorders!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Merlin said:


> It's not damagingly loud...but it ain't Shakespeare with lutes and recorders!



And neither am I. I'm expecting a rock show but done with the level of production Stratford is known for. I like feeling a thump in my chest.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, I liked it.


More than just a little too.


First of all, as one would expect, this being a show fully endorsed by Pete Townsend, the music was right. They took liberties with the arrangements of course but remained faithful to the harmonic and melodic structures which for me are so important.

The band was again, what you expect at this level. the sound was good, clearly voice oriented, but the band was there and there was what I'd call an excellent sense of dynamics to the show overall, but certainly with the FOH sound.

Who wrote "from a whisper to a scream...."? Well that's what you get from the mix in this room. It was a nice line array with center fill in the front rows.

Subs were evident but invisible.

The technical stuff was really impressive and visually beautiful. They had huge LCD screens behind the stage and were projecting from the front on to at least two different surfaces.

There was a lot to take in.

All the big songs were great. Amazing Journey and particularly Listening to You were very strong.

If I had one criticism it would be the song I'm Free. It was well done but for me, it deserved a little more drama (best word I can come up with). That song has a real drive to it but I didn't feel like they sold it if you take my meaning.

I absolutely loved the show and hope I get another chance to see it.

I guess at the end of the day what matters most to me is that the music is treated with the same respect as any other musical production in other genres.

I love the songs.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

There must be something to sitting that close.

We were up in the balcony near the back and I was not excited by the show.

That's not to say it was bad. It wasn't. Not by any stretch. Everything was done very well.

It's just that nothing really grabbed me. I didn't get drawn in to the story at all.
I was always thinking about what should be next.

I enjoyed it for what it was, but I wouldn't rush back, to be honest.

One thing that I would criticize is the guitar tone in some of the songs.
The playing was awesome.
In some of the songs though, the guitar sounded a little bit like over processed shredding.
Like a jar of bees digitized and then run through something to smooth it all out.
I actually winced at one point.

Maybe it was the seats we had.


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

dodgechargerfan said:


> One thing that I would criticize is the guitar tone in some of the songs.
> The playing was awesome.
> In some of the songs though, the guitar sounded a little bit like over processed shredding.
> Like a jar of bees digitized and then run through something to smooth it all out.
> ...


Interesting. 

The guitarists are actually using decent size amps that are mic'd inside iso cabs so they can run them full tilt.

I suspect the small speakers used to disperse the sound throughout the house made things a bit buzzy.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Yeah I was able to go back stage and into the orchestra pit. They were using 4x12 cabs in isolation enclosures. The tones I was hearing were big and warm, although it was a voice dominant mix.

As for the story, I'm so familiar with it that I didn't worry about that too much. I was more focusing on the music, which was to my ears, excellent.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

And, I'm going again tonight. It will be interesting to see the show after a couple of months. It was great the first week but like any show, I would think they've really dialed it in now that they've performed it so many times.

Looking forward to it.


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