TOMMY, the final four songs

February 12th, 2007 | Comments: none

Persaverance Theatre’s musical this year is the Who’s rock opera Tommy. I’m playing keyboards and acting as “Assistant Music Director,” which just means I help direct the band. It’s the same band as Hedwig, plus a horn player and another guitarist. It’s great to be playing with the guys again, though right now we’re more in the “working parts out” stage than the “hit me in the junk” stage, but we’ll get there in short order. What, you’ve never experienced the “hit me in the junk” stage? Well that’s a shame. The original musical, released in 1993, is very… how can I say this? Toothless? And they were a bit over-enamored with the synths of the day. We, of course, hope to give it the teeth it so desperately needs.

My voice is finally back up to spec after a month of being besiged by myriad virii and bacteria, and I’ve finished vocals for “Buenos Aires” and hopefully “Never Have to Choose.” I’m particularly excited about “Buenos Aires.” That song’s been on my hard drive for awhile now and it’s always been missing something. I had a brainstorm a couple weeks ago, fired it up again, and reworked the verses to be driven by strings (cello, especially). The inspiration was Robyn’s “Be Mine,” believe it or not, which is one of the perfectest pop songs ever. The new uber-pretty arrangement (including oboe melody) might push the cheese factor into dangerous territory, but hey, I walk the line. It’s a great contrast to the more synth-and-piano driven choruses.