Pinball wizardry: ‘Tommy’ dazzles at every turn in breakneck reboot at Goodman Theatre

Ali Louis Bourzgui as Tommy is joined by the company of “The Who’s Tommy” in a scene from the re-imagined production of the stage musical in its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre. (Liz Lauren)

There’s a remarkable scene (one of many) in the first act of Peter Townshend’s seminal rock opera “The Who’s Tommy” when the titular anti-hero is hoisted skyward by a frenetic chorus. Tommy is a 4-year-old child in the scene, and as the score spirals and whirls, the airborne tyke essentially becomes a human pinball, set spinning in a cacophonous sonic blizzard that overwhelms the senses.  

So it goes throughout the musical, now in a major “re-imagined” reboot at the Goodman Theater. Directed by Des McAnuff and featuring a book co-written by McAnuff and Townshend, “Tommy” remains the pulsing roller coaster of a show it was when it premiered in 1992. With the score taken from the Who’s 1969 concept album, “Tommy” remains as fresh and vital as it was when Nixon was president and the Vietnam war dominated the headlines.