Who's Tommy, The script

Who's Tommy, The Script - Broadway musical

Prologue:1940

Against the black and white backdrop of a gigantic bomber and the projection
of a factory worker's propaganda poster (Speed is vital), a welder is at work,
face hidden behind a welding mask, on the Royal Air Force bomber. A flight
crew appears, followed by Captain Walker, a handsome Englishman in his
mid-twenties. His path being blocked by a fuel hose, he stands behind the
welder. Sparks fly.
Trying to get the welders attention, Capt. Walker pats the welder on the back.
The welder turns, stands, and flips back the mask,pulls the cap off and wipes
sweat away. Hair spills down around her shoulders.
Capt. Walker stares at the young woman. He smiles. (Go to the mirror).
Another factory poster is seen (Come to the Factories) and RAF officers and
young Englishwomen appear wildly doing the jitterbug on a smoke-filled dance
floor. Uncle Ernie, Capt. Walker's older brother, dressed in civilian clothes
(he has a slight limp) watches the dancers, grins, sips his tea as Captain
Walker and the welder, now in party dress, whirl across the room. (See Me,
Feel Me) The group of officers and women separate and magically Capt Walker
and the welder are revealed, he still in uniform, she in a simple white dress.
A minister performs the wedding ceremony against the backdrop of a church.

Minister:
The union of husband and wife in heart, body and mind is intended by God for
their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity
and adversity; knowledge and love of the Lord. Therefore marriage is not to be
entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverntly, deliberately, and in
accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.

Uncle Ernie walks up by Capt Walker's side and hands him a ring. Capt Walker
impatiently places the ring on Mrs Walker's finger and kisses her passionately
in silhoutte. (Go to the mirror).
Air raid sirens go off as aerial shots of London in the blitz appear in the
background. Uncle Ernie produces a civil defense armband, which he dons, and a
flashlight. We hear the drone of engines of bombers overhead as searchlights
flash in the background to the sound of nearby explosions. Uncle Ernie hurries
off. (Listening to you). Mrs Walker is in bed, asleep. Distant explosions.
Captain Walker leans over and kisses her softly. She stirs but doesn't awaken.
He watches her for a moment longer and then quietly creeps away. (French horns
fanfare). Against a giant propaganda poster of Winston Churchill, Capt Walker
arrives at the airfield where he is helped into his combat uniform by an aide
who fastens a parachute on the Captain's back. Airborne troops perform
exercises at the edge of the airfield. (Pinball Wizard). Two rows of soldiers
sit on benches facing each other in the hull of a Wellington bomber, where
Capt Walker joins them. In flight, bursts of antiaircraft shells explode
around them. A trap door opens; flames from far below are reflected on the
faces of the soldiers as, one by one the soldiers step to the edge of the
trap and leap into the abyss. Capt Walker is the last to jump. Projections of
parachutes fill the sky in a Magritte-like image. A figure slowly descends
from above, suspended under his chute - Capt Walker. Two German footsoldiers
start up at the sky. They raise machine guns in the air and fire. There is the
deafening sound of the rounds going off as the lights black out.

A series of aerial shots of London take us from the black and white world of
the prologue to the warm faded colors of remembered suburbia.

Scene 1: 22 Heathfield Gardens:1941

(A Very pleased Uncle Ernie knocks on the door, answered by Mrs. Walker in a
dressing gown.)

Uncle Ernie:
Sardines! An egg! Un demi-litre du lait!

Mrs Walker:
Bless you, Ernie!

(As Ernie is leaving, he passes two RAF officers
coming to the door.)


Captain Walker


First Officer: (to audience)
Captain Walker didn't come home.
His unborn child will never know him.

Second Officer: (to Mrs. Walker)
Believe him missing with a number of men.
Don't expect to see him again.

(the Officer presents Mrs. Walker with a document informing her that Captain
Walker is missing-in action)

First and Second Officers:
Captain Walker didn't come home.
Captain Walker didn't come home.
Captain Walker didn't come home.
His unborn child will never know him.
(To comfort him, one of the officers presses a pint of whiskey, into
teetotaling Uncle Ernie's hand. He gives it a try.)


Scene 2: Hospital


It's a Boy


Nurse:
It's a boy, Mrs Walker, It's a boy.

Nurses:
It's a boy, Mrs Walker, It's a boy.


Mrs. Walker & Nurses:

A son! A son!



(Captain Walker sits in a prison camp as the years go by from 1942-45)

Allied Soldier No. 1
Back home, they're celebrating in the streets.
And freedom reigns on this first day of peace.

Captain Walker & Soldiers:
We've won! We've won! We've won!


Scene 3: 22 Heathfield Gardens: 1945


(Mrs. Walker is celebrating her birthday with her 4 year old son Tommy, and
her new love. With his shirt off and very much at home, the Lover watches
as Tommy impatiently waits for his piece of cake.)


Twenty-one


Mrs. Walker: (to her lover)
Gotta feelin' twenty-one
Is gonna be a good year
Especially if you and me
See it in together.

Lover: (to Mrs. Walker)
Now you're twenty-one
You're ready for a new year.
Let's marry now
And celebrate forever.

Mrs Walker:
I had no reason to be over-optimistic,
But somehow when you smile
I can brave bad weather.

Mrs. Walker: Lover:
Gotta feelin' twenty-one Twenty-one today-
Is gonna be a good year

Especially if you and me Your future is with me now.
See it in together.

(Mrs. Walker puts Tommy to bed in the back of the bedroom, where he gives her
a flower.)


Mrs. Walker: Lover:
Only twenty-one today Now you're twenty-one
And I've grown such a grown-up son. You're ready for a new year.
Wish your Mum a happy day! Let's marry now
And celebrate forever.


Four-year Old Tommy:
Happy birthday, Mum.

Mrs. Walker: ( to Tommy)
I had no reason to be over-optimistic,
But somehow when you smile
I can brave bad weather.

(Mrs. Walker kisses Tommy goodnight and rejoins her lover in front room - who
is waiting with a bottle of champagne)

Mrs. Walker & Lover:
I had no reason to be over-optimistic,
But somehow when you smile
I can brave bad weather.

Instrumental

Returning unexpectedly from the war, Captain Walker appears at the door late
at night to find Mrs. Walker and her lover in an embrace. The lover attacks
Captain Walker and the 4 year old Tommy is woken up by the commotion. Mrs.
Walker tries to turn him away from the violent scene but he faces a mirror in
which he witnesses the lover slapping his mother and threatening to attack his
father with a chair. The father shoots the lover in the head. The Walkers
embrace, helplessly, then realize that Tommy has seen it all in the mirror.

Mrs Walker:
What about the boy?

Captain Walker:
What about the boy?

Both:
What about the boy?
He saw it all!
You didn't hear it,
You didn't see it,
You won't say nothing to no one
Ever in your life.
You never heard it.
How absurd it'll
Seem without any proof.
You didn't hear it,
You didn't see it,
You never heard it, not a word of it.
You won't say nothing to no one.
Never tell a soul
What you know is the..
You didn't hear it,
You didn't see it,
You won't say nothing to no one
Ever in your life.
You never heard it.
How absurd it'll
Seem without any :
You didn't hear it,
You didn't see it,
You never heard it, not a word of it.
You won't say nothing to no one.
Never tell a soul
What you know is the truth.

Captain Walker:
What about the boy?

(Police pour on the scene, examine the body and take Mr. Walker into custody)

Mrs. Walker:
Tommy. Everything is going to alright.
Do you understand?

(Tommy doesn't respond)

Mrs Walker:
You needn't be afraid love. Tommy?
Do you hear me?

(Tommy doesn't answer)

Tommy do you understand Mummy?

(Tommy walks to the mirror on the wardrobe. The objects he sees in it seem to
defy the laws of gravity and space. A chair flies into the air. Doors take on
a new positions. The view outside of the windows become scrambled)

Mrs. Walker:
Tommy! Tommy!

(Tommy just stares at the mirror. The police separate the Walkers for
questioning while the older Tommy, our narrator, appears on the top of the
wardrobe as if by magic.)


Amazing Journey


Tommy:
Deaf, dumb and blind boy...
He's in a quiet vibration land.
Strange as it seems, his musical dream
Ain't quite so bad.

Four years old
With thoughts as bold as thought can be;
Loving life and becoming wise
In simplicity.

Sickness will surely take the mind
Where minds can't usually go.
Come on the amazing journey
And learn all you should know.

A vague haze of delirium
Seeps in his mind
Soaring and flying images blind.
I'll be your leader;
I'll be your guide.
On the amazing journey, together we'll ride.

Nothing to say
Nothing to hear,
Nothing to see.
Each sensation makes a note in his symphony.

Sickness will surely take the mind
Where minds can't usually go.
Come on the amazing journey
And learn all you should know.

His eyes are the eyes that
Transmit all they know.
The truth burns so bright
It can melt winter snow.
A towering figure,
So brilliant so high:
A white sun burning
The earth and the sky.

(The narrator vanishes and the house disassembles)


Scene 4: An English Courtroom:1945


(Against the backdrop of a huge Union Jack, the Walker family stands to await
the judge's verdict. Captain Walker, still in uniform, is in the prisoner's
docket.)

Judge:
Captain Walker, after much consideration, on the grounds of justifiable
homicide, this court find you... Not Guilty.

(There is elation in the courtroom, but Tommy doesn't move.)

Judge:
Little boy, your parents have had some very good news indeed. I hope that you
can appreciate that fact.

(There is no response from Tommy. The flag seems to melt. The words spoken to
him by the grown-ups start to seem like some sinister, unrecognizable,
otherwordly language.)

Little boy, what about a small smile in celebration of this most happy turn of
events?

First Barrister:
Do you hear, my boy?
The magistrate is speaking to you!

(As he becomes the center of attention - Tommy just stares blankly ahead)

Mrs. Walker:
My God Tommy...
what ever is happening to you, my love?

The Walkers kneel by Tommy and begin to realize what they may have done to
their son. As Uncle Ernie sneaks a shot out of a flask, they lead Tommy off
to get medical help.)


Scene 5: Hospital

Sparks (Instrumental)

A very concerned Mr. & Mrs. Walker deliver four year old Tommy to a young
doctor who lead him by hand through a door. The Walkers leave and during the
rest of the scene Tommy is escorted through the door after door in an
accelerating series of examinations and tests. The doctors and nurses usher
Tommy around like an automaton. He is the center of a whirl of file cabinets,
eye charts and swinging doors as lab technicians work at a counter where tubes
are delivered and tested, readings are taken and charts are filled out.
Nurses and Doctors hurry about, passing Tommy and clipboards around like
batons in a relay race. They check the boy's pulse, reflexes, heartbeat,
eyesight and hearing.
In the end the Walkers return and consult with the young doctor, who shakes
his head. For the Walkers this is the real court and the verdict is
catastrophic.
As the doctors walk off with the four year old Tommy, a projection screen
tells us it is now 1950, and a nurse enters with a 10year old Tommy, who
carries a balloon in one hand.
The narrator somersaults in from above to join Tommy and his parents onstage.

Amazing Journey (reprise)

Tommy:
Ten years old
With thoughts as bold as thought can be;
Loving life and becoming wise in simplicity.

Sickness will surely take the mind
Where minds can't usually go.
Come on the amazing journey
And learn all you should know.

A vague haze of delirium
Seeps in his mind
Soaring and flying images blind.
I'll be your leader;
I'll be your guide.
On the amazing journey, together we'll ride.

(Unseen by the Walkers, the Narrator takes the balloon from Tommy and floats
away with it.)


Scene 6: Church & Home of the Relatives-
Cousin Kevin and his parents; 1950

Christmas

With a giant stained-glass eye projected behind them, the extended family goes
to church at Christmas, where the minister presides over a choir.)

Mr. Walker:
Did you ever see the faces of the children?
They get so excited,
Waking up on Christmas morning.
Hours before the winter's sun's ignited.
They believe in dreams and all they mean,
Including Heaven's generosity.
Peeping 'round the door
To see what parcels are in store.
In curiosity.

Mr & Mrs Walker:
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is.
He doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is.

All:
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?

(The family shakes hands with the Minister and they all proceed to Cousin
Kevin's house for Christmas dinner. Ten-year-old Tommy sits rocking on the
floor, oblivious to his present, a model of an RAF bomber, which Cousin Kevin
opens and plays with for him)

Mr. Walker:
Surrounded by us all, he sits so silently
And unaware of anything...
Playing dumb, he cries, he smiles,
He picks his nose, he pokes his tongue at everything.

Minister:
I believe in love.
But how can men who've never seen
Light be enlightened?
Only if he's cured
Will his spirit's future level ever heighten.

Mr & Mrs Walker:
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is.
He doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is.

All:
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?

(Uncle Ernie plays the French horn to amuse the family; to their amazement,
Tommy seems to respond. Mr Walker notices and crosses to Tommy in amazement)

Mr. Walker:
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Can you hear me?

(There is no response from Tommy)

All:
How can he be saved?


See Me, Feel Me


(Unseen by the others the older Tommy appears and reaches out to his younger
self.)


Tommy

See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me...
Touch me, heal me.

(the Ten year old Tommy rises and moves from the table. The Narrator exits as
Mr. Walker noticing that Tommy has moved on his own, goes to him)

Mr. Walker:
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Can you hear me?

All:
How can he be saved?

( A group of carollers appear at the door, the older members of the family
pair off to dance and young Tommy is grabbed by Cousin Kevin and waltzed
around the room.)

All:
Did you ever see the faces of the children?
They get so excited,
Waking up on Christmas morning.
Hours before the winter's sun's ignited.
They believe in dreams and all they mean,
Including Heaven's generosity.
Peeping 'round the door
To see what parcels are in store.
In curiosity.

And Tommy doesn't know what day it is.
He doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is.
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?

(Uncle Ernie is left on stage alone with a pint of beer in his hand. He downs
it in one long gulp. He lets out a thunderous belch and head for his
baby-sitting appointment.)


Scene 7: 22 Heathfield Gardens


(Uncle Ernie is met at the door by Mrs. Walker, who is getting ready to go out
with Mr. Walker for the evening. As Ernie sinks into the sofa, Mrs. Walker
anxiously goes on dressing in the bedroom.)


Do You Think It's Alright


Mrs Walker:
Do you think it's alright
To leave the boy with Uncle Ernie?
Do you think it's alright?
He's had a few too many tonight!
Do you think it's alright?

Mr. Walker:
I think it's alright.
Yes I think it's alright

Mrs Walker:
D'you think it's alright?
Yes I think it's alright

( Uncle Ernie sprawls drunkenly on the sofa next to Tommy who's rocking back
and forth. The Walkers kiss Tommy goodnight and walk out the door.)

Mrs Walker:
Do you think it's alright
To leave the boy with Uncle Ernie?
There's something about this
I really don't like!

Mr. Walker:
Do you think it's alright?
I think it's alright.
D'you think it's alright?
Yes I think it's alright
Yes I think it's alright

(Still sitting on the sofa next to Tommy, Uncle Ernie doesn't touch him,
hardly looks at him. He only glances over occasionally to make sure that
Tommy can't hear or understand him.)


Fiddle about


Uncle Ernie:
I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie
I'm glad you won't see or hear me
As I fiddle about,
Fiddle about
Fiddle about!
Your mother left me here to mind you
Now I'm doing what I want to:
Fiddling about,
Fiddling about,
Fiddle about!
Down with the bedclothes,
Up with the nightshirt!
Fiddle about
Fiddle about
Fiddle about!

Ensemble:
Fiddle about
Fiddle about
Fiddle about!

Uncle Ernie:
You won't shout as I fiddle about.

(Ernie picks Tommy up and carries him to the bed which begins to spin
demonically.)

Uncle Ernie & Ensemble:
Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle
Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle
Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle
Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle
Fiddle!

(There is the sound of a slamming door and everything stops. The Walkers have
come back. Uncle Ernie rushes through the bedroom door, finger to his lips to
hush them, and leaves. Tommy crosses to the front of the room past his parents
to stare at himself in the mirror. The 10 year old Tommy suddenly sees his
older self in the mirror.)


See me, Feel Me (reprise)


(Everything else fades into darkness and all we see is the ten-year old Tommy
gazing at the older Tommy in the wardrobe mirror.)

Tommy: (to 10 year old Tommy)
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me,
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.


Scene 8: 22 Heathfield Gardens


(Tommy is alone with Cousin Kevin, his new baby-sitter)


Cousin Kevin


Cousin Kevin:
We're on our own, cousin
All alone cousin,
Let's think of a game to play
Now that the grownups have all gone away
You won't be as much fun
Being blind, deaf and dumb
But I've no one to play with today.
D'you know how to play hide and seek?
To find me it would take you a week
But tied to a chair you won't go anywhere:
There's a lot I can do with a freak.

(Cousin Kevin sticks a lampshade on Tommy's head, then flings it away, pushes
him out the front door and leaves him out there.)

How would you feel if I turned on the bath,
Ducked your head under and started to laugh?
What would you do if I shut you outside
To stand in the rain
And catch cold so you died?

I'm the school bully!
The classroom cheat!
The nastiest play-friend
You ever could meet.
I'll stick pins in your fingers
And tread on your feet:

(Against a projection of a London backstreet filled with laundry lines, Cousin
Kevin sicks Tommy into the trash can, puts the lid on and sits on top)

We're on our own, cousin
All alone cousin,
Let's think of a game to play
Now that the grownups have all gone away
You won't be as much fun
Being blind, deaf and dumb
But I've no one to play with today.

( The backdrop changes to the courtyard behind the church. Cousin Kevin rolls
the trash can on it's side, finally dumping Tommy out in a heap. The Church
Youth Club full of tough-looking boys and girls, gather around them. They toss
Tommy around and treat him as if he were a living mannequin, dressing him in
odd hats and scarves, sticking cigarettes in his mouth and ears and lighting
them)

Cousin Kevin & Local Lads & Lasses
Maybe a cigarette burn on your arm
Would change your expression to one of alarm.
I'll drag you around by a lock of your hair
Or give you a push at the top of the stairs:

I'm the school bully!
The classroom cheat!
The nastiest play-friend
You ever could meet.
I'll put glass in your dinner
And spikes in you seat:

(the Minister and his wife enter and everyone is immediately on their best
behavior..until they leave)

We're on our own, cousin
All alone cousin,
Let's think of a game to play
Now that the grownups have all gone away
You won't be as much fun
Being blind, deaf and dumb
But I've no one to play with today.


Instrumental


Bored with Tommy, Cousin Kevin jokingly stands him in front of the Youth
Center's pinball machine. Tommy stares into the mirrored surface backboard
and starts to play. The machine comes to life. The youths begin to gather
around him. He plays hypnotically, beating the machine, and begins to rack up
an incredible score. Lights flash, bells ring, buzzers sound. The youths start
cheering Tommy on as the Narrator tumbles in from above him.


Sensation


Tommy:
I overwhelm as I approach you
Make your lungs hold breath inside!
Lovers break caresses for me.
Love distracted don't know why.
You'll feel me coming
A new vibration
From afar you'll see me.
I'm a sensation:
I'm a sensation!

(The Minister comes back to see Tommy's miraculous behavior. He runs out to
get the Walkers.)

They're moved by me and all I touch;
Hazy-eyed, they catch my glance.
Pleasant shudders shake their senses.
My warm momentum throws their stance
You'll feel me coming
A new vibration
From afar you'll see me.
I'm a sensation:
I'm a sensation!
Soon you'll see me. Can you feel me?
I'm coming...
Send your troubles dancing. You know the answer...
I'm coming...
I'm coming...
I'm a sensation!
(The youths begin to dance and celebrate wildly as Tommy's pinball score
continues to mount)
I leave a trail of rooted people
Mesmerized by just the sight.
All these lovers feel me coming,
Love as one-in love tonight.
You'll feel me coming,
A new vibration,
From afar you'll see me,
I'm a sensation:
I'm a sensation!
I'm a sensation:
I'm a sensation!
I am the light.


(The Narrator disappears as the Minister brings Tommy's parents in. They stand
watching in amazement for a while and then Mrs. Walker puts her arm around
Tommy. The Walkers lead Tommy off with new hope.)


Scene 9 : A Psychiatric Clinic


Sparks (reprise)

A psychiatrist and his assistant experiment with Tommy. The psychiatrist
guides Tommy to a cymbal, a drum and a bell, encouraging him to play each
instrument. The Walkers urge Tommy on but he only responds like a puppet. Mr
and Mrs Walker become discouraged. Tommy gets very tired and they all seem
hopelessly defeated.


Scene 10: Heathfield Gardens


Eyesight to the Blind

The front door of 22 Heathfield Gardens appears as the disheartened Walkers
lead Tommy down the street. Mr. Walker puts his key in the door and lets Mrs.
Walker and Tommy enter, while he remains at the doorstep and takes out a
package of cigarettes. He is clearly upset.
The Hawker glides down the street, glances through the window and nods at a
not yet visible companion. A rather unsavory-looking character, he arrives at
Mr. Walker's side in time to light up his cigarette. While Mr. Walker smokes,
the Hawker begins to sing "Eyesight to the blind" and pulls out photographs of
his woman, which he shows to Mr. Walker. His proposition is clear and Mr.
Walker is dubious.
The Hawker's companion appears down the street, playing wailing riffs on his
harmonica. Mr. Walker is now somewhat amused and looks at the photographs
again with interest at the prospect of a woman who could cure his son. After
some hesitation, he goes inside and rushes Tommy out of the house. Mrs. Walker
appears at the door and seems to be about to stop them but then thinks better
of it and stands watching them go.
Mr. Walker and Tommy follow the two men through a heavily industrial, urban
London landscape. The Hawker continues to sing as he leads them to a
godforsaken back alley where aggressive hookers and filthy derelicts couch
around fires buring in oil drums. A group of thugs is gathered around a
manhole on a circle of tires while, in the background, drunks sip at cheap
beer and rubbing alchohol. Despite the surroundings, Mr Walker, who is at his
wit's end about his son, is eager to meet the woman he's been told has "got
the power to heal"


Scene 11: The Isle of the Dogs


(The others slink away as the Hawker and the Harmonica Player lead Tommy and
his father to a hooded figure, a drug-addicted prostitute called the Gypsy,
badly in need of a fix. She looks down at Tommy, puts her hand on her head and
gazes up at the heavens.)


Acid Queen


Gypsy:
If your child ain't all he should be now;
This girl will put him right.
I'll show him all he could be now;
Just give me one night.

(The Gypsy removes her cloak and steps into the light)

I'm the Gypsy- the Acid Queen!
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy- I'm guaranteed
To tear his soul apart.

Give us a room and close the door.
Leave us for a while.
Your boy won't be a boy no more.
He'll be young but not a child.

I'm the Gypsy- the Acid Queen!
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy- I'm guaranteed
To tear his soul apart.

Gather your wits and hold on fast;
Your mind must learn to roam;
Just as the Gypsy must do,
You're gonna hit the road.

When the work is done, you'll look at him;
He'll never be more alive.
My blood will run through his skin.
Watch his body writhe!

I'm the Gypsy- the Acid Queen!
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy- I'm guaranteed
To tear his soul apart.

(The Gypsy hustles Mr. Walker away from Tommy and over to the Hawker. She
dances sinuously around the boy who seems to respond in a voluntary motion.
Mr. Walker is encouraged enough to pay her.)

If your child ain't all he should be now;
This girl will put him right.
I'll show him all he could be now;
Just give me one night.

I'm the Gypsy- the Acid Queen!
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy- I'm guaranteed
To break your little heart.

(The Gypsy starts to lead Tommy off, but Mr. Walker, horrified at the actual
deed, changes his mind and pulls him away from her. As they exit, the Hawker
takes the money from the Gypsy, who turns away in despair.


Scene 12: Amusement Arcade; 1958.


( A wall of mirror appears in the background as a slide tells us it is now
1958. A disheveled young Teddy Boy complains to an unimpressed Cousin Kevin,
who is filing his nails.)


Pinball Wizard


First Local Lad:
Ever since I was a young boy,
I've played the silver ball.
From the Soho down to Brighton,
I must have played them all.
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!

(A second Teddy Boy stumbles on, clearly another local champion)

Second Local Lad:
He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine.
Feeling all the bumpers,
Always playing clean.
He plays by intuition;
The digit counters fall,
The deaf, dumb and blind kid...

The Two Lads:
...Sure play a mean pinball!

( The rest of the arcade assembles around them, complete with funhouse mirrors
and several pinball machines played by the local lads and lasses. Cousin
Kevin's popularity clearly rests on the unseen Tommy's status as local legend.)

Cousin Kevin & The Two Local Lads:
He's a pinball wizard.
There has to be a twist.
A pinball wizard,
S'got such a supple wrist.

First Local Lad:
How do you think he does it?

Second Lad:
I don't know.

First Local Lad:
What makes him so good?

Cousin Kevin:
He ain't got no distractions;
Can't hear those buzzers and bells.
Don't see no lights a-flashin';
He plays by sense of smell.
He always get a replay,
'N never tilts at all.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid...

Cousin Kevin & Two Lads:
...Sure plays a mean pinball!

The Two Lads:
I thought I was
The Bally table king...

Local Lads:
...But I just handed
My pinball crown to him.

Local Lasses:
How do you think he does it?

First Local Lad:
I don't know.

Local Lasses:
What makes him so good?

First Local Lad:
Even at my favorite table,
He can beat my best.

Second Local Lad:
The kids all lead him in
And he just does the rest.

Cousin Kevin:
He's got crazy flipper fingers;
Never seen him fall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid...

All:
...Sure plays a mean pinball!

(Riding in on a pinball machine, a teenage Tommy - our Narrator - appears to
the delight of the Arcade.)

Cousin Kevin & Lads:
Even at my favorite table,
He can beat my best.
The kids all lead him in
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy flipper fingers;
Never seen him fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid

All:

Sure plays a mean pinball!!!!

(Sirens wail, lights flash, bells ring as Tommy runs up an astronomical score,
and the curtain comes down.)


ACT TWO


Underture

1960: In the arcade, against a backdrop of brillantly colored pinball images,
Tommy is playing at a pinball machine, surrounded by the youths. Tommy at 20,
is a neighborhood celebrity and the adored official mascot of this particular
local gang. His playing builds to a fever pitch; a buzzer sounds as he beats
the machine. The lads scream in victory...

Local Lads:
Right!!!!!

...and carry Tommy over their heads down the street, with Cousin Kevin leading
the way.

Local Lads:
Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy!:


Scene 13: The Sunlight Laundrette


(The local lads carry the inert Tommy into the Sunlight Laundrette, where Mrs.
Walker. Quietly folding her laundry, watches their loutish but lively
behavior with some sadness. They deposit Tommy on a chair and depart.)

It's Boy(reprise)

Mrs. Walker:
Hmm, Hmm, hmm
It's a boy, Mrs. Walker, it's a boy.
It's a boy, Mrs. Walker...

(She crosses to Tommy and gently wipes something from his face with a tea
towel. Mr. Walker rushes in, bursting with news.)


There's a Doctor


Mr. Walker
There's a man I found
Could bring us all joy!
There's a doctor I found can cure the boy!
A doctor I found can cure the boy!

Mrs. Walker (cynically)
A doctor you found can cure the boy!

Mr. Walker:
There's a man I found can remove his sorrow.
He lives in town. Let's see him tomorrow.

Mr. & Mrs. Walker:
Let's see him tomorrow!

(The Walkers lead Tommy out of the laundrette and into a very modern looking
laboratory.)


Scene 14 : A Research Laboratory


(The modern research laboratory is teeming with lab technicians, as the
Specialist speaks to the Walkers about Tommy's condition.)


Go to the Mirror


Specialist:
He seems to be completely unreceptive.
The tests I give him make no sense at all.

Specialist & Specialist's assistant:
His eyes react to light; the dials detect it.
He hears but cannot answer to your call.

(Against a backdrop of atomic images and X-rays, Tommy is placed in a
nightmarish contraption that spins around 360degrees)

Ten-year old Tommy: (voiceover)
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.

Specialist:
There is no chance; no untried operation.
All hope lies with him; and none with me.

Specialist & Specialist's assistant:
Imagine though, the shock from isolation
If he suddenly could hear and speak and see.

(Tommy is moved onto a glowing, brightly-colored table that slides him into
the tunnel of a similarly brilliant CAT scan machine. Multiple images of the
brillant readings of the machine appear on the screens behind them.)

Ten-year Old Tommy (voiceover)
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.

Specialist:
His eyes can see,
His ears can hear, his lips can speak.
All the time the needles, flick and rock.

Specialist & Specialist's Assistant:
No machine can give the kind of stimulation
needed to remove his inner block.
Go to the mirror boy!
Go to the mirror boy!

(The specialist turns Tommy toward the mirror; he walks to it and stares at
his own image.)

Mrs Walker:
I often wonder what he's feeling.
Has he ever heard a word I've said?

Mr. & Mrs. Walker:
Look at him the mirror, dreaming.
What is happening in his head?

(Tommy sees his 4 year old and 10 year old selves in the mirror)


Listening to You (reprise)

The Two Young Tommys:
Listening to you, I get the music.
Gazing at you, I get the heat.
Following you, I climb the mountain.
I get excitement at your feet!

(As Tommy joins in the singing, he levitates several feet off the floor,
unnoticed by anyone.)

The Three Tommys:
Right behind you, I see the millions;
On you, I see the glory.
From you, I get opinions;
From you, I get the story.

(Tommy lands gently back on the floor as his younger selves disappear)

Mr. & Mrs Walker:
What is happening in his head?
Ooooh, I wish I knew:
I wish I knew.

(Left alone on stage, Tommy is beginning to surface into consciousness. Very
slowly, he raises his hand and stares at it.)


Scene 15:The Street/22 Heathfield Gardens


(Projected scenes of urban industry give way to a tough-looking street where
Cousin Kevin joins some leather-jacketed rockers surrounding Tommy.)

Cousin Kevin (spoken)
Tommy's been to hospital.

First Lad:
Oh, so he's been cured then, has he?

Cousin Kevin:
Oh completely cured, yeah. He's a wonder of science. They're going to make him
prime fucking minister.


Tommy Can you Hear Me?


(The lads start playing roughly but good-naturedly with Tommy. 22 Heathfield
Gardens assembles behind them.)

Local Lads:
Tommy can you hear me?
Can you feel me near you?
Tommy, can you see me?
Can I help to cheer you?
Oooh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy...

(Cousin Kevin knocks on the Walkers' door and the youths carry Tommy into the
house and deposit him on the sofa.)

Local Lads:
Tommy can you hear me?
Can you feel me near you?
Tommy, can you see me?
Can I help to cheer you?
Oooh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy...
Tommy, Tommy, Tommy...

(The lads file out, one giving Mrs Walker a flower from her own vase. The
image of Tommy as a 10 year old magically appears in the mirror)

10-year old Tommy:
Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy.

(Tommy crosses to the mirror and stares. Mr. Walker stiffens)


Scene 16: 22 Heathfield Gardens


(Oblivious to young Tommy in the mirror, the Walkers sit at the table. Mrs
Walker shuffles a deck of cards)

Mrs Walker: (spoken to Mr Walker)
Like to play love?

(Mr. Walker silently fuming doesn't respond)

...Suit yourself.


I Believe My Own Eyes


Mr Walker:
This can't continue
It makes no sense
We're getting nowhere.
I've lost all my confidence.
The boy wants something.
I'm satisfied;
He needs attention
And care our love can't provide
And then, there's the matter of us...

(Mr. Walker takes his wife's hands and holds them with tender intensity.)

I'd like to prove
That I don't think that you've
Seen the best of me.
I've stood up for the boy
And I've clung to the hopes and the lies.
I wish that the pain
In your gaze could again
be a test of me.
But when I look in the mirror
I believe my own eyes.

(Mr. Walker crosses to Tommy, still staring into the mirror)

I believe my own eyes
Know I've come to the end...
All my patience is gone.
When I'm doubtful, I tend
To believe my own eyes.

Mrs Walker:
I'd like to declare
This devotion and care
Is the life to live.
That nothing has changed
And that time isn't passing us by.
But I have to say here
That, for us, there's a clear-
cut alternative.
When we look at eachother
We believe our own eyes.

(Mr. Walker leads Tommy to the sofa and sits him down)

Mr. & Mrs Walker:
I believe my own eyes
Know I've come to the end...
All my patience is gone.
When I'm doubtful, I tend
To believe my own eyes.
This has gone far enough!
After all we've been through...
We can't be blamed;
We've done all we can humanly do.
It's a time to be tough,
A time to be wise.
We must stop chasing false dreams
And recover our lives.
I believe my own eyes
Know I've come to the end...
All my patience is gone.
When I'm doubtful, I tend
To believe...
I'd like to believe
That I don't feel that we've
seen the best of us.
And the way to believe
is to see where the real future lies.
I hope that the pain
In your gaze can again
Be a test of us.
And when I look in the mirror
I believe my own eyes.
Let's believe our own eyes.
Know that we've come to the end...
All our patience is gone.
Let's admit we intend...

Mr. Walker (exiting)
...To believe our own eyes.

Mrs. Walker:
...To believe our own eyes.

(The image of Tommy as a four year old appears in the mirror)

Four-year old Tommy:
Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy.

(Tommy crosses to the mirror and stares. Furiously Mrs. Walker wrenches him
away from his reflection.)


Smash the Mirror


Mrs. Walker:
You don't answer my call
With even a nod or a wink
But you gave at your own reflection!
You don't seem to see me
But I think you can see yourself.
How can the mirror affect you?
Can you hear me
Or do I surmise
That you fear me?
Can you feel my temper
Rise, rise, rise, rise
Rise, rise, rise, rise
Rise, rise, rise, rise
Rise!
Do you hear or fear me or
Do I smash the mirror?
Do you hear or fear me or
Do I smash the mirror?

(Mrs. Walker tries to pull Tommy away from the mirror, but each time one of
the younger Tommys appears in the mirror, Tommy tries to move toward the image
of the child.)

Do you hear or fear me or
Do I smash the mirror?

(Mrs. Walker picks up a chair and threatens to smash the mirror with it)

Mrs. Walker:
Do you hear or fear or
Do I smash the mirror?

(In the mirror, appears the image of the terrified 4 year-old Tommy on the
night of the killing long ago. Mrs. Walker furiously swings back the chair:
Darkness. The crash of breaking glass and the sound of a gunshot. In the
background are projections of a shattered house and the Lover falling dead. )

(The mirror has been completely smashed. Tommy looks around and sees
everything in the room. He stands in the spot where the lover was killed and
kneels to touch the floor. He looks at his mother and reaches out to touch her.
She embraces him, but he does not return it. she rushes off to get Mr. Walker.)


I'm Free


Tommy
I'm free...I'm free
And freedom tastes of reality.
I'm free...I'm free:
And freedom lies here in normality.

(Mrs Walker returns with Mr. Walker and they watch Tommy in utter amazement)

I could tell you what it takes
To feel the highest high.
You'd laugh and say "Nothing's that simple!"
But you've been down this path before
While I was waiting at the door.
This place is sacred as a temple.

(Uncle Ernie enters and Tommy's family gather to watch him in amazement.)

Tommy
I'm free...I'm free.
Right here I've found immortality!

(The minister knocks on the door and is dragged in to witness Tommy's
miraculous change. Uncle Ernie takes Tommy's photograph.)

Tommy:
I'm free...I'm free.
And freedom tastes of reality!

(Mr. Walker opens his arms to embrace his son, but Tommy sharply pushes him
away. Tommy opens the front door and walks him away. Tommy opens the front
door and walks down the street, looking at all that surrounds him.)


Scene 17: The Streets of London: 1961-1963


(Against a lurid backdrop of Fleet Street at night, a reporter joins Uncle
Ernie, who produces a photograph)

Uncle Ernie: (spoken)
What you've stumbled upon here my son, could be ginormous- a story on par with
the opening of King Tuts tomb or the Hindenburg disaster. Happily I was able
to capture the moment of young Tommy Walker's miraculous recovery for all
posterity right there in black and white. One would think that such a valuable
snap would be worth a hundred quid:but it's yours for a mere fifty.

(The photo is a bad one of Tommy holding up his hand to the camera. The
reporter gives him back the photograph.)

Uncle Ernie:
I could of course, just hand the Nobel prize over to one of your Fleet Street
Collegues from say, the "Mirror" or the "Times" or the "Guardian"

(The reporter walks away)

Uncle Ernie:
What about for a bottle of Scotch?

(The reporter exits)

(Tommy enters, takes the picture out of Ernie's hand, looks at it and tosses
it into the air. Suddenly his picture is everywhere. In front of a background
of black and white printing presses, a rather bored, middle aged news vendor
enters, hawking the tabloids headlining Tommy's recovery.)

Vendor:
Deaf, dumb and blind kid in a miracle cure. Read about it here. Deaf, dumb
and blind kid. Special section. Final edition. Deaf, dumb and blind kid in a
miracle cure


Miracle Cure


(As the picture is repeatedly projected in the background, the local lads
enter, delighted with the news. The lads surround the News vendor and swipe
his papers, one by one.

Local Lads:
Extra! Extra!
Read all about it!
The pinball wizard in a miracle cure!
Extra! Extra!
Read all about it!
Extra!

(Uncle Ernie buys a paper and furiously leafs through it. The lads go off as
the newly conscious Tommy rides in on a pinball machine.)

Sensation (reprise)

Tommy:
You'll feel me coming,
A new vibration.
From afar you'll see me.
I'm a sensation...
I'm a sensation!
Soon you'll see me. Can't you feel me?
I'm coming...

Reporters: (rushing in to surround Tommy)
Sensation... Sensation.

Tommy:
Send your troubles dancing; you know the answer.
I'm coming...Reporters...
I'm coming Sensation...Sensation!

Reporters:
Sensation... Sensation!


Slide: 1961

( The Walkers enter and are surrounded by reporters.)

Mrs Walker (spoken)
It's true, our son doesn't come round anymore. We never get to see him.
I do worry sometimes, you know, that we're the only ones who really
understand and all:but we're grateful, of course- grateful for his
transformation.

Mr. Walker:
Which is a better word for it. We don't like the use of the word "miracle" one
bit. He simply got well. That's the extent of it. And his mother and I never
gave up the faith through all the years. Not once.

Mrs Walker:
We just hope he's happy. It seems he's become all the rage today, doesn't it?

(Reporters rush in to surround Tommy's machine. The local lads appear in
security uniforms. A uniformed Kevin seems to be in charge.)

The Reporters:
Sensation...Sensation!
Sensation...Sensation!


Slide:1962


(Tommy pivots; pulls back the plunger and fires)

Cousin Kevin: (being interviewed; his image appears in video monitors above
the stage.)
Those of us who've known my cousin a long time, his friends from before like,
we're providing the necessary protection. So as far as family relations are
concerned, all I'm saying is he's been very good to me. Very good. And I for
one am glad I can be of some assistance. I believed in him from the beginning,
right from the very start. I know what it was like. I was there.

All:
Sensation...Sensation!
Sensation...Sensation!


Slide:1963


All:
Sensation...Sensation!
Sensation...Sensation!
Ahhh, Sensation...
Sensation!

(A television studio appears and Tommy sits with the talk show hostess. Their
images appear on video screens)

Tommy (to interviewer)
I won't answer that. I want to be very clear with you. I won't answer any
questions about my personal life. So leave off.

(The Walkers fade quietly into the background and go off)

As for people's interest...I got a lot out of playing...learned a lot from it,
you know. It's all I had, really. And my dreams. It's like ...people want me
to pass that on in some way. So that's what I'm trying to do. Pass it on.


I'm Free/Pinball Wizard (reprise)


Tommy: (to interviewer)
I could tell you what it takes
To feel the highest high.
You'd laugh and say "Nothing's that simple!"

(Tommy sings directly into the camera and a close-up of his face appears on
the video screen.)

I'm free...I'm free...
And I'm waiting for you to follow me!

(The studio disappears and only Tommy and his security guards remain on the
stage. Tommy is inventing a public self, Tommy the star, as images of the
younger Tommys, the murder, pinball, the brain-scan and finally his new self
flash before us.)

Tommy:
He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine.
Feeling all the bumpers,
Always playing clean.
He plays by intuition;
The digit counters fall,
The deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
He ain't got no distractions;
Can't hear those buzzers and bells.
Don't see no lights a-flashin';
He plays by sense of smell.
He always get a replay,
'N never tilts at all.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid ...
Sure plays a mean pinball!

Tommy & Security Guards:
He's a pinball wizard.
There has to be a twist.
A pinball wizard,
S'got such a supple wrist.

Cousin Kevin & Guards:
How do you think he does it?

Tommy:
I don't know.

Local Lasses:
What makes him so good?

( A dazzling, mirrored pinball machine rises from out of the floor. Tommy, in
a helmet that makes him deaf and blind again, staps himself to the machine and
rides it as it twists and turns manically.)

Cousin Kevin & Guards:
Even at my favorite table,
He can beat my best.
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy flipper fingers;
Never seen him fall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!

(The pinball machine faces out with Tommy behind it. Suddenly, pulsing lights,
shrieking buzzers and bells surround us, as if we were inside the guts of the
machine. Tommy continues to play furiously as the pinball machine gyrates in
an accelerating pyrotechnic fit. When the pinball machine finally explodes in
a glorious climactic fireball, Tommy steps back victorious. Silence. A huge
audience responds. Tommy is now performing on a raised platform in a stadium
before an adoring crowd.)

Tommy:
I'm free...I'm free!
And I'm a waiting for you to follow me!

Crowd:
How can we follow?
How can we follow?

(Multiple video screens display the live action of Tommy's act before the
crowd, as Cousin Kevin and the lads-turned-patrol guards patrol the stage.)


Scene 18: The Stadium: Tommy's Holiday Camp


(Uncle Ernie stands with a megaphone on a bridge made of videos and
shamelessly works the crowd.)

Uncle Ernie: (spoken)
Hello there darlings!
I'm Tommy's Uncle Ernie,
And I welcome you to Tommy's Holiday Camp!
The camp with a difference!
Never mind the weather!
When you come to Tommy's, the holiday's forever!
Get your Tommy T-shirts and your stickers
And your Tommy mirrors to smash!
Don't rush...keep steady!
Have your money ready!
Buy your way to heaven.
That comes to one pound seven.
Bless you love.
Buy your shades and ear plugs here!
Keep in line. I've got a huge ...supply.
Get your Tommy record.
You can really hear him talk!
Tommy pics and badges..
Half a nicker for the cork.

(spoken)Watch this then.
(He does a little dance while showing videos of Tommy merchandise)

Uncle Ernie:
The camp with a difference!
Never mind the weather!
When you come to Tommy's, the holiday's forever!

Uncle Ernie (spoken)
This is your chance! Tommy's Holiday Camp is coming to your town. At eight
tonight - Tommy, live on-stage! You lucky people!

(Tommy appears on video screens as guards threatenly escort a somewhat
sheepish Uncle Ernie from the stage as Cousin Kevin watches approvingly. He
stays as we are introduced to the Simpson household)


Scene 19: Sally's House/The Stadium


(The security guards are gathered at the edge of the stage, confronting the
audience. Tommy is on the podium behind them with his back to the guards and
audience.)


Sally Simpson


Cousin Kevin:
Outside the house, Mr. Simpson announces
Sally can't go to the meeting.
He goes on cleaning his blue Rolls Royce
And she runs inside-a-weeping.
She gets to her room and cries on a picture,
Always keeps it by her.
She picks up a book of her father's life
And throws it on the fire.

(The videos show stadium crowds and Tommy's face as a weeping Sally is joined
at her dressing table by her mother.)

Sally & Mr. & Mrs. Simpson:
She knew from the start,
Deep down in her heart,
That she and Tommy were worlds apart:
But her mother said "Never mind: your part
is to be
what you'll be."

Sally:
Tommy's gonna beat his best tonight;
I just have to see him play.
I feel so bad; I'm sorry Dad.
Gonna sneak out anyway.
I've spent all day doin' up my hair;
I've gotta look exactly right.
Maybe he'll see that I can be free
And I'll get backstage tonight.

(Sally does herself up and rushes off past her parents)

Mr. & Mrs. Simpson:
She knew right then from the start,
Deep down in her heart,
That she and Tommy were worlds apart...
But her mother said "Never mind; your part is to be
What you'll be."

(Sally, hair blowing in the wind, rides across stage on her motor scooter.)

Two Guards:
She lands at six and the gig is a rocking;
The devil is out tonight.
The band cuts loose and the stage is a knocking
She grabs her chair- she's hot to dance
Right down their in the very first row.
Then a slick DJ who is pissing his pants
Runs on and says:

DJ
Here we go...

(Sally appears in the front row of the audience, eager to jump up on stage)

Guards:
The crowd goes crazy
As Tommy hits the stage!
Little Sally is lost
As the police boss
The crowd back in a rage! Woooo!

(Tommy stands on a high podium doing his act while his face appears on video
screens. The guards surround him in an unbreakable line.)

Sally Simpson:
A flash of fire - the whole place stops.
Tommy is a tranquilizer,
But Sally's so hot- she risks a shot
And jumps up on the riser.

(Sally rushes past the guards and climbs up onto Tommy's podium, where she
throws her scarf around his neck.)

Cousin Kevin:
She's up there now - she's hit the top.
She brushes his handsome face.
Tommy whirls around as a uniformed man
Ushers her from the stage.

(Tommy turns and inadvertently knocks Sally from the stage and the guards
below grab her and beat her viciously)

The Guards:
She knew from the start
Deep down in her heart,
That she and Tommy were worlds apart.
But her mother said "Never mind; your part is to be
What you'll be"

(Tommy leaps off the podium, pushes through the security guards and kneels
beside her, realizing how completely out of hand everything's gotten. He rocks
her in his lap.)

Tommy:
Be...
What you'll be,
What you'll be,
What you'll be,
What you'll be,
What you'll be,

(Tommy looks at the guards, and the crowd, which has gone silent.)

Tommy (to crowd)
I've had enough. I think I'm gonna go home now. Suss everything out. I'm going
home. But ...you can all come if you like. Yeah. You've all got your families,
right? Come and be a part of mine for a bit. See what it's been like for me.

(The guards look dumbfounded at Tommy's invitation to the crowd as the pieces
of 22 Heathfield Gardens assemble behind them.)


Welcome


(Still cradling the wounded Sally, Tommy sings to the audience)

Tommy: (quietly cynical)
Come to my house.
Be one of my family's people.
Lovely bright home...
We're dancing all night,
Never sleeping.

(Tommy helps Sally to her feet and disarms the security guards)

Milkman, come in!
And you baker!
Little old Lady welcome!
And you, shoemaker!
Come to this house!
Into this house!
You can help
To collect some more in.
Young and old people,
Let's get them all in!

(Videos and projections appear, first of small groups, then lines, then crowds
of people.)

Come to this house!
Into this house!

(Not having seen him at home since the cure, the Walkers and Uncle Ernie are
startled to see Tommy bringing home a crowd of guards, reporters and the
battered Sally Simpson. Tommy leads Sally with them and rushes out to bring
more people in as the reporters mill around the house.)

Tommy: (To the guards)
Ask along that man who's wearing a carnation.
Bring every single person
From Victoria station.
Go into that hospital
And bring nurses and patients.
Everyone go home and fetch your relations!

Tommy & Crowd:
Come to this house;
Be one of this family's people.
Lovely bright home...
Dancing all night, never sleeping.

Cousin Kevin (spoken)
Sir, there's more at the door.

Cousin Kevin and Guards:
There's more at the door.
There's more at the door.
There's more at the door.

( A cutout backdrop of the crowd flies in, leading us to believe that the
stadium audience and crowds of people off the street fill the Walker's house.
The monitors show crowds surging down a London street.)

All:
There's more at the door.
There's more at the door.
There's more at the door.
There's more at the door.
There's more ...


Tommy:
We need more room.
Build an extension!
We'll all work together.
Spare no expense now.

(Mrs. Walker brings Sally from the bedroom. Tommy crosses to her)

Tommy :
Come to this house;
Be one of us.
Come into this house;
Be one of us.
Come to our house.
Come to me now!

(Tommy sits Sally down next to him on the sofa, as the reporters crowd around
to capture Tommy's answer to Sally's question. Their image is picked up by the
television camera and displayed on screens all over the stage.)

Sally's Question

Sally:
How can we share the great sights you are seeing?
Hear all the glorious music you hear?

(Sally waits for Tommy to answer; he just shakes his head)

How can we be a small part of your being?
Why do you seem so alive when you're near?

(Tommy doesn't answer.)


Sally (spoken)
Tell us. Tell us now. How can we be more like you?

Tommy:
Why would you want to be more like me?
For fifteen years I was waiting for what you've already got.

Sally:
What's that?

Tommy:
All this. In my dreams I was seeing it,
hearing it, feeling it. Those are
the true miracles and you have them already.

Sally:
I don't understand.

Tommy:
The point is not for you to be more like me.
The point is...I'm finally more like you.
I can't be who you want me to be.

(The crowd of reporters, guards and the family are all asking a confusion of
questions. Tommy looks around him and stands up impatiently, to address the
camera and the crowd.)


We're not Gonna Take It


Tommy:
Welcome to this house;
I think I know know why you're here.
You wanna be like Tommy?
I'm glad you're not, I hope that's clear.
You shouldn't try to ape my show,
It's just pinball.
You don't need to claim
A share of my pain...
You're normal, after all.

(He crosses over to the guards)

You might as well get drunk.
So sorry-I've got you sussed.
No instant high for free here.
This is a bust!
I didn't live out some fairy story,
Some rags to riches crawl..
I couldn't see,
I couldn't hear,
I couldn't talk at all.

(Tommy turns back to the mirror, as his face appears on the videos. Disgusted
by his answer, the guards and reporters start to turn against Tommy.)

Security Guards & Reporters:
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.
Never did and never will.
We're not gonna take it.
Gonna break it, gonna shake it,
Let's forget it, better still.

(The family seems confused and mystified, the guards becoming openly hostile)

Tommy: (to the crowd)
You don't need to hear me;
You've got ideas of your own.
Don't have to come and cheer me;
That's something you've outgrown.
You don't need to see me;
Your vision makes the scene.
Don't let Uncle Ernie make you play
On Tommy's old machine!

Crowd:
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it.

(The crowd begins to disperse; the reporters start to pack up and leave, as do
the security guards whom Cousin Kevin tries to reassure in vain.)

Crowd:
We're not gonna take it.
Never did and never will.
Won't take your derision
And , as far as we can tell,
We don't have to take you...
Never did and never will.
We're not gonna take you.
We forsake you, maybe rape you;
Let's forget you, better still...

Guards:
We forsake you, maybe rape you;
Let's forget you, better still...


The crowd gradually abandons Tommy until Sally is the only fan left. Tommy
turns to her but she walks out after the others. As Tommy crosses back to the
mirror, the family fears he may have a relapse.)

(The image in the mirror is now the ten-year old Tommy. The two Tommys reach
for eachother tenderly. Everything else fades away.)


See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You (reprise)


Tommy & Ten-year old Tommy:

See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me,
Touch me, heal me.

(The image of the boy fades away and Tommy is left gazing at his adult self.
He turns toward his family, who are a bit wary of him.)

Tommy:
Listening to you, I get the music;
Gazing at you, I get the heat.
Following you, I climb the mountain;
I get excitement at your feet.
Right behind you, I see the millions;
On you, I see the glory.
From you, I get opinions;
From you, I get the story.

(One by one, Tommy embraces Cousin Kevin, Uncle Ernie, and his parents- with
acceptance and understanding. They respond hesitantly but are finally
exhilarated by this reunion. The family joins the song - even Cousin Kevin.)

Tommy & Family:

Listening to you, I get the music;
Gazing at you, I get the heat.
Following you, I climb the mountain;
I get excitement at your feet.
Right behind you, I see the millions;
On you, I see the glory.
From you, I get opinions;
From you, I get the story.


22 Healthfield Gardens disassembles and the family is joined by others,
they've met along the way. They face the audience.)

All:
Listening to you, I get the music;
Gazing at you, I get the heat.
Following you, I climb the mountain;
I get excitement at your feet.
Right behind you, I see the millions;
On you, I see the glory.
From you, I get opinions;
From you, I get the story.

( The others leave the stage as Tommy remains alone with his four-year-old
and ten-year-old selves flanking him as he looks out through an invisible mirror.)
Last Update:July, 25th 2016

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