ENTERTAINMENT / Theater & Arts
Who's written a new rock opera? Pete Townshend
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-07-14 10:07
Roger Daltrey (L) and Pete Townsend of the British band The Who perform
during the Paleo festival in Nyon, Switzerland, in this July 21, 2006
file photo. More than 30 years after his seminal 'Tommy' and
'Quadrophenia,' Townshend has written a new rock opera that will be given
a test run at a theater festival in New York this weekend. [Reuters]
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 30 years after his seminal "Tommy" and
"Quadrophenia," The Who's Pete Townshend has written a new rock opera
that will be given a test run at a theater festival in New York this
weekend.
Townshend, 62, who wrote over 100 songs for the classic British rock band
The Who as well "Tommy" in 1969 and "Quadrophenia" in 1973, two pieces
that defined a generation of disaffected youth, has written the book,
lyrics and music to "The Boy Who Heard Music."
Townshend first wrote the new rock opera as an Internet novella, noting
in the foreword that he likes to sketch out his operas in this way to
settle the plots and storylines.
"The Boy" is described as "a hallucinatory tale about the rise and fall
of a band made up of three teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds as
seen through the eyes of an aging rock star."
Musicians and actors will read and sing their way through the two-hour
show on Friday night and twice on Saturday at Vassar College in
Poughkeepsie, which is staging the New York Stage and Films' 23rd
Powerhouse Theater festival for developing new work.
Ed Cheetham, producing director for the Powerhouse at Vassar, said they
had only planned to put the show on twice but the huge demand for tickets
prompted a third production.
Townshend, director Ethan Silverman and the cast were not giving any
interviews about the show, believed to include a number of songs from The
Who's 2006 album "Endless Wire," and it was uncertain if Towshend would
attend.
"It's at the very beginning of its process," said Cheetham. "But when you
hear it, you can definitely hear that it is Townshend."
Top Entertaiment News
� "Harry Potter" works box office magic in debut
� Rome enters "Golden Age" with Blanchett
� Avril: Marriage turned me from a tomboy to a real woman
� Beckham arrives in LA to start American adventure
� Orlando Bloom will not go naked on London stage
Today's Top News
� Official warns of major algae outbreak
� NKorea to shut down nuclear reactor
� Assistance urged for flood victims
� Hang Seng reaches all-time high
� Unit by unit,energy use improving
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
20071124 http://www.learnchinese.bj.cn
