As the lights dim and fog rises inside Deal Park, NJ’s Axelrod PAC auditorium this Sunday, September 8, 2019 afternoon, audience members can’t help but notice a collection of luminous TV monitors lining the edge of the stage. Whereas some have the words, “See Me, Touch Me, Feel Me, Heal Me,” written on them, others show the gleaming color blocks of a television station which has gone off the air.
Various raised platforms on the stage create smaller performing spaces where a myriad of guitars — acoustic, electric, and bass — can be seen, along with amps and keyboards, microphones, assorted wind instruments, a grand piano, and — located on the extreme left — an actual pinball machine.
The smell of incense filters out over the audience and the crowd sees the stage swarm with musicians and hears a count off of “1–2–3–4” as lights flash and psychedelic phosphorescent colors fill the television screens.
It is here that the Axelrod’s presentation of Tommy: A 50th Anniversary Concert of The Who’s Rock Opera begins. The show is jointly produced by Axelrod’s CEO Jess Levy, Artistic Director Andrew DePrisco, and “soul sensation” Remember Jones — aka Anthony D’Amato — who stars in the role of Tommy.
The wall of sound coming from the stage beckons the audience back to 1969 as a French horn solo is featured on the famous “Overture” from The Who’s Tommy. Eight voices join the symphony of sound coming from the dynamic 11-piece band. The music fills the auditorium as Remember Jones takes the stage and conducts the band while audience members bop their heads in rhythm to the musical explosion coming from the stage.
As the music throbs, a visual artist, Jupiter, can been seen in front of a video camera creating the hallucinogenic images projected on the TV screens while rhythmically manipulating a tray of colored solution as if she is playing a percussion instrument.
The lights fade as guitarist Jeremy Korpas is featured center stage and Remember Jones re-enters to applause singing, “It’s a Boy.”
The lights focus on Remember Jones who sets the stage for tonight’s story with “1921,” his powerful and soulful voice telling the story of a boy, Tommy, whose senses shut down after experiencing a shocking event — the murder of his mother’s lover by his father, Captain Walker — making Tommy deaf, dumb, and blind to the external world.
Audience members sing along on the famous “You didn’t hear it/You didn’t see it/You never heard it, not a word of it” lyric which is performed by Jones and a complement of a dozen or more musicians.
Trumpeter Matt Salazar and drummer Joe Bellia are featured on “Amazing Journey” which is sung by Jones in his clear crisp vocal style as he continues to expand Tommy’s story. While Jones explains how Tommy begins to develop a fascinating inner psychological life on his “amazing journey,” lights pulse to the rhythm as they illuminate the entranced crowd.
Jones also handles the lead on “Christmas” as a dozen singers back him in layered vocal lines — some legato, some staccato — which add to the appeal of the performance. It is here the audience first hears the famous “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me” refrain which elicits hoots, hollers, and avid applause from the crowd.
Dressed in a black leather jacket and boots, Daimon Santa Maria enters dancing and singing “Cousin Kevin” in his strong tenor voice.
Taking out a flute from his backpack like an arrow from a quill, Santa Maria channels Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson singing into his flute as he plays.
Santa Maria’s powerful voice details all of the cruel things he will do to Tommy once the pair is alone.
The crowd rewards Santa Maria with cheers for his dramatic performance.
Entering like a monster as red lights flash, Lance Larson as Uncle Ernie sings “Fiddle About.” With his menacing demeanor, Ernie reveals his sadistic molestation of Tommy.
Horns welcome talented singer/guitarist Billy Walton — The Hawker — as his raspy, gravelly voice shines on “Eyesight to the Blind.” Punctuating his vocal with a screaming electric guitar solo, the band and vocalists support his top-notch performance.
Baritone saxophonist Pat Higgins and trombonist Ian Gray pretend to blow The Hawker off the stage, at which point Walton comes down into the audience and takes a seat with his guitar before walking around the auditorium playing it and eventually returning to the stage.
The packed house claps along to the irresistible beat as the number continues to build and lights flash pulsating a rainbow of colors.
JaQuita May as “The Acid Queen” enters dramatically, dancing wildly as her fringed costume glitters while she sings.
Her cape and long hair flow as she writhes to the rocking music crooning, “I’m the gypsy/The Acid Queen/Pay before we start/The gypsy/I’m guaranteed/To tear your soul apart.”
Loose and free, May enchants the audience with her stylized performance which ends in a frenetic conclusion.
The crowd whistles, cheers, and applauds for her astonishing performance.
Bobby Lynch as the “Pinball Wizard” flamboyantly enters center stage and takes his place at the grand piano.
Lynch plays a boogie-woogie piano solo, standing as his hands glide up and down the keys. At one point, he kneels as he plays one-handed and even turns the rest of his body upside down as he continues to play, much to the audience’s delight. The music builds and pulsates as Lynch and Co. sing about the transformation of Tommy into an expert pinball player, and many in the audience sing along on the song’s famous “That deaf dumb and blind kid/Sure plays a mean pin ball” refrain.
A true showman, Lynch ends by standing on the grand piano while conducting the band before jumping off of it and landing on the stage.
The mood changes as the band continues Tommy’s saga with “Underture.” The driving and dramatic music depicts Tommy’s hallucinogenic experience following his consumption of the acid procured from the Acid Queen.
The vocalists return to support Jones’ emotional “See Me, Feel Me” refrain which brings cheers from the audience both for Jones and his talented cadre of performers.
After Tommy’s parents take him to a doctor, Rick Barry, Barry sings “Go to the Mirror,” at which point Tommy’s parents notice he is capable of staring at his own reflection. Vocalists and acoustic guitar are then featured on the folky ensemble number, “Tommy Can You Hear Me?”
After seeing Tommy spend extended periods staring at the mirror, Tommy’s mother — played by Stevi Incremona — smashes it out of frustration singing “Smash the Mirror,” her voice crying in anguish.
It is here where the drama shifts as Jones enters wearing a sequined jacket, stands dramatically in the center of the stage, and triumphantly sings “I’m Free.”
Lights flash as Jones brings down the house on this high-energy number.
The mood changes to a honky-tonk feel on “Miracle Cure,” a song which features band members on trumpet, violin, flute, and trombone each handling a riff on the same melody.
Now that his mental block has been removed and he’s recovered his senses, Tommy realizes he can become a powerful leader. On “Sensation,” Jones stands center stage holding the audience in the palm of his hand as he sings, “You’ll feel me coming/A new vibration/From afar you’ll see me/I’m a sensation/I’m a sensation.”
Tommy starts a religious movement, where one of his followers is “Sally Simpson.” As Taylor Tote brings the song to life, her rich alto invites the audience into her story as she accompanies herself on acoustic guitar.
Tossing her guitar pick out into the crowd, Tote skips off as talented keyboardist Mark Masefield changes the mood on the grand piano with a vibrant, rolling solo.
Tommy reenters and welcomes his followers to a holiday camp as he sings and plays a harmonica solo on “Welcome,” a number which soon segues into “Tommy’s Holiday Camp.”
Tommy’s followers ultimately reject his teachings and leave the camp crying, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” The number builds into an ensemble masterpiece with pulsing lights and unbridled musical energy.
The show ends with Tommy retreating inward again — standing on his platform, his jacket gleaming, singing “See Me, Feel Me” one last time.
The crowd rises for this final number as the cast comes downstage to sing and dance, and the audience participates by clapping and singing along. The number builds to a frenzied and frenetic climax as the cast and the audience create a unified sea of music and humanity until drummer Joe Bellia solos at the end and the show’s final chord is struck.
Remember Jones says, “Give it up for the whole band!” to cheers and applause from the standing crowd before thanking everyone involved in the creation and performance of Tommy.
As the audience happily makes its way out of the Axelrod auditorium, we chat with producer Andrew DePrisco who tells us how the production came to be.
Explains DePrisco, “One day, Anthony D’Amato — Remember Jones — and I were discussing, ‘How can we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock?’ We noticed that the market was already starting to become saturated with Woodstock-oriented shows, so Anthony came up with the idea of recreating the original Tommy album through the Remember Jones spectrum,” remarking, “He’s an immensely talented and dedicated individual and a blessing for us to have here at Axelrod PAC.”
We also chat with Anthony D’Amato — aka Remember Jones — who exclaims, “This was fun! When I originally got the idea to do Tommy, I picked the principal singers first, just to be sure they could do the show — and, then, we put it all together in a single week.”
Continuing, “We got here on Monday and started rehearsing,” D’Amato explains, “I spent most of my time in the lighting booth — in fact, the first time I sang on stage was at our first performance, which was just last night.”
Adding, “Many of the Tommy cast members were on tour with me this summer doing Remember Jones’ original music where we listened to the Tommy album while we were out on the road,” Jones recalls, “One thing that was incredibly important for us in terms of our vision for this production was to create a show which would be directed straight to the audience’s eyes and ears. As a result, we decided it was important to be able to perform the entire show from memory — using no sheet music, music stands, or iPads — because we wanted the whole performance to look and feel as spontaneous and effortless as possible.”
Next, we chat with several members of the crowd who share their opinions of tonight’s presentation of Tommy.
Whereas Jane from Oakhurst exclaims, “The entire show was filled with energy and life!” Sharon from Oakhurst comments, “It brought me back to the days of my youth.”
Loretta from Allenhurst remarks, “The talent on stage was just remarkable both in terms of the vocals and instrumentals.” Adding, “I’ve seen Remember Jones many times,” Loretta explains, “With him, you always know what to expect — nothing but the best.”
Fran from Lakewood asserts, “Remember Jones is so talented, and he always manages to top what he’s done before. He’s extraordinary — just incredible. He blew me away!”
Cheryl from Rahway agrees adding, “The entire cast was fabulous — I’m exhausted watching them! I was jumping up and dancing in my seat, the energy was so amazing.”
Aime from East Brunswick contends, “Tommy was just superb. All of the talent was top notch,” before explaining, “I always appreciate high-quality musicianship.”
Eileen from East Brunswick concurs adding, “Everyone in the cast is multi-talented. The caliber of entertainment was first-rate, and it was clear the crowd really appreciated it.”
Lastly, we chat with Lori from Freehold, who comments, “Tommy was so good — everything Remember Jones does is so good. He’s like a chameleon. He can do anything. He’s one of my favorite performers.”
Continuing, “He’s a perfectionist, so everything he does is perfect — I love his attention to detail,” Lori concludes by declaring, “I really love Remember Jones. He is consistently great!”
To learn more about Remember Jones, please go to rememberjones.com. For information on upcoming performances at Deal Park, NJ’s Axelrod PAC — including Laura Benanti on Saturday, October 19, Guys and Dolls from November 1–17, and Shrek the Musical from November 30 to December 8 — please go to axelrodartscenter.com.
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