The Who’s Tommy to Rock the West End for One-Night-Only Benefit Show

The rock opera Tommy is heading back to the West End stage for a one-night-only concert performance. The show will play the Prince Edward Theatre (currently home to Jersey Boys) on November 12, with casting to be announced shortly.

Raz Shaw will direct the production, which will feature choreography by Adam Cooper, musical direction by Iain Vince Gatt and musical direction by Andrew Hilton. The performance will benefit the Pure Theatre Development Fund, which aims to fund the development of new musicals and plays.

Tommy is a rock musical that follows a deaf, mute and blind savant who becomes an overnight sensation for his pinball skills. The show opened on Broadway in 1993 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Score. The musical played the West End's Shaftesbury Theatre from 1996 through 1997.

First performed by The Who in 1969, Tommy was conceived by Pete Townshend and Kit Lambert and showcases music and lyrics by Townshend, book by Townshend and Des McAnuff and additional music by John Entwistle and Keith Moon.