Pinball Wizards?

With Tommy, Duke musical theater group Hoof 'n Horn is trying to take its act to the next level.

This recasting of The Who's 1969 rock opera, debuting tonight in Page Auditorium, marks the group's most ambitious production in over a year. Given that they traditionally perform in the smaller confines of the 100-seat Sheafer Theater in the Bryan Center, the 1,000-plus seat Page challenges the group with a much bigger hall to fill and a larger audience to entertain. Such a large production cannot survive on the patronage of the players' friends, parents and aficionados alone, and that means the group must not only put on an inspiring performance, but pick the right show to put on as well.

Wednesday night's dress rehearsal proved that Tommy is definitely the right production. And despite a few snags and limitations, Hoof 'n' Horn seems poised to put forth a crowd-pleasing effort. Whatever this production's eventual success, producer Matt Schuneman and director Julie Foh deserve a great deal of credit for helming it.

Tommy's story goes like this: After watching his father shoot his mother's boyfriend, Tommy becomes deaf, dumb and blind, only able to see himself in the mirror. But despite his disability, the kid can play an amazing game of pinball-so amazing, in fact, that he garners a great deal of notoriety. As Tommy grows up and fascination with him grows, so does the complexity of his life. As Pete Townshend once said, everything comes to him as vibration, as a sort of music-even a rape by his Uncle Ernie is depicted as enlightening rather than disgusting. Meanwhile, Tommy's parents seek all kinds of treatment, from faith healers to doctors and even a hooker. But what finally cures the by-then grown-up Tommy isn't any pseudo-spiritual mumbo-jumbo, but his mother smashing the mirror that he stares into-destroying his illusory self and unleashing the vibrant personality within. Exploding to life, Tommy ascends to pop icondom, but at a price to his sanity. He urges people to see him, to touch him, even to worship him-and finds himself crushed when he is abandoned by his disciples. His eventual redemption comes as both relief and celebration; the musical's exultant denouement is perhaps its most endearing moment.

Admittedly, it is tough to glean all that from Hoof 'n' Horn's production. Tommy's greatest selling point as a musical is the rock n' roll aspect-it's fast-paced, loud and never boring. But rock music requires rock voices, and the Hoof 'n' Horn crew's valiant efforts weren't always up to the task. Certain parts were almost totally inaudible, and others waxed and waned depending on where a singer was standing. While those sound problems will likely be resolved in tonight's production, they were occasionally frustrating, even from the best seats in the house.

Sound aside, Tommy's staging (expertly managed by Allison Gluvna) is perhaps its strongest suit. The production uses high-tech "intelligent lighting" to enhance the rock n' roll mood, and the actors fill the clean, largely prop-free stage ably. With the rollicking rock band in back (superbly conducted by Shaminda Amarakoon and composed entirely of students), the laser lights flashing and the colorfully clad actors dashing about, Tommy succeeds as pure rock spectacle.

Leading the charge was Flynn Barrison, whose grown-up Tommy commands the stage. Barrison's voice, while not booming, carried well enough through the giant hall, and his emphatic facial expressions-especially during the closing reprise of "See Me, Feel Me" and "Listening To You" captured the distant mysticism of his character. Barrison was a bit less stunning as the narrator in Act I, but that can be chalked up as much to sound problems as to any failing on his part.

As Tommy's dad, Adam Sampieri was the most articulate character onstage, with a confidence and poise that relaxed and drew in the audience. His on-stage chemistry with Tommy's mother, played ably by Chrissy Dideriksen, sustained the suspense. Although he still oozed a bit too much of the scruffy American, the rest of Sampieri's oeuvre more than excuses that tiny misgiving.

And when Act II rolls around, sporting the boisterous rocker "I'm Free," and the defiant "We're Not Gonna Take It," there are no more dull moments. Tommy's epiphany is an inspiring, energizing moment, and his eventual redemption will leave the audience a sea of bobbing heads and mumbled lyrics.

As both Duke drama and rock extravaganza, Tommy more than holds its own. And Hoof 'n' Horn, who obviously are giving the production everything they've got, prove that, while they still have room for improvement, their ambition is worth it.