Townshend, Can You Hear Us? Yes, With Help of a Fax

When the Who’s 90-minute rock-opera, “Tommy,” was released in 1969, it found a rabid, international audience and met with mostly favorable response among music writers. There was only one recurring gripe about the ground-breaking work, which was written by the Who’s guitarist and creative font, Pete Townshend. Critics claimed the story line--about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who first becomes a champion pinball player and then a totalitarian guru--was a bit confusing.

An economical production of the opus, in which a five-piece band performs the music from “Tommy” while various actors play the quirky assortment of characters, has been running since July 18 at the MiraCosta College Theatre in Oceanside.

In its first weekend, the cast and the co-directors of the show mirrored the confusion of two decades ago when they found themselves polarized in a dispute over the correct interpretation of the story’s ending. Moreover, the manner in which a resolution to that argument came about seems as unlikely as the story itself.

According to Gary Warth, who plays acoustic guitar in the show’s quintet, the directors held that, because the title character’s cultish disciples turn on him in the end, the opera should have a somewhat downbeat denouement. Tommy, they claimed, never learned a lesson from his doomed power trip, and should leave with his head down.

However, the cast--buttressed by remarks from some Who fans at the performances--felt strongly that Tommy is chastened by his experience, and that the opera calls instead for an affirmative ending in which Tommy rejoices at being free of his messianic burden.

On July 21, the disagreement reached a serious impasse, and one director invited Warth to “prove” that the cast’s interpretation was faithful to Townshend’s original intent. Warth decided to go to the source. Somehow, he got hold of Townshend’s fax number in London, and on Monday he sent an inquiry on the outside chance that the author-composer himself would intervene.

To the amazement of everyone involved, the following message was faxed from Townshend to Warth on Tuesday:

“The ending was arranged in such a way that it could be freely interpreted--organised (sic) religion does clearly fail, however, and in that respect the director is right. BUT, what is important is that the very last words should belong to Tommy himself, who has enjoyed a transfiguration of a kind (from autistic child to energetic man!).

“The last chorus is a prayer from Tommy to God--his followers have deserted him, but we should feel that is no bad thing. Each one of us has a unique life, and pathway--when we act as a mass, our spirituality becomes corrupted.

“Hope this helps. Good luck with the rest of the production run.”

Acceding to Townshend’s own direction, the directors and cast scrambled to reblock the production’s ending in time for last Saturday’s show. In the adjusted version, the show concludes with Tommy holding his head up while singing the glorious “See Me, Feel Me” finale.

The final presentations of “Tommy” will be Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For ticket information, call 757-2121, Ext. 451.

PLAYBACK: Last Saturday’s Richie Havens concert at the Bacchanal was abruptly canceled when the singer flew home to New York City after receiving word Friday of a serious illness in his family. The Bacchanal hustled to get the word to radio stations in time to warn potential ticket buyers, and, as a result, only about 30 uninformed fans showed up at the Clairemont Mesa Boulevard venue expecting to hear the veteran acoustic performer. A rescheduling is pending.

New-age pianist George Winston’s upcoming concert at Symphony Hall brings to mind a particular piece of between-song patter by guitarist Chris Proctor in his recent gig at the Del Mar Shores Auditorium. Proctor was discussing the difficulty of coming up with original titles for songs and albums, and he referred to the common practice among instrumentalists of adding the suffix “ology” to their own name in titling an instrumental workout. Considering his last name, Proctor had vetoed the idea.

But the guitarist said he felt special sympathy for Winston, who years ago began naming albums after the seasons. “Now, there are a finite number of seasons,” Proctor said, to scattered chuckling. “Has anyone heard from George since he released his fourth seasonal record?” Winston will perform “The Summer Show” in Saturday’s concert.

GRACE NOTES: The Meat Puppets will open for the Violent Femmes in Thursday’s show at Symphony Hall. . . .

The first-round contestants in this year’s edition of the KGB-sponsored “Rock Wars” competition have been named. Performing Monday night at the Bacchanal will be Alien Strange, Big City, Catch 22 and Savino. The Monday-night series, which features exclusively local bands, concludes Sept. 2. As before, proceeds will benefit the local chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. . . .

The Four Tops and the Temptations will perform at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium after the Padres-Reds game Aug. 9. One trusts that Motown’s evergreen vocal groups will draw better than rag-throated Kenny Rogers, whose heavily promoted concert following a Padres-Giants match June 30 attracted about the same number of fans (20,000-plus) as would ordinarily attend a Sunday game. At least Padres announcer Rick Monday got Rogers’ name correct. In two radio spots aired between innings of recent Padres games, Monday referred to the Temptations as “the Temptation.” But the capper went, as usual, to Jerry (Funkmaster) Coleman, who tagged one of those spots Saturday night by saying, “Man, I wanna tell ya, that’s my kind of music.” Right. . . .

Tickets go on sale Friday at all TicketMaster outlets for an Aug. 28 show that brings Hall and Oates (performing an all-acoustic set), Pat Benatar with Roomful of Blues and Vinnie James to Symphony Hall. . . .

Tickets are on sale for Santana’s Sept. 4 appearance at the Starlight Bowl. . . .

Barry Manilow has just signed to do three nights, Sept. 12-14, at Symphony Hall. Tickets for the concerts, in support of his “Showstoppers” album, go on sale Aug. 4.

CRITIC’S CHOICE: NOT YOUR AVERAGE ANGRY YOUNG MAN

Roger Manning is a New York-based “busker,” or street musician, with a voice like a young Dylan and the post-punk sensibilities of such “anti-folk” peers (and friends) as Michelle Shocked, Kirk Kelly and San Diego’s Cindy Lee Berryhill. In 1985, Manning brought a case against the state of New York to kill a then-pending bill that would have required singers to obtain a permit to perform in the subway, one of his favorite venues. He won.

Manning isn’t the typical Angry Young Man, however; he comes armed with as much humor as vitriol (he included the word blues in the title of every song on his self-titled 1989 album, even though they weren’t blues), and he calls his music “folkgrass” after its mixture of manic pick-strumming and neo-traditional themes.

But one line in “Lefty Rhetoric Blues,” in which he declares that the preceding generation of protest singers “were right about Vietnam,” defies the current revisionist conservatism, and other odes about poverty and nuclear-waste pollution paint him as a contemporary topical songwriter to be reckoned with.

On Friday, Manning will be joined by Larry Brown and Carnivorous Lunar Activity for a gig at the Casbah.