BA (Hons) Musical Theatre students at the University of West London (UWL) performed an immersive adaptation of The Who’s rock musical ‘Tommy’ on Friday 16 January. Tommy is written by The Who’s Pete Townshend, an UWL alumnus and founder of the University’s Townshend Studio.

The performance, featuring twenty-two first and second year students at UWL’s London College of Music (LCM), explored how immersive theatre, site-specific staging and multi-venue storytelling can reimagine this classic work.

The show started in the University’s Lawrence Hall in a freestanding immersive performance before the audience of fellow students, friends and family were taken through to Freddies for a cabaret style performance, then returned to Lawrence Hall for the remainder of the show.

Selected audience members were taken to a separate room throughout for a private one-on-one performance (in the style of the immersive and interactive performances by theatre company Punchdrunk). The aim was that every audience member experienced the show slightly differently.

The show was directed by Course Leader for Musical Theatre Gillian Ford and choreographed by lecturer Kirsty MacLaren. The band, led by Musical Director Harry Wells, included three BMus (Hons) Popular Music Performance students. They were supported by a tech team headed up by Theatre Technical Demonstrator Nikki Sutton.

Gillian commented:

“This project offered an exciting opportunity to celebrate our rich musical heritage while pushing forward with our own creativity and innovation. It was an ambitious project, and the students really rose to the challenge, putting together the performance in just two weeks.”

Student Lily Lakin said:

“This project was so fun to do – I loved the whole process, from planning to rehearsing to seeing it all come together in the final show. Seeing people’s visions and interpretations of Tommy and what it meant to them was so interesting. I loved working with new people and learning new songs. The final show worked really well – taking the audience through to different rooms helped tell the story effectively.”

Student Eve Inacio commented:

“We all worked incredibly hard and supported one another to put everything together in two weeks. Being in the ensemble was very hands-on, with long days spent working through harmonies, dance routines, and spacing. Interacting with audience members was an exciting new experience, engaging in short conversations and answering their questions whilst remaining in character.”