The 30th anniversary production of The Who's Tommy, the 1993 Tony Award winning musical based on The Who rock opera, will premiere a new national tour March 19 at the Playhouse Theatre in Wilmington, DE. This mounting, directed by Worth Gardner with musical direction by Scot Woolley, will run at the Playhouse through March 28 before launching into a spring tour.

It's the story of a boy made "deaf, dumb and blind" by the traumatic shooting of his mother's lover by his father, and who rises out of his deficiency into near messiahood by his ability to play pinball. The Who's Tommy was written by Who guitarist Peter Townsend with additional material by Who bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Tommy ran on Broadway at the St. James, winning five Tony Awards including Best Score, Best Director and Best Choreography. Songs featured include "Pinball Wizard," "The Acid Queen," "Amazing Journey," "Sensation," "I'm Free" and "Sally Simpson."

The current tour celebrates the 30th anniversary release of the original album in 1969.

Returning to the role of Tommy is Michael Seelbach, who performed with the second national tour. Joining him are Christopher Monteleone (Gaston in Broadway's Beauty and the Beast, Damn Yankees tour with Jerry Lewis) as Captain Walker, Lisa Capps (Les Miserables) as Mrs. Walker, Michael Gruber (Munkustrap in Cats, the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz) as Cousin Kevin and Virginia Woodruff (Smokey Joe's Cafe) as the "Acid Queen".

The tour dates announced so far include: March 29-April 4: Hartford, CT, The Bushnell
April 6-11: Stamford, CT, Palace Theatre
April 13-25: Boston, MA, Colonial Theatre
April 27-May 2: Chicago, IL, Auditorium Theatre

For ticket information, contact the venue or Ticketmaster on the web at http://www.ticketmaster.com.

-- By Christine Ehren