Who’s Quadrophenia Gets Stage Debut, 11 May

The Who’s cult rock opera Quadrophenia is being brought to the stage for the first time. The new musical, based on the band’s classic 1973 album and subsequent film, will kick off a UK tour in Plymouth on 11 May 2009.

Set in London and Brighton at the height of the Mod era, Quadrophenia is told through the eyes of Jimmy, a hedonistic, style-conscious teenager who embarks on a life-changing trip to Brighton. The 1979 film, which became a cult hit, starred Sting, Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Wilcox and a young Ray Winstone. The score includes “The Rock”, “The Real Me”, “5:15”, “Love, Reign o’er Me” and the title track.

Quadrophenia was the second rock opera The Who released. The first, Tommy, was successfully adapted for the stage in 1993.

The production is adapted by Jeff Young, John O’Hara and Tom Critchley, who also directs. It’s designed by Sophie Khan and choreographed by  Frances Newman, with casting by Pippa Ailion, who recently assembled a young cast of newcomers for the UK premiere of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith.

After Plymouth, the tour visits Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bath, Manchester, Sunderland, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Leeds, Nottingham, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Brighton, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Oxford, Wimbledon, Southampton and Reading.

Quadrophenia is produced by Bill Schultz, Ina Meibach and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth in association with Industrial Language Ltd.

– by Theo Bosanquet