X Factor‘s Joe McElderry plays Tommy in West End gala

Former X Factor winner Joe McElderry will make his West End debut playing the title role in the forthcoming concert performance of Tommy at the Prince Edward Theatre.

The Who’s rock opera is being revived on 12 November in aid of the Pure Theatre
Development Fund.

McElderry, who won the 2009 series of X Factor, joins a cast that also includes Daniel Boys (Captain Walker), Hannah Jane
Fox (Mrs Walker), David Hunter (Cousin Kevin), Glenn Carter (Uncle Ernie) and Zoe Birkett (The Acid Queen).

Directed by Raz Shaw, the concert
performance will be choreographed by Steve Kirkham (replacing Adam Cooper, who has withdrawn), with musical
supervision by Iain Vince Gatt and musical direction by Andrew Hilton.

Speaking about his role, Joe McElderry said: “I’m very excitied to make my West End debut in the iconic rock opera Tommy; I have been wating for a role that would challenge both my acting and singing skills, this has both. I am a big fan of The Who and it is incredible that Pete Townshend wrote this piece when he was 21, the same age as me.”

First performed by The Who in 1969, Tommy centres on a troubled child
who becomes deaf, dumb and blind, but later gains the respect of his
peers when he’s revealed as a pinball champion.

A film of The Who’s
original album was made in 1975 by Ken Russell. The subsequent stage
show won three Tony Awards on Broadway in 1993 and, in London, won the
1997 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.

Tickets for Tommy are available online at www.delfontmackintosh .co.uk and at the box office on 0844 482 5151.