When Mandy Gonzalez first came to New York City as a young wannabe theatre star, her first Broadway callback was for Rent in front of noted casting director Bernie Telsey, and she turned to her favorite audition song, 鈥淎cid Queen鈥� from The Who鈥檚 Tommy.
鈥淚 have been a fan of Tommy pretty much since I was eight-years-old, when it came through Los Angeles and my grandmother took me to see it,鈥� Gonzalez says. 鈥淚t was everything I loved. It was musical theatre, it was rock n鈥� roll, and 鈥楢cid Queen鈥� became the song I wanted to sing all the time.鈥�
This continued to be her go-to song throughout her first year of city life, and eventually led her to booking her first Broadway show, as a standby for Idina Menzel鈥檚 Princess Amneris in Aida. So, when Gonzalez was offered the chance to play Mrs. Walker in the Washington, D.C. production at the Kennedy Center, directed by Josh Rhodes, it was an opportunity she couldn鈥檛 turn down.
Based on the classic album of the same name, The Who鈥榮 Tommy is a rock opera about a 鈥渄eaf, dumb, and blind鈥� kid who triumphs over his disabilities to become an international pinball star. The Walkers are his parents who struggle to get through to their son.
Gonzalez, who has spent the past two-and-a-half years playing Angelica Schuyler on Broadway in Hamilton, was able to do the production thanks to the Broadway Center Stage series鈥� short one-week run, April 24-29, which didn鈥檛 require her to miss much time from the Richard Rodgers Theatre and the mega-hit.
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鈥淭hey told me they would work around my Hamilton schedule so to not have to miss too many shows and to still be able to spread my wings as an actress was really appealing,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his is a character that I feel I can really relate to now. I鈥檓 a mother now, so I know where Mrs. Walker is coming from. I was so excited to dive into this score.鈥�
Tony Award winner Christian Borle will play opposite Gonzalez as Captain Walker, and he notes it鈥檚 a show he has a deep connection to.
鈥淎fter graduating from Carnegie Mellon, I moved to New York in 1995 and it was the first show I saw,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was in the back row of the back mezzanine, and I was just bowled over by it and fell in love with how cool the show was. After the Broadway production, the original creative team opened up a company in Offenbach Germany and I ended up getting cast as Pinball Lad #1, and spent five months doing Tommy to very happy German audiences.鈥�
Joining the Broadway favorites as the titular Tommy is Casey Cott, best known as Kevin Keller on the hit CW series Riverdale.
鈥淚鈥檝e been familiar with Tommy since I was in high school; if you鈥檙e a theatre nerd, 鈥楶inball Wizard鈥� is just one of those songs that everyone knows, and that鈥檚 how I was first introduced to it,鈥� he says. 鈥淧lus, my dad is a huge classic rock fan, so The Who has been played throughout our stereo system since we were children.鈥�
As a star on the rise on one of the biggest shows on TV, Cott is tied up nearly ten months a year working on Riverdale, though he鈥檚 been wanting to do something theatrical since college, but just couldn鈥檛 find the time. So, when he had the chance to play the most famous pinball-playing, deaf, dumb, and blind boy, he felt it was destiny.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something really fun about the first act of the musical and getting to play someone who addresses the audience directly, I really enjoy that kind of intimate experience,鈥� Cott says. 鈥淛osh and I had such a blast talking about the underlining messages and tones of the show and how they relate to today and how they relate to me.鈥�
Before Tommy, Cott had never met Borle before, but the two share the same alma mater in Carnegie Mellon, and he was one of the reasons Cott wanted to go to that school. During one of Tommy鈥檚 first rehearsals, the two shared what Borle described as a 鈥渟pecial moment.鈥�
鈥淗e very guilelessly said to me and Mandy, 鈥業f you have any advice or can steer me in a particular direction in this limited amount of time, please don鈥檛 hesitate to speak up,鈥� which I felt spoke to a lovely part of his character,鈥� Borle said. 鈥淚 thought that was really sweet, and he鈥檚 just knocking it out of the park. He sounds amazing.鈥�
Cott grew up a musical theatre fan鈥攈is brother Corey has been on Broadway in shows like Newsies and Bandstand鈥攁nd he likes that his involvement in Tommy is projected to bring in some younger audience members, who he hopes will benefit from its universal message.
鈥淚n Act 2, this guy becomes this hugely famous icon and that is so relevant today鈥攅specially with social media and people thinking they want that. And all of a sudden, Tommy doesn鈥檛 want that anymore and wants to be normal and be with his family,鈥� Cott says. 鈥淚 think while it is a bit older, timeless pieces create relevancy in a way that they didn鈥檛 even know were going to be relevant when they were created.鈥�
Gonzalez also feels the cast will attract some new generations to the show, who maybe were unfamiliar with the music or Broadway production. After all, the rock opera originally ran on Broadway from 1993鈥�1995, the movie was released in 1975, and the album from which it鈥檚 all based is 50 years old.
鈥淭his is definitely a musical that hasn鈥檛 been seen by a whole generation, and many don鈥檛 know The Who and their music, but it needs to be seen,鈥� Gonzalez says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that I would love to see move on to Broadway again.鈥�
