THE wreckage of 25 cars is banked around the stage.

In the centre on a platform raised five feet above the floor, is a brightly lit pinball machine.

The lights flicker and the numbers on the scoreboard constantly change to a jangle of bells as the operator — a small slightly built boy — plays skilfully.

But the boy is completely oblivious to his surroundings. For he is blind, deaf and dumb. He can only relate to the machine.

His name is of course Tommy — the boy on whom The Who based their world famous rock opera.

The Who’s work was a milestone in the history of rock music. Now the production which opens at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester, tonight promises to be in the same league.

The challenge

It may not be quite the same Tommy known to Who fans through the original double album, the later “all-star” version from the Rainbow, or the recent film track.

But as director Michael Bogdanov explained during rehearsals, “it would be folly to try to reproduce the Who’s style.”

Instead it will feature some completely new arrangements and re-arrangement of the songs order.

He doesn’t see this upsetting the balance of the work which was created by Pete Townshend, of The Who, in the late sixties.

“As rock operas go you can’t

Bev Willis as Tommy in the Phoenix Theatre rock opera.

compare it with Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar, because they are dependent on the text. This is just a series of songs,” he said.

The 35-year-old director first decided to put on the production last year — before Ken Russell brought out his critically acclaimed film version.

But then he thought the

12-strong company was not quite ready to meet the challenge.

Now, in its first fully-fledged rock opera, the Phoenix Theatre has stretched out to produce what could well be its most stunning production.

The part of Tommy is played by Bev Willis. He has talked to the parents of autistic children in an effort to comprehend his part more thoroughly.

“Although everything appears normal an autistic child is in a world of his own,” he said. “Tommy displays many signs like this — although we have found out that shock does not cause autism. Tommy does not communicate on any level to other people. He only relates to the pinball machine.”

A version of Tommy has been put on at Derby, but this has apparently adopted a more straightforward approach to the theme.

So tonight the national press will converge on the Leicester theatre to see what is considered the country’s first real stage presentation of the opera.

Already advance bookings have indicated that even before the first chord is struck the cast have a hit on their hands. After a run at the Phoenix the show will move to the 2,000-seater De Montfort Hall.