Pete Townshend Discusses UK Quadrophenia Stage Production And Other Topics In Wide-Ranging Interview With The Times Of London

Pete Townshend proved that, even at age 63, he is still one of the most interesting interviews in rock with his lenghty and fascinating interview that was published in yesterday’s (Monday, April 20th) edition of The Times of London.

The interview concerned the upcoming UK touring stage production of Quadrophenia, The Who’s “other” rock opera. But Townshend also discussed other topics, including what he’s working on now, the pressure to continue working with The Who, and why he only does interviews by e-mail now.

Townshend does make one huge factual gaffe in the interview. He claims that he did not appear on stage with Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle between The Who’s so-called “Farewell” tour in 1982 and the Quadrophenia revival shows in 1996. So I guess that the five concerts I saw The Who perform on their 1989 reunion stadium tour were figments of my imagination.

To read The Times of London’s interview with Pete Townshend, click here.

I am very curious about the stage production of Quadrophenia. At the moment, it will only be touring the UK. There are no plans right now for a West End (or Broadway) production. While I enjoyed the 1993 Broadway production of Tommy, I was never a big fan of the Tommy album. Quadrophenia is not only my favorite album by The Who, it is my favorite album period. So, I suppose I have more of an emotional stake in how it is to be presented on stage. I do hope that the stage production of Quadrophenia does make its way across the Atlantic. Still, I think that Quadrophenia’s tale of Mods and Rockers will be quite difficult for mainstream American theater audiences to fathom.

For more on the UK touring stage production of Quadrophenia, see:
http://www.quadrophenia.co.uk/