Duke's World Revisited

In an aside in the profile of John C. "Duke" Hart '75 in the February issue, we alluded to Duke's next big Broadway affiliation, with the musical "The Who's Tommy" (known to us then and still simply as "Tommy"). Duke was to be one of the producers bringing the agesold rock opera to the St. James Theater on 44th Street. We opined in the profile: "That'll be a hit for sure." Facts were, we didn't know what we were talking about. Nevertheless, with Tommy having opened, we now claim great sagacity and prescience.

"Tommy" didn't merely open, it arrived with an explosion as loud and crackling as any ever emitting from Keith Moon's drum kit. Frank Rich went on and on and on in The Times about it. Clive Barnes called it "brilliant, bloody brilliant!" A day after these sterling notices appeared, Duke and Co. sold some half-million dollars in tickets to the show, which now looks like it'll run three or four more rock generations. A month after the curtain went up, the show's producers footed half the bill to fly the cast to L.A. for a twosong performance on Leno's Tonight Show appearance by a Broad-way show. In May the show won six Drama Desk Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Musical, then was nominated for 11 count 'em, 11! Tonys. In Gotham there is no loftier status than "hottest ticket in town" and at the moment "Tom my," the show about Pete Townshend's deaf, dumb, and blind pinball wizard, is the hottest ticket in town.

Townshend once sang that he hoped to die before he grew old. The now-balding toast of the Great White Way, nearly deaf himself from too many years of powerchording, has reportedly changed his mind. Duke clearly helped change it.

The Duke helped revive the pinhall wizard and scored a hit.