The Who star Pete Townshend has said a new Quadrophenia “Mod ballet” will be “poignant, tender and poetic and epic”. The dance production is based on the 1973 album, written by Townshend and performed by The Who, and the 1979 cult film of the same name that it inspired. Advertisement Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet aims to introduce a new audience to the story of young 1960s Mod Jimmy Cooper, played in the film by Phil Daniels, who escapes from his dead-end job as a post room boy by dancing, partying, taking drugs, riding his scooter and brawling.
Pete Townshend (centre) with star Paris Fitzpatrick (behind) (Johan Persson/PA) Produced by Sadler’s Wells, it will be set to an orchestral arrangement of the album by Rachel Fuller and Martin Batchelar, which was first heard in concert version at The Royal Albert Hall and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Advertisement Advertisement Townshend said: “Quadrophenia is the only Who album that I solely composed and produced and the movie that followed in 1979 launched the careers of some of the finest young actors of the time. “In 2016 Rachel Fuller agreed to create an orchestral score of the album.
When I first heard a demo of this version, without vocals, my first thought was that it would make a powerfully rhythmic and emotionally engaging ballet. “Workshopped in 2023, that thought became a reality and I knew we had something that would resonate with new audiences, and also bring joy, as it had in its other ite.