Meet the Pete Townshend-approved breakout star of ‘The Who’s Tommy’ on Broadway
nypost.com“The Who’s Tommy” on Broadway, Townshend’s musical in which the young phenom rocks out as the title “deaf, dumb and blind kid” who becomes a worldwide sensation.Bourzgui is on the verge of major things as well — thankfully less dramatically so than Tommy.His Broadway debut is a knockout — the most exciting of the last several years.
The actor’s reviews last month were euphoric (including a four-star rave from The Post), and it’s impossible to find a theater agent in town who doesn’t desperately wish he was their client.Townshend, who first watched Bourzgui tackle the complex role of Tommy Walker at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in the summer of 2023, said he was born for the part.“Ali hasn’t required the kind of rock ’n’ roll anointment that I have provided to some of the actors in Tommy in the past,” Townshend told The Post. “He hasn’t needed a lecture about what makes a star, and what can cause a star to fall.
He just gets it.”And, the “Tommy” composer added, “he brings youth and good looks and a healthy head of curly black hair.”Bourzgui, who is Moroccan American, grew up in Pittsfield, Mass., in a family of artists and performers.
Long before he became the Wizard of Pinball, his first role in sixth grade was in “The Wizard of Oz.” “A munchkin,” he said.After studying at Ithaca College, Bourzgui moved to New York City, where he lives with a roomie and a cat, and toured the country in the musical “The Band’s Visit.” And then, while working in Chicago, he got called in for “Tommy.”“When he walked in, he looked fresh, he looked different,” director Des McAnuff said of his audition for the show. “He was right out of school, but there was definitely a calmness.”Bourzgui remembers that momentous day a little differently.
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