From Moshing to Musicals, Rockers Take to the Stage

Guitarist Pete Townshend (The Who) is coming out with his latest musical next month, “The Boy Who Heard Music.” Based on an online novella, this won’t be Townshend’s first go at the theater, with The Who’s rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia paving the way. Last year, Duncan Sheik (a 90s one hit wonder with the infamous “Barely Breathing”) co-wrote the music to then off-Broadway, now Broadway musical Spring Awakening, a story about adolescent sex in Germany in the 1890s. Are quasi-washed out rockers finding a new career in musicals? Just ask Sheik, who in a recent article admits to hating musicals, but spent five years working on one anyway.

—Anna Weggel