The Stanley Theatre is one of those rooms that earns its reputation the moment you walk through the doors. Opened in 1928 and designed by Scottish-born architect Thomas Lamb, it holds 2,963 seats inside a space that was purpose-built as a movie palace — and still carries that gravity. One of only three surviving Lamb-designed theaters in Upstate New York, alongside Proctors in Schenectady and the Landmark in Syracuse, it is the kind of building that makes a show feel like an event before the curtain even goes up. Utica might not be the first destination that comes to mind, but The Stanley is exactly why you make the drive.
On Tuesday, April 6, 2027, the theater hosts The Who’s Tommy — Pete Townshend’s classic rock opera, reimagined for a new North American tour with Townshend and original director Des McAnuff reunited at the helm.
The story follows Tommy Walker, a young man who becomes psychologically withdrawn after witnessing violence, retreats into an obsession with his own reflection, and — through an uncanny gift for pinball — eventually ascends to unexpected celebrity. It is stranger and more affecting than the premise suggests. Collin Matthew Flanagan leads the tour cast as Tommy, and the creative team behind this production earned the Goodman Theatre’s 2023 revival a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical Revival and nine Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Director for McAnuff.
The Wall Street Journal called it “thunderous and thoroughly intoxicating.” Entertainment Weekly: “See it. Feel it. You won’t forget it.” This is not nostalgia for its own sake — it is a full-throttle rock show inside a Broadway production. Anthems like “Pinball Wizard,” “See Me, Feel Me,” and “I’m Free” hit differently in a room like The Stanley.
A few things to know before you go: runtime is 100 minutes with no intermission, and the production carries an age recommendation of 16+. It includes theatrical haze, strobe and flashing light effects, and gunshots.
Showtime is 7:30 PM. Subscribers get first access to tickets starting December 7; general public on-sale begins December 10. Tickets are available through Broadway Utica — visit thestanley.org or call 315-724-4000. For more shows in the Central NY region, check our full calendar.