Jesus Christ Super Star

Jesus Christ Superstar is a tremendous challenge for any company and although this company did a very creditable production, on the evening I watched it, there was a lacked of musical passion that one has come to expect from HD&OS. The set was minimalistic with two sets of steps on either side of a high level walkway with a central opening beneath, all in black. Behind the walkway a white cyc’ allowed lighting changes to fade in when appropriate. The high walkway was used to great effect throughout, so that all of the action was clearly seen. Sympathetic costuming colours work well and did not distract the audience from the action. Visually the show worked well. Musically however, there were moments when the production lacked technique and at times the chorus singing was flat.

The principals tried hard to create highly believable characters but again vocals were not always true and all to often we missed the softer, more melodic side of the musicality. Simon Latter was a down to earth Jesus with good stage presence, but I never really felt that he was actually connecting and linking with the audience. Matt Greenbank was superb as the troubled Judas and Natasha Easton played a convincing Mary Magdalene, but here again, I felt that vocally this young actress needed to relax into the part and let us into that very private world of passion and more importantly, love. I am sure that a softer vocal approach would have helped the characterisation.

The small orchestra provided a good accompaniment and the guitar solos were quite haunting. Dramatically, there were many touching moments of great pathos and I particularly enjoyed David Lodge in the role of Pilate. His moments of eye contact with Jesus truly displayed the connection these two men felt when faced with the inevitable. Great acting!  As I said at the beginning of this report, Jesus Christ Superstar is a challenging production for any company and I am sure that the performance I saw on Thursday evening was not a true reflection of all the hard work done at rehearsals. I look forward to your next production and I thank you for your generous hospitality.

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