Jesus Christ Superstar

What a superb production, full of excellent performances. Director Ed McGee treated the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s tumultuous last week of life with great sensitivity. Tony McGee was a tremendous Jesus, he really was a Superstar, and his singing was magical. ‘Gethsemane’ was beautiful and he conveyed the mental and physical suffering of Jesus which culminated in an incredibly worked crucifixion. Kimberley Fisher was perfect as Mary Magdelene, her devotion to Christ being very moving, bringing out all the emotions required, and her singing of ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ was stunning. The Apostles led by Daniel White as Simon and Mark Stilwell as Peter gave good individual characterisations as the followers of Jesus. Peter McGuckin as Judas did well in this very difficult and unsympathetic role, and his demise was quite awesome. What can I say about the imposing high priest Caiaphas played by Paul O’Hagan, except brilliant, what a wonderful voice. He was ably supported by Annas (Stuart Buchanan), Priests and ensemble, they commanded the stage and also my complete attention with their singing of ‘This Jesus Must Die’. I did think that Graham Hawley as Pilate was very good indeed, and his musical number ‘Pilate’s Dream’ was one of the highlights of the evening. Daniel O’Hagan’s ‘Herod’ brought light relief from the tense build up.

This production had an outstanding cast, with so many sterling performances, the chorus were very good especially in the Temple scene and ‘Hosanna’, the Trial by Pilate / 39 lashes was very humbling and really made you wonder, it brought back memories of how it affected me when I took part in JCS.

What a beautiful set, I never guessed where the cross would be, so I was very impressed when everything unfolded (very clever). The costumes were good and also we had an excellent orchestra with good choreography, sound and lighting, all to be commended and which complimented the talent on stage.

This was a thoroughly entertaining evening and the audience certainly appreciated it. Congratulations and thank you.

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