Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 rock opera and is sung throughout with no dialogue. It tells the story of the last few days in the life of Jesus Christ through the troubled eyes of Judas Iscariot. From the outset the stage was open and the scene was set with a large staircase leading up to a balcony type scaffolding arrangement that went round three sides of the stage and the back incorporated curtain covered archways. After the overture, Judas sets the scene by telling Jesus a few home truths, as he sees it, warning him that everything has gone sour and his followers are blind, having too much ‘Heaven on their Minds’. This was sung by Andy Quinn (Judas) and his incredibly, strong, powerful voice made the hairs stand up on the back of the neck. This goes for the whole of his performance which was dynamic, menacing and totally convincing. He portrayed the complexities of the character with awesome intensity – an amazing and superbly accomplished representation - what more can I say, brilliant! Craig Arme gave a passionate portrayal of Jesus. He depicted the emotional gentility and the angry disillusionment of Christ’s character with terrific vocal agility. His reactions to the whipping, the beatings and the final hanging on the cross were so dramatically achieved and his final scream, when the crown of thorns was placed upon his head, was ear-splitting. Georgina Bailey brought a lovely calming effect to the proceedings her delightful sweet yet powerful voice was particularly evident in ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ which was glorious. Davron Hicks has an imposing stage presence and coupled with his rich, deep, resonant voice made him an ideal choice for the dictatorial character, Pilate. Andrew Davie, resplendently dressed in gold, was just perfect as Herod as were Neil Yewman (Annas) and Danny Winson (Caiaphas) both being suitably menacing. Excellent support came from Sam Widdowson as Peter, Joshua Mason as Simon, the rest of the Apostles and the Priests played by Matthew Rogers, Simon Brickell and Andrew Davie. The choreography was energetic and impassioned especially in the ‘crowd scenes’ and the dancing by the five ‘dancers’ was well devised and superbly executed - loved the tap-dancing in ‘King Herod’s Song’. Costumes were fine as was the lighting plot but the sound left a lot to be desired. It was far too loud making for a total imbalance, at times, between the orchestra and the vocals which I hope could be sorted out for subsequent performances. The dramatic ending when Jesus was nailed to a splendidly conceived ‘cross’ was riveting. I wonder where the idea came from, when Jesus was taken down from the cross, for Judas to give him a ‘fireman’s lift’ carrying him all the way up those very steep stairs – I wonder! This was a brave move, but it was indeed such an impressive, defining and meaningful ending to what had been a truly wonderful production. In fact, ‘Everything was definitely much more than Alright’. 

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