Jesus Christ Superstar a shining success

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8: Jesus Christ Superstar received roaring applause and a standing ovation on its opening night at City Hall and well deserved it was.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who created the original score and lyrics, can take a fair amount of credit for that. But the director, actors and singers, musical director, lighting designer, set designer and many others in this Gilbert and Sullivan Society production certainly earned it too.

Gary Skelton gave a powerful performance as Jesus of Nazareth projecting well the multitude of emotions the character experienced during the final seven days of his life on earth.

The portrayal of Jesus in this production, I felt, was at times rather solemn. During his first five minutes on stage he stood motionless, gazing out to the crowd as he was challenged by Judas and even during the rare jubilant moments in the show, he seemed conserved in his joy. Perhaps this was to emphasize the fact that Jesus knew all along there would be terrible hardships for all.

His turmoil was well executed and the physical pain he endured during Pilate’s lashings was utterly convincing — it hurt just to watch.

Perhaps the years of vocal training he has received from his wife Jenny Campbell helped him through the screechy tenors this role demands, but, for the most part, he managed to hit them.

Stephen Notman (Judas) is not a trained singer though he did take some lessons for the show. He managed to pull off a powerful vibrato and made up for occasional off notes with his passion for the role. He was highly animated on the stage and bursting with character.

The company ensemble deserves special mention for its excellent choral performance and

hats off to Herod, played by Alan Brooks, whose appearance provided hilarious light relief.

Pitch Perfect

Jenn Osmond’s voice is worthy of mention, powerful and pitch perfect. The song Could We Start Again Please fit her voice beautifully but her rendition of Everything’s Alright seemed a little too upbeat and lively for a lullaby.

Osmond portrayed a particularly strong-mannered version of Mary Magdelene, displaying much more disdain for Judas than the Broadway or 1973 film portrayal. Mark Hamilton did a wonderful rendition of Pilate’s Dream and looked the part both physically and through costume, while Marvin Ford (as Simon) had a strong and soulful voice.

Many of the singers faithfully followed the score of the music – often actors and musical directors deem it respectful to the composer. It’s certainly a matter of personal taste but I find it can water down the human element of a character when every word hits the beat of the score. Gone are the hesitations and other variations in fluency found in speech along with the nuance they create.

The director decided to place the high priests up in scaffolding just like in the film. It worked well then and it works well now. It was an easy solution to having a multi level stage for the high priests to tower over everyone.

The set itself, designed by Cleo Peppitt, captured the era well. There was only one set on this small stage but light and shadow kept it interesting.

The costumes by Liz Campbell were largely comparable to those in the film though the burlesque dancers during the title song Jesus Christ Superstar was a fun addition.

Sadly there were sound problems throughout the opening night performance. The music often drowned out the voices, certainly in the first half. There were also several microphone failures – not least during Judas’s famous line to Caiaphas, “I don’t want you blood money”, in the song Blood Money and then during Jesus’s epic promise to God “I’ll die!” in Gethsemene. They were only momentary cut outs but, when it happened it broke up the whole flow.

The lighting stood out in the production thanks to experienced lighting designer Andy Vere. When the crowd was baying for Jesus’ blood, for instance, a low light projected large shadows of their grasping hands on the back wall.

At the end of the show, two powerful lights shone onto the crucifix, each with streams of rays in them. Whether this signified a resurrection, a God overlooking the events or was merely there for aesthetic value is open to interpretation but either way it created poignancy.