Reviewed 12/7/04
Rice and Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, the world’s first “Rock Opera,” took a circuitous route to its arrival at Gammage Auditorium. First, the title song was a single sung by Murray Head that topped the charts in 1969. It became a concept album a year later. It then opened on Broadway with Ben Vereen as Judas in 1971 and in the West End a year later. It is still the fifth longest running musical in London. It was made into a critically panned mess of a film directed by Norman Jewison. Throughout that time, it has generally been produced onstage as a giant rock concert. Last year on Broadway, Director Kevin Moriarty remounted and re-imagined this collection of rock songs into a very tangible, very modern production that never quite found its audience and received mixed notices from the critics. It is this production that has landed at A.S.U.’s Gammage Auditorium. As it chronicles the final seven days of Jesus of Nazareth, its arrival just before Christmas makes for an interesting choice of scheduling.
The score has always had a scattershot method of introducing such important characters as rebellious Judas, rabble-rousing Simon Zealotes, Roman governor Pontius Pilate, conspiratorial head priest Caiaphas, Roman puppet King Herod, and the sweetly confused Mary Magdalene. It seemed to jump into and out of situations with little connection between each. With Moriarty’s modernized re-invention, Jesus has become an easygoing but increasingly hesitant hippie-type surrounded by eleven radical conspirators and one doubting disciple. Theirs is an occupied Israel where the halls of the temple are filled with stockbrokers and the walls are scarred with anti-Rome graffiti. Moriarty has infused a larger amount of gravitas into the evening which makes the narrative more evenly connected, but which does sometimes take itself too seriously as a result. Despite those few moments, this is a Superstar that rocks.
Peter J. Davison’s monumental set is a marble behemoth with giant columns and a vivid scrim behind. It is on this excellent creation that Moriarty has the disciples skulk and sneak to avoid the storm troopers and ominous priests and act up in shows of civil disobedience. Each scene smoothly flows into the next with a decided purpose. The songs are given a fresh urgency by new phrasing that stresses a conversational tone with emphases on action verbs and strong looks and movements to listener and observers. This gives action to formerly passive songs like “Everything’s All Right” and “Trial by Pilate.” Occasionally they overwhelm some of the weaker numbers like “This Jesus Must Die” and “Damned for All Time/Blood Money.” However, the actors are all strong enough to guide the piece back on track.
And what performers these are. Where Jesus is often second
banana to the ever-questioning Judas, Eric Kunze shifts his character out of
the overly pious and stresses a bit more the very real fears of Jesus as he
travels the final road to his own destruction. His “Gethsemane” is
a masterwork of fear, trepidation, demands, and finally bitter acceptance.
Lawrence Clayton’s Judas is no slouch. Though his voice seemed strained
on opening night, he still gave a nice R and B spin to his big numbers like “Heaven
on their Minds” and his death scene. Natalie Toro takes the normally
placating and vacillating Mary and instills a sense of strength and overwhelming
that helps to punch the final moments of her “I Don’t Know How
to Love Him.”
The contrasting vocal ranges of Lawson Skala and Jeffrey Polk as Caiaphas and Annas respectively add tension to their character’s machinations. Raymond Patterson’s Pontius Pilate is a strong creation, but his tremulous vibrato is distracting, especially during his introduction in “Pilate’s Dream.” Moriarty may have added urgency and darkness to his evening, but he knows how to direct a comic turn when he gives Daniel Guzman some wonderful stuff to work with as King Herod. Johnny Hawkins’ Peter is weaker in voice and presence, but not enough to shoot down the effectively staged “Could We Start Again, Please?”. The remainder of the ensemble is full of energy and gives excellent performances, though there were a couple of collisions during dance numbers.
Mark McCullough’s lighting adds some wonderful images to Davison’s set, and Roger Kirk’s costumes are unsubtle statements on character that still are quite effective. The orchestra pit is nearly empty to look into when Flint Hawe’s orchestra features only seven musicians, three on keyboards.
Dana Solimando’s choreography is strong at most points, but the only questionable moment of the evening is linked to the choices for the big “Superstar” moment near the end of the show. As Jesus carries his cross to be crucified, Clayton sings his questioning song while three “Soul Girls” dance in risqué red leather outfits in an obviously suggestive way around the broken messiah. Intellectually, I can see that Moriarty and Solimando are adding an element of blasphemy to Judas’ questioning of faith, but it still feels a bit like finding a way to add a few fetchingly writhing bodies to the mix.
I counted twenty who left through the box office entrance at intermission. There are always a few who will find fault with this script, but reports tell that the advance on this show is running between 85 and 90 percent, a phenomenal rate. The irony of its holiday timing and run through Chanukah seem to have helped rather than hindered. My wife has now supplanted Miss Saigon with this as her favorite production, and the opening night audience gave it a wild and enthusiastic standing ovation. Though I am a bit more critical of certain elements of the show, I still share their enthusiasm and highly recommend it.
