Jesus Christ Superstar

Yesterday evening, my parents and I popped down to Bristol (not exactly a short journey) to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Bristol Hippodrome. I've only seen the musical live once, in Hungary a while back, and I was rather looking forward to seeing it again.

Jesus Christ Superstar is, in my opinion, a good musical which tells a rather exceptional story which, with insightful direction and a talented cast, can become something great. The cast for last night was exceptional and the design and direction, overall, something rather special.

I must admit that I like Jesus Christ Superstar. As I said above, I feel that the musical itself is not the best show ever. The songs, with a few exceptions, aren't that special. However, it is working with some amazing material - whether you follow the faith or not it's a powerful story - and this musical makes that story accessible, in my opinion for people of all beliefs.The musical doesn't force the audience to accept that Jesus is anything supernatural but allows for that jump to be taken if individuals feel that it fits.  It's the story of human emotions in exceptional circumstances. 

And, that is where the cast were brilliant. Every member succeeded in conveying a rounded character (when called for). Vocally everyone was strong and worked together well with a mixture of tones and vocal textures. The dance parts were impressive, with every member really into it and looking like they relished every moment of being up there performing. There are a couple of the non-lead/chorus cast members that I will be looking up when I have my programme to hand and I will be keeping an eye on where they go next!

The only person who I wasn't 100% struck on was Rachel Adedeji as Mary Magdalene but then I think it takes someone truly out of this world to bring that character to life for me, particularly in the first act. I warmed to Adedeji's performance as Mary's character became more interesting in act two so we'll blame the fact that I don't like Jesus Christ Superstar's Mary Magdalene much rather than the actress. In fact, my parents spoke very highly of Adedeji and using good old youtube I've looked her up and find that I quite like her voice too.

Anyway, I can't speak about every brilliant cast member or I would have to write about each of them in turn so I will focus on the highlights, as agreed by my family!

Seeing Glenn Carter as Jesus was one of the reasons I booked this show. His performance in the 2000 recording was exceptional and became my benchmark for the role. It's a lot to live up to live, and fifteen years on, but Carter managed to do just that. His dedication to the character, and to portraying both emotional and physical anguish, is something rather incredible.

The cast also included the wonderful Cavin Cornwall as Caiphas, something I didn't actually realise until I arrived and bought the programme. Wow, what a voice! The other thing that struck both me and my parents (who both mentioned him as their 'favourite') was just how graceful he was on stage. The character seemed in control, powerful and menacing through the sheer elegance and poise he showed.

Finally, Tim Rogers as Judas was wonderful. It took me a while to warm up to him... but then 'Heaven on Their Minds' seemed a bit out in terms of sound tech so one does wonder. However, Rogers portrayed a Judas who I grew to love. You ever get that feeling where you want to go up and hug a character? Lets just say that his suicide had my mother and I in tears. My dad's a toughie. It was acted exquisitely. And 'The Last Supper' was wonderful with Rogers and Carter playing off against each other vocally in such a way that both were able to showcase their (rather great) abilities.

And while we're talking of great acting we have to mention the intensity of the second act. I joked with my parents that we should leave after act one... before it all goes to pot! I actually don't know how to put the second act into words. It features a couple of distinct scenes of obvious violence - the whipping scene and the crucifixion itself - and each of these scenes are drawn out much longer than is comfortable. There is no gratuitous violence and gore but the emotional reaction of the characters is more than enough. There's no way that an audience can go away untouched from a performance like this.

The curtain call was rather short. The clapping wasn't overly enthusiastic. There was no standing ovation. Walking out into the street I could hear people discussing the performance in a most positive fashion. The truth is that, at the time of the curtain call I think we were all to shell-shocked to actually show our appreciation fully straight afterwards.

I can't get moments of the show out of my head. It was an astounding piece of art. Part of me wants to see it again. Part of me needs to give my emotions some serious time to recover.

Seeing the musical 'Ghost'

Last night, a couple of days before the end of the tour, I finally managed to do something I had desperately wanted to do, see the musical Ghost.

Based on the film of the same name, the musical sees lovers Sam and Molly separated by a seemingly random robbery-shooting in which Sam is killed. While Molly attempts to come to terms with the loss, Sam remains trapped on Earth as a ghost, one of many who walk among us. However, when he discovers that he was in fact the target of the shooting, and that Molly is in danger, Sam attempts to communicate with her with the help of a (not so) phoney psychic, Oda Mae.

The show ran for, I think, just over a year in the West End but it was the Hungarian production that first caught my eye and prompted me to buy the soundtrack (Original cast CD) and I slowly but surely grew to love the songs and particularly their portrayal of the human aspects of love and loss. In fact, my mother and I have ended up in floods of tears while listening to that soundtrack in the kitchen but that's another story.

The UK tour production has some changes from the original production. No doubt there are other changes (as this is the first time I have seen the production, I'm not sure) but the most obvious are a few lyrical changes and a few song changes. "Ball of Wax" is changed to "You Gotta Let Go" and this change is positive, I think. The ghosts are more obviously attempting to help Sam come to terms with things and encouraging this. "I Can't Breathe" is now a reprise of "Unchained Melody", although I think it was to the same tune as "I Can't Breathe" but don't quote me on that. I don't understand what they were trying to do here. I don't see any weakness in the original lyrics and I certainly don't see the point of having the lyrics to "Unchained Melody" here. The other major change came in the form of "Life Turns on a Dime", mainly in Carl's part which was reminiscent of "Here Right Now". Personally, I feel that the original version is better with regards to Carl's characterisation but I don't think it matters, especially if you haven't seen/heard any other versions.

Anyway, moving onto the production itself and the cast. I must admit that during the first few scenes (and my mother said the same thing) I was cringing. It was not good. The cheesy New York accents really detracted from the performance, luckily they got weaker as the play went on, and you couldn't hear a word that was being said because the sound was fuzzy. Actually, that balance was out most of the time and you were lucky if you could hear the soloists over the chorus and/or band. Rebecca Trehearn (Molly) and Stewart Clarke (Sam) sounded positively out of tune during the first number but, to be fair, I think this was down to the tech team more than anything because there was dramatic improvement. By Sam's death the pair I had started to warm to the pair and I think you were more able to empathise and enjoy their stage time. I loved Trehearn's portrayal of the mourning Molly, in particular. Her body language was great.

I think the crowd's favourite had to be Wendy Mae Brown (Oda Mae Brown) who was simply wonderful. She oozed charisma and she owned the stage whenever she was on it. Of course, playing a larger than life character has to help with that but seriously, wow.

Because this 'review' is getting long and rambling enough as it is, I won't go into everyone's performance but the rest of the cast who played named character were excellent (David Robert's Carl was wonderfully nuanced and Stevie Hutchinson really impressed me as the Subway Ghost). The ensemble were also wonderful both vocally and with their dancing!

However, it was the tech that sold the show. As people who know me will know, I have a vision problem that makes projections very uncomfortable and that means that I can't see in 3D at all (along with other things). The projections were painful for me which is in no way the responsibility of anyone to do with the show... However, I could actually see some aspects of the projections partially in 3D which is truly wonderful. That says something about how perfect the design must have been. Similarly, a lot of the tricks and illusions used during the show were things that I knew how to do but even with that knowledge, which should make it easier to spot what's being done, they appeared flawless. To be fair, that part is complimenting both cast and tech but oh well, organisation. The best bit: the illusions and technology use was constant and amazing yet it always added to the show as a whole and never detracted.

I have to mention the sound once again because I really do feel that the actors have had a rough deal in this review because of things that were largely outside of their control. The general balance sounded out and certainly the volume was bizarre. Some songs were painfully loud without there being any reason (I know that sometimes one might want higher volumes to overload senses etc), and the vocals seemed distorted at times when they simply shouldn't have been. The chorus were great but if they were singing at the same time as a soloist there's no way you could hear that soloist. The band was also great but goodness did they overpower the singers. During the interval I heard a lot of people wondering what was going on because they hadn't been able to hear a lot of the words. What a shame.

Complaints about sound aside, perhaps it's the biggest compliment that despite this, everyone seemed to have a really good evening. And, if the amount of sniffing and smudged mascara eyes was anything to go by, the show really managed to connect with the audience even when the missed half the nuance of the script. Their enjoyment must have come mainly from the visual affects and the acting and isn't that the greatest compliment you can give?