Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar as staged by BMMS is a hi-tech, hi-energy, spectacle. The show’s setting has been changed to a post-apocalyptic future, with plenty of wild-looking types and lots of dancing. Lots of dancing. Imagine Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome re-staged as a School Spectacular.

Come the apocalypse we will not glow in the dark with radiation, but instead will wear New-Romantic face paint that makes us look like the children of Visage and Adam Ant. Having the entire cast look like this didn’t always work but when it did (in the video close ups) it was quite effective.  iPhones survive the apocalypse, and were used to great effect by relaying images to the makeshift video screens above.

Aarin Starkey as Judas has a soaring music-theatre voice, which in this role is a plus. That voice stopped us comparing him to Jons English and Stevens, and it let him make the role his own. Sarah Namdar as Mary has a presence as beautiful as her voice, and I could have listened to her all night.

Nathan Hodge as Jesus was passionate as he was gutsy, giving it his all and in fine tune. Jesus wears the crazy face paint and clothing of the rest of the cast. While it suggests he is a man-of-the-people it would have been interesting to see Jesus without face paint and a more vivid costume.

Matt Herne as Pilate was all the right kinds of imposing and brought much gravitas to the part. Clare McCallum as a female Herod was a scene stealer, as were her dance ensemble. The snorting of cocaine (cocaine also survives the apocalypse) was a funny touch. Eamon O’Flynn as Simon, Liam Gray as Peter, Erin Bogart as Annas were also in great voice. Lachlan Gracie gave us a Caiaphas that was more manic than usual.

The 11-piece band was scattered around the stage, which was an effective look, and were ably led by MD Matt Lovelace. On opening night the drums tended to dominate the sound mix.

The technical wizardry in this production is a marvel: the Cross is made up entirely of LED monitors that transmit some potent images (yes, flat screen TVs also survive the apocalypse). Judas commits suicide by blowing out his brains with a gun. You can’t see it but there’s a tiny camera on the gun barrel, so we get a close up on the video relay from the gun’s point of view. When the ghost of Judas returns (wearing a t-shirt I thought was in poor taste) we see the back of his head and the mess the bullet made: skin peeled back and exposed brain. It looks chillingly real.

The Ensemble in this show is worthy of your attention. Never underestimate the power of a talented chorus and how they can make or break a show. This show also featured a Children’s Ensemble that is just as talented as its adult counterpart.

Emma Joseph’s frenetic choreography is an impressive stand out, and well executed by the cast. However there were some scenes (the Conspirators’ song and the burial scene) where I felt it worked against the moment.

This production more-than-suggests that Jesus and Mary M were more-than-friends. This idea has been around long before the Da Vinci Code re-introduced it to a new generation, so seeing it on stage usually generates, from Christians, rolled eyes and “oh, that again”. My issue with it here was that once it was introduced the show didn’t seem to go anywhere with it, so to me it felt gratuitous.

I had a problem when Jesus floored a moneylender by punching him in the face. The Bible gives examples of Jesus losing his temper, but only the furniture suffers. Despite that, no matter your (non)religious beliefs, having Jesus punch someone goes against the show’s internal logic.

As with all such productions that go for Rock Eisteddfod razzamatazz, the show gives priority to energy over emotion, movement over character, and technical effects over storytelling. Every song or scene was a slickly produced music video but somehow I didn’t feel the dots were being connected. (Maybe the apocalypse bleached something out from the show?)

While this show offers dazzling riches of talent and tech, sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad for me.  Lots of times I was so bedazzled by the choreography and tech effects that I spent more time watching those and not focusing on what someone was singing about. The crucifixion is an example: Jesus was acting his messiah off but it was the video-cross and the actions of the mob below it that I wanted to watch.

This production took risks and we need more directors like Jessica Lovelace who are not afraid to take those risks.  So maybe not all those risks paid off for me, but that’s not the point. It was clear they paid off in spades for the audience, who gave the talented and hard working cast rapturous applause and standing ovation.

Buy the impressive-looking programme and read the director’s notes. Whilst I challenge the director for saying this show “was never really intended to be a musical”, she does suggest an awesome game to play during the show.

Peter Novakovich

Photos by Brenden Neaton and Grant Blackwell.