Jesus Christ Superstar

The name in the title must be the best known one in the world, so the audience clearly knew of his life and what lay ahead in this sung through rock opera based on the Gospel accounts of the Passion. In many ways Judas is the centre of the play, unhappy and dissatisfied with the course Jesus his disciples are taking. The era of Jesus meant that all but one of the major roles is performed by male leads.  Mind you it was a large cast with many younger performers in the dance ensemble. The ending was as expected, with Jesus on the cross before his body was removed.

Director Madeleine Johns is very experienced in the musical field and that was obvious by the way she handled the large cast so fluently. Her helpers deserve praise too. The question then arises over a couple of the main roles and the backing orchestra, which was at the rear of the stage behind the performers.  This meant that the volume had to be carefully under control and several times it was not. This meant at times the singers could not be heard with clarity.

The most outstanding performer was Stephanie Collins as Mary Magdalene, with both her singing and acting. Congratulations. Jeandr Le Roux as Jesus has a magnificent voice but needed to be a little more expressive at some critical moments. Erickson Ilustre carried the role of Judas to the limits but could not always be heard clearly. It is good that Jake Hollingworth’s King Herod is not ruling over us, but he is good. The dancers have to be congratulated for the group work, which was excellent from one style to another. The set for the play was great, allowing for the free flow of the action and the dancing. Well done in that regard.

Since it was first performed on stage in1971, Jesus Christ Superstar has become well accepted as a rock opera with softer songs too, such as "I don't know how to love him". That gives the audience the full experience of the wide range of music. Congratulations to Redcliffe Musical Theatre for accepting the challenge.

William Davies

Photographer: Bruce Redman