It's the most wonderful time of the year, and #TCTheater is overflowing with Christmas shows, many of which are selling out. But in a bit of alternative programming, the Ordway Center is hosting a touring production of
Jesus Christ Superstar, which is about the ending of Jesus' life rather than the beginning of it. It's a much more somber and less hopeful story, but it has a similar message of Jesus' true teachings - feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, uplifting the downtrodden, welcoming the stranger - that unfortunately some self-proclaimed "Christians" seem to have forgotten. I'm not a huge fan of the show, I've only seen it a couple times (most recently
the Ordway's 2017 original production that garnered
multiple TCTB Awards) and never really listened to the score, but I found this production to be electric. A fantastic touring cast, a tight and intense and fast-moving 90 minutes, and a cool modern design. It feels more like a rock concert than a musical, in a good way. It's the same tour that played at the Orpheum in January of 2020 but with a different cast, but I didn't see that one so this is my first experience with this
Jesus Christ Superstar. It can be seen on the
Ordway stage in lovely festive downtown St. Paul through December 28, after which this production, or a version of it, will tour the world and play the West End.
The 1970 concept-album-turned-musical-phenomenon (with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice) takes us through the final days of Jesus, as told through his frenemy Judas who (spoiler alert to those who didn't grow up with this story, or may have forgotten it) turns him in to the authorities, resulting in his death. We move pretty quickly through these events - Jesus' welcome into Jerusalem with chanting crowds waving palms, the iconic Last Supper, Jesus' struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane, his arrest, and eventual crucifixion - in a way that can be a bit confusing if you don't know the details and characters in this story. But it's all about the music and the emotion, and this production nails it (pardon the pun).
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Jesus (Jack Hopewell) and the cast recreate the last supper
(photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) |
The modern set looks like a warehouse type of building on a city street, with lots of cross imagery, including a huge cross that appears to have fallen forward onto the middle of the stage and serves as a catwalk. The cast is dressed in modern streetwear in shades of gray, all baggy pants and loose tunics, that looks like the most comfortable musical theater costumes possible. These costumes fit the modern, athletic choreography which is energetically performed by the large and talented cast. They sing into handheld mics, or mics on stands, which is where much of the concert feel comes from, along with the rock star lighting and loud music, which is a combination of electronic music and five live musicians (in contrast to the Ordway original production with a 16-piece orchestra), including esteemed #TCTheater music director Raymond Berg on keys. Several cast members also play instruments on some songs, from guitars to percussion. (Direction by Timothy Sheader, choreography by Drew McOnie, costume and set design by Tom Scutt, lighting design by Lee Curran, sound design by Keith Caggiano, music direction by Mark Binns.)
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Judas (Elvie Ellis) and the cast of JCS
(photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) |
The fantastic cast is led by Jack Hopewell as an emo hipster guitar-playing Jesus with a man-bun and dangling earring, and I'm here for it. His voice ranges from soft and tender to a high piercing scream, as called for by the score. But even though Jesus is the title character, Judas is in many ways the larger and more interesting role, and Elvie Ellis knocks it out of the park with a powerful voice and a tortured portrayal of this conflicted man. Rounding out the big three roles is Faith Jones as Mary (Magdeline, not Jesus' mother, which is important to note). She has a gentle presence amidst the bigness of this show, with a lovely voice that also soars to great heights. This is a powerful, rangey, big score and this cast handles it well, singing their faces off. Other highlights in the cast are the trio of baddies - Isaac Ryckeghem as the deep-voiced religious leader Caiaphas, Ethan Hardy Benson as the leather jacket-clad secular leader Pilate, and Erich W. Schleck as the flamboyant King Herod.
