Went to see Jesus Christ Superstar this weekend. I do like this play – this will make the third or fourth time I've seen it (including once when we flew to New York on a whim especially to do so). This time was at the North Shore Music Circus, which I think is in Beverly, Mass. Somewhere around there.
Loved it. Really and truly thought it was an excellent show. Different enough from the others I'd seen that there was stuff to watch and appreciate, without just sitting back and enjoying the music. As always my opinion of the structure is the same — the best part is Judas' big number at the end. I don't really need to see another 10-15 minutes of Jesus hanging on the cross being tortured. Neat parts in this production that I hadn't seen before:- Several of Jesus' disciples, including Judas, were wearing Islamic outfits, including the headpiece which I want to call a koffi or something but I'm sure I'm spelling it incorrectly. I thought that was an interesting statement on the whole "Can't we all just get along" thing. Then again maybe I only thought that's what they were and I'm reading too much into it, which would be an interesting statement unto itself :).
- The children's chorus. Whenever the "good crowd" was on stage, there were many children present. During Simon's number — you know, the one when they're whipping themselves up into a frenzy and Simon is telling Jesus "You know, you could get them to march on Rome if you wanted to…." there's a neat little bit where Jesus looks first at the adults, realizes the bad path they're going down…but then he looks at the children and realizes that they're mimicking everything the adults are doing. I liked that. It illustrated that "This thing has started and I've lost control of it" idea that runs throughout the play. Although it's not part of this play, can I mention something about the New York production I saw? In this scene in particular it was fascinating because as Simon was singing to Jesus, in the background behind them all of the followers were pulling guns and ammunition out of big chests in the middle of the stage. So when Jesus turns around he sees all of his people are now armed and ready for blood. Drove the point home nicely.
- Judas' final number was accompanied by lots of "media", including images of Jesus meeting Oprah, Jesus as People's Sexiest Man Alive, and so on. Of course, all those comic shots were interspersed with shots of him beaten, bloodied and crucified, so it was a pretty disturbing montage.
- During the 39 lashes, many of Jesus' followers – men and women alike – kept throwing themselves in front of the whip in an attempt to save him. It never worked, of course, and they got whipped for their trouble before being pulled away by the guards. But we got to see that his people didn't abandon him, and were trying to save him right up until the end.