By Kate Prendergast
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Capitol Theatre, November 14
Until January 26
Reviewed by KATE PRENDERGAST
★★★★½
Not long after its 1971 Broadway premiere, Jesus Christ Superstar had its first official Australian production at the Capitol Theatre. Fifty-one years later, and now a global phenomenon, JC has risen again at the Capitol.
Under British director Timothy Sheader, an indefatigable ensemble cast and crew brings passion to The Passion, blood and glitter to the stage, and biblical proportions of movement, artistic imagination and pure vocal power to this audacious reimagining of the defining days of Christianity.
Reuben Kaye has the best costume.Credit: Jeff Busby
Credit goes foremost to Tom Scutt – mastermind of costume and set. Jesus’ followers/groupies burst onto stage looking like they’re repping the new Yeezy season or Burning Man leisure wear. Jesus even wears a snapback cap. The raggedy beige bagginess amplifies Drew McOnie’s choreography: contemporary dance meets gospel chorus meets evangelical aerobics that would be lethal to anyone less than supremely fit.
Scutt’s two-storey Fallout-style scaffold, rusted and bare, towers over the temple, the courtyard and the betrayals. In the upper rafters, three shadowy figures cowled in black hoodies soar through ballads on electric fretboards and keys. This structure is centre-split by a carved-out cross, a hollow from which the twisted, ominously underlit limbs of a Judas tree loom.
As though crashed on stage, a chunky metal crucifix lies angled and sloped, serving as a platform for state powers to preen, pomp and tantrum. Steam rises everywhere, turning the action into a moody furnace of faith and doubt. Lee Curran’s lighting is everything a rock opera spectacle is owed.
Javon King (Judas) is a world-class belter.Credit: Jeff Busby
In leading roles of equal weight, Michael Paynter is an angel-faced, tattooed Jesus, uneasily trapped in his celebrity, and Javon King is an anguished Judas. These two are world-class belters, and belt they do from beginning to end (Paynter got two spontaneous standing ovations for one impossibly elongated note).
The complex tragedy of their characters’ relationship is at times drowned out by their competing powerhouse vocals, particularly in the first act. This production is pitched to be extra all the way through.
Mahalia Barnes soothes as the gentle Mary with a stunning voice; Peter Murphy (looking like Jimmy Barnes in his peak rock era) is a stocky, put-upon Pilate; as our two high priests, Elliot Baker and John O’Hara radiate sinister power, with ripped torsos and steampunk eyewear.
Reuben Kaye eats up his brief time on stage just before the Last Supper, toying with lines in the thrillingly reckless spirit of drag cabaret. After surviving a year of death threats following a colourful joke broadcast on TV about Jesus getting nailed, it was delicious to hear him exit with a sly “nailed it”. He also has the best costume – a full-body cape like a prodigal sunbeam, a glittering groin cup and golden coat-tail jacket over high boots.
Genre fans will flock to this song-centric, spectacle-rich show, which won a 2017 Olivier for Best Musical Revival. Believe, or don’t – you’ll still be blown away.
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