‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Shines

All photos by Catherine Green

I got to see the final dress rehearsal of “Jesus Christ Superstar” staged this month by MHCC’s theatre program and was delighted with the artistic choices and performances of the cast and crew. The heart and passion the performers brought to the singing and dancing and emoting was impressive and a joy to behold.

After an opening weekend Feb. 21-23, there remains one weekend left to go see the production: Head to the main College Theatre in the Performing Arts building for performances at 7 p.m. on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, or a matinee show at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March. 2.

All photos by Catherine Green

The play’s set design includes on-stage floodlights that are operated by members of the cast. I am a big fan of bringing the behind-the-scenes action into the performance, so I thought that was an excellent touch. It also helps to give the performance a sense of inner-city or prison life.

The costumes are incredible and tell a story of their own: The pompousness of the priests; the deviance of Herod and his willing (I hope) posse; the blinder helmets on the police – and it’s impossible to miss the fabulous gold pants seen in one musical number. Dating from the 1971 Broadway original “rock opera” crafted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, the musical itself is “loosely” based on the gospels, and as someone who has read the Bible multiple times, I can see why many Christians traditionally find the show offensive. It’s as if the playwrights skimmed one of the four books, making a few quick bullet points as they read, and then formed the musical off those as if the bullet points were a gospel unto themselves. They cast Jesus Christ in the role of a Superstar, although an argument could be made that they see Judas as the real star of this show. In truth, the playwrights left the show to end on a sad note, basically saying that if you strive to be a superstar, you’ll just be horribly misunderstood and tortured. I don’t agree with this perspective, but that’s what is in the script. I think people who don’t know the play’s story will likely enjoy it, although my personal distaste for violence (even though it was just a gripping, artistic representation) almost led me to leave for a scene. The playwrights made some curious choices about which people they would include or exclude in the tale, which got me wondering how I would write the script – and then I wondered if I would find that fun, or not. Regardless, the overall performance is excellent, and the live band that supports the musical also shines.

All photos by Catherine Green