Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – This coronavirus Easter, the rebroadcast of NBC’s starry JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR hits the mark by striking the right tone

• By drediman
• April 14, 2020
• No Comments

The company of NBC’s rebroadcast of “Jesus Christ Superstar” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Photo by James Dimmock.

One of the highlights of this muted Easter weekend was the rebroadcast of NBC’s starry, filmed-live-for-TV rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (the televised special was originally aired over Easter 2018). At one time a controversial entry into popular culture – mostly because it dares to emphasize Jesus’s human flaws, thereby questioning his divinity – the piece has since become mainstream entertainment, with the cachet to headline primetime television hours during the Christian calendar’s most significant religious holiday. For those of you who don’t know, Jesus Christ Superstar is Messrs. Lloyd Webber and Rice’s audacious, genre-defying early career attempt at recasting of the last days of Christ.

By staging the show overtly as a rock concert – complete with ample footage of an adoring, vocal audience – British director David Leveaux has found just the right concept to de-emphasize the barebones book (the musical’s simplistic song cycle structure hasn’t evolved much from its concept album days) and effectively draw parallels to our current celebrity culture. It’s nice to once again see the directorial work of Mr. Leveaux, who until a few years ago was a mainstay on this side of the pond. His smart concert-style staging also pumps adrenaline and reckless locomotion into the story of the Passion; both characteristics in my mind are requisite to any successful staging of the show. Additionally, the production has been set against the mammoth tableau of what seems to be the scaffolded ruins of a religious site, giving the proceedings just the right amount of context while thematically suggesting the excavation of the mysteries of the New Testament. All-in-all, Mr. Leveaux’s well-balanced staging has struck just the right tone.

Also working hand-in-hand with Mr. Leveaux’s vision is the casting of A-list pop stars in the principal roles. For the most part, they handle Mr. Lloyd Webber’s gutsy score (one of his best) well. John Legend may not be the most vocally ravishing of the singing-actors to have taken on the title role, but he more or less gets the job done with his brooding, stately portrayal. Sara Bareilles’s sweetly-sung, strangely wholesome Mary Magdalene – who is given some of the show’s most addictively melodic songs (“Everything’s Alright”, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”) – fares somewhat better. Both Legend and Bareilles’s actual superstar statuses help lift the experience to an unabashed “event”, which works brilliantly on a meta level with the show’s underlying conceit. But best of all is Broadway stalwart Brandon Victor Dixon, who gives a dramatically impassioned and vocally sensational performance as Judas, inarguably the show’s most fully-formed character. Kudos also to the hyperactive ensemble, who eagerly ride the excitement generated by the production.

RECOMMENDED

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Streaming Theater
NBC
2 hours, 30 minutes (including commercial breaks)
Streaming ended