Everything's Alright
Written: Apr 07 '00 (Updated Apr 09 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful set and brilliant cast, timeless music and lyrics
Cons: The Roman Guards looked stupid in their storm-trooper costumes. All other costumes, (even the blue hair on one of the disciples) were great
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| sarahgutch's Full Review: Jesus Christ Superstar |
I'm old enough to have seen the show three times when I was in high school, so when I heard that Superstar was coming back to Broadway, immediately the music popped into my head and I've been humming all the tunes since! There was a tiny bit of uncertainty as to whether a revival would live up to my memories of the original cast. I smiled as I remembered following Patrick Jude, who had played Judas Iscariot back in the '70s; after leaving JC Superstar he was front man for a band that played at all my favorite discos. Those were the days.
March 25th, two days after previews opened, a group of folks from my church had gotten together for group tickets, balcony seats. I brought my binoculars. A few days before the show opened, the local television stations started broadcasting commercials. Nice looking Jesus (www.glenncarter.com). Judas is very intense, Mary Magdalene (www.mayadays.com) is very, VERY pretty! I tried not to think too much about the show, but when we walked into the theatre, I started to get excited.
The Ford Center for the Performing Arts is absolutely beautiful. Opened just over two years ago, it stands where the old Lyric and Apollo theatres once stood, and I read that it has incorporated many of the architectural design features of the Lyric. Entering from the front doors the space flows upward around an oval atrium with twin sweeping stone staircases. Looking down to the mosaic floor I am overwhelmed by the beauty, light and meticulous detail of the interior. The walkways and aisles are wide enough for movement up and around the theatre, and the Ladies Lounge was tastefully, clean and bright. This theatre is obviously one of the shining stars of the 42nd Street Development Project, Inc. Times Square certainly has scrubbed up nicely!
As soon as we sat down I looked over all the details of the set through the binoculars. Graffiti and tall marbelized pillars studded with hand- and foot-holds for climbing up and down, with sturdy catwalks between. This is a show with a LOT of movement. Just before the Overture, two guys stepped out, one at a time, tethered themselves to a narrow catwalk in front of the very top of the curtain, and gingerly found their ways to small seats nestled among the lights, one all the way on the left, one at far right. I took a long, deep breath. There was one announcement. The part of Judas Iscariot was to be played by Manoel Felciano.
The music started, and there was not more time for anticipation. It had begun! I knew every word, but here it was, new again.
Costumes have been updated for the year 2000. My only complaint were the star-trooper style helmets for the Roman Guards. Where was Darth Vader? That's my only complaint.
The voices were right on, and all the players nailed their parts. I held back my true appraisal of Glenn Carter's performance until Gethsemane, and by the end of that soliloquy--what do you call it in an opera?--he had done it. Mr. Carter then portrayed the agony of the crucifixion so up-close-and-personal, no one could miss it. Maya Days is perfect in every way...her voice so clear and soothing, and she portrayed convincing unconditional love and acceptance, with just the right touch of uncertainty and fear.
I won't continue through the names of all the players, you can read them all at playbill.com, but they were all great.
The scene at The Temple was stunning. Suddenly the stage was filled with floor-to-ceiling cages of nuclear warheads, TVs broadcasting war commercials, the rest of the stage sprawled with drugs, violence, prostitution. It's all swept away with the words of the small man in the white gauze tunic,
"My temple should be a house of prayer
but you have made it a den of thieves
GET OUT!"
I have to say only a few words, and I don't dare say more without ruining his entrance, but Herod and his "Court of Oooh-girls" brought the house down! Where did all those lights come from?
There now you HAVE to see it! I would recommend this show for anyone mature enough to handle the subject matter emotionally. There were definitely a few tears in my row during the last scenes.
The show was and still is a brilliant creation--in my opinion, Andrew Lloyd Weber's best. Although I have heard all sorts of controversy about whether the story should be told with such contemporary music and backdrops, and with so many unanswered questions, I feel moved every time I see it. I feel the questions are there--we are free to find the answers according to our own beliefs.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sarahgutch
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Member: Abbie Slaman
Location: NJ
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 22 members
About Me:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? --Nick Lowe
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