BWW Preview: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Quincy
By: Trevor Durham Oct. 02, 2016
Somewhere between heresy and opera, Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar sits comfortably in its forty-sixth year of success. The rock-opera has made its way down the road to Quincy Music Theatre, into the hands of Naomi Rose-Mock. Rose-Mock, faithful music director Michael Pritchard in tow, has taken Webber's challenge and is wrestling the beast into submission a week out from show. Still with some significant problems to overcome, the show is still looking to be a faithful vision of a classic that entertains audiences of any background.
Rose-Mock and Pritchard are a strong team, the only ones that could bring this project off the ground. They've done work in the past, such as The Producers or A Christmas Carol, but something of this caliber pushes them to new heights. At the end of the day, the opera will be dependent on them.
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"Kafui's late."
There's still a full week before the doors of the Leaf Theatre opening, funneling audiences into Jerusalem, and the cast is doing stretches for their warm up. A chain-back-massage stretches the stage-lip as Pritchard warms up the voices. Rose-Mock pulls me aside to tell me that Kafui Ablordeppy is running a bit late. She lists out that they'll be doing a brief fight-call before the run to iron out some issues, the lighting designer will be writing down cues, the costume designer won't be there tonight, and sound won't be running just yet. Normal things to expect a week out, nothing I didn't come expecting.
All in all, I'll be seeing a bare-bones full run of the cast, with Jon Mathes playing Iscariot in the first act, switching in Joseph Keinstra to play Judas' second half. The pair will be alternating the performance schedule each night, giving each audience a new disciple to follow.
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For those unfamiliar, Jesus Christ Superstar details the final days of Jesus of Nazareth. What tweaked the religious right the wrong way in 1971, when it premiered, was that the show is primarily seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. In humanizing the betrayal, giving equal standing to Judas and Jesus, it certainly broke new ground. Antagonist narrators became musical theatre shorthand, even today, in shows like Hamilton or Urinetown.
The heavy hand falls on Jonathan Rigsby, playing the son of God. It's this portrayal, the rising celebrity of ancient Jerusalem, which Rose-Mock pivots her production around, bouncing individual characters off to see him crack. In the deviation of Judases, there's a great divide, one that certainly will spell out different finales nightly.
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After the 'Jesus Walks' call, Rose-Mock kicked off the run. Pritchard still didn't have a full orchestra at his disposal, using just a keyboard to guide the massive cast. Seeing Taylor Whittle's choreography guiding the masses is always a charm, seeing the dozens of cast members in close-quarters yet never close to danger. Bottom line, Rose-Mock's cast was a train barreling down into the density of Jesus Christ Superstar, and there was nothing to do but watch.
The show certainly hiccupped every now and again. Transitions are already clean, the staging is set in stone, lines weren't tripped over. Only occasional awkwardness, sore voices, and the absence of a sizable chunk of ensemble marred the run.
One of the more interesting things to see was the insane difference in performance each Judas gave. Mathes' Iscariot was an emotional force, desparate in frustration, pain, longing for the Jesus of his past. Keinstra's Judas, instead, stalks the stage with a predatory menace, dashing in to bite in Jesus' weakest moments. The ferocity Keinstra brought gave his Judas a sharper turn after the betrayal, while Mathes was a sympathetic soul. No matter which you end up seeing, Rose-Mock has given two very new interpretations to the classic villain.
Pritchard has his work cut out for him, and he knows it. When we talked months prior, he expressed his concerns about the score. Without a full professional cast, it's daunting to imagine a student conducting voices into Webber's expectations. Pieces like Gethsemane, Heaven on Their Minds, and The Arrest are insurmountably frustrating numbers for even the highest tenor, but Pritchard reigned in some great talent to do his dirty work. Mathes, one of the Judases, brings a mix of Freddie Mercury and Adam Lambert into a classically trained theatre setting, twisting his talents between the rock, opera, and gospel JCS demands. Rigsby's high tenor counters well with each Judas, providing a pure, light voice to foil their gritty notes. Cristi Izquierdo's Mary improves upon the original with a nurturing performance, something even more emotional in the second act.
There are soloists who need work, Pritchard agrees, but he's worked stranger wonders in a week. In group numbers, like The Temple, the musical direction is most sound. Pritchard knows how to layer his harmonies, pushing his strongest players into the rafters. Even without mics or mixing, his balance could clearly cut around the leads. He's treating his music as a science, dropping a few sopranos into one vial, which pouring baritones in the next, knowing exactly what it takes to deliver a wonderful musical experience.
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With a lot still to come, from Machelle Thompson's inventive costuming to Kaitlin Evans lighting, it's going to be fascinating to see where Jesus Christ Superstar ends up next week. Seeing Rose-Mock and Pritchard chaining the beast down was a blast, there are certainly some exciting things this production is heading towards.
Jesus Christ Superstar opens October 7th and runs through the 16th at the Leaf Theatre. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.
Photo credits: Brandon Buck
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