Review: Disappointing JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Playhouse

There was some good singing, some good performances - particularly from Joshua Goldberg as Pilate and James Welch as Herod - plus some good staging ideas in the Playhouse production of Jesus Christ Superstar. So why was this production such a letdown - reflected in the tepid applause from the audience at the end?

The trouble began right at the start with a totally superfluous scene that consisted of nothing but a box being unloaded and then the curtain coming down. I was surprised that a director with Rick Sanchez' experience would open the show with such a boring scene.

At the other end, after a rather schizophrenic and piecemeal tapestry of scenes, the show's conclusion was low key and anticlimactic. Between these extremes the schizophrenia showed in the costuming, which was a curious hybrid of Biblical costume, modern dress and Star Wars (Darth Vader type figures acting as the villains of the story), and also in the choreography, which was a mix of choreographer Courtney Mercer's trademark hair tossing and hand pushing in the first act and Seventies style disco dancing in the second act. The most successful number choreographically was Herod's "Try It and See".

The singing of the soloists was generally of a high standard (Robert Quinttanilla was particularly outstanding as Caiaphas) , and Jane Haas did her usual fine work as music director. But overall the music was the biggest disappointment.

Part of the reason for this, I think, is that the show is not as good as it is reputed to be in some circles. When it made is debut, it had the novelty of a fresh approach to the story of Jesus (which spawned Godspell and other attempts to jump on the bandwagon). But the gimmick has lost its freshness and exposes the flimsy narrative structure and the fact that the show lacks the musical strengths of later works like Evita and Phantom of The Opera.

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