Interview: 'This Show Has Changed The Course of Musical Theatre': Actor-Muso Max Alexander-Taylor on Playing Judas in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Jesus Christ Superstar has been rocking out at the Watermill Theatre for the past two months. This particular production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera has the performers taking on the role of actor-musicians to tell one of the most famous stories of all time - the story of Jesus Christ. But what makes this show unique compared to other versions? It’s seen through the perspective of Judas Iscariot (Max Alexander-Taylor).

Recently, we had the opportunity to talk with Alexander-Taylor about his experience playing Judas. We discussed what it is like to be an actor-muso in this production, how Jesus Christ Superstar remains relevant over fifty years later and how playing the electric guitar has given him a new perspective on playing Judas.

How did you first get started in theatre?

I fell into it a little bit! I was really interested in doing physics at school. I really wanted to join the team at CERN finding the Higgs boson! And then my Sixth Form College was auditioning for a show called Sweeney Todd, and I'd always liked the idea of singing and the idea of theatre. I wasn't particularly into it, but I enjoyed it when I saw other people doing it. So I auditioned for that, and then they changed the show from Sweeney Todd to Spring Awakening, and I was furious about it! I was still convinced to audition and I got the role of Melchior in that. That basically stopped my physics journey in its tracks. So from that point onwards, I decided that I wanted to do theatre - just from that one experience at sixth form! - and I pursued it. I took two years out to train and loosen me up a bit, and then I auditioned for drama schools. I went to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, which is a wonderful school in Glasgow - studied musical theatre up there. And have been working in theatre in various different capacities ever since!

And what made you want to be a part of this production of Jesus Christ Superstar?

The actor-muso element was really a big calling card. I've always played guitar, and I've always loved playing electric guitar as well. And the role of Judas in this production uses an electric guitar to help to tell the story. The parts in Jesus Christ Superstar that you have to play on the electric guitar are quite tricky, and anything that's challenging I always thoroughly enjoy.

The other thing is, I used to work at the [Regent’s Park] Open Air Theatre back in 2016, 2017 and again in 2020 and it was on during those years, the first time with Tyrone Huntley and Declan Bennett playing the two leads. I got completely obsessed by the show and by Tyrone's wonderful singing and acting skills. I immediately fell in love with the part of Judas. So I watched the show about 100 times over those two years. 

And then, when it went to the Barbican in 2019 with Ricardo Afonso playing the role of Judas in that production, my mind was blown out. I had a religious experience with that version of the show. Ricardo’s vocals were so good - I never heard anything like it on stage! It opened my eyes to the possibility of what could be done with vocals in theatre, and what could be done with that role. So those two aspects - easiest job to take in the world!

I originally was up for the part of Jesus, and when I went in for the audition, I said to the musical supervisor, Stuart Morley, “I can't do that eight shows a week. I can't sing ‘Gethsemane’ - it's too hard for me - but I really love the role of Judas.” So then they auditioned me for that role instead, and I ended up getting it! It was a very easy job to take, because it’s the role that changed my mind about what can be done musically in theatre, and how to tell a story through singing and playing, all that jazz.

What was the rehearsal process like for this production, especially taking on the actor-muso role?

Rehearsals are always quite a curious one, because, in a way, you start with the sitzprobe. For the uninitiated, sitzprobe is the moment that the actors and singers perform with the orchestra for the first time, which usually happens right at the end of rehearsals. You go all the way through, you stage everything with a piano in the room, and then suddenly you hear the band for the first time.

Day one was our sitzprobe - we were given all of our sheet music, we played along with a bunch of the tracks, and we tried to wrap our heads around it musically first. So, in a way, it got the excitement of the sound world out of the way. But it was slow, because we're trying to get all of this information, all of these notes off-book - we want to have learnt all of this stuff musically before we get to staging it. Otherwise, you're walking around with a bit of sheet music which has your guitar part on it and a bit of sheet music which has your vocal line and the lyrics, trying to balance all of these things. So we had to work really hard initially to get a lot of stuff off book and into memory, so that at the very least we could understand how our movement related to the music, and how our movement related to the lyric. 

So that made this process a little bit different, and it made it a little bit more tricky in that regard. Once that stuff was in there, it was like any other process. It's just you trying to work with Paul [Hart, Director] and Angie [Mehra, Choreographer], figuring out where your character would be, what they would feel about certain things.

The instruments only helped with that decision, because when you're playing an instrument, it already limits what you're able to do - at least physically - because you have to do this thing, and that limitation really helps us to make more creative decisions. That's a classic thing within any art form -  the less you're able to do, the more creative you have to be with your expression at that point. And this production is actually a really good example of that. What can you do with twelve people playing instruments on stage, plus a six-strong dance troupe? The results are very creative and why we feel like we're having so much success with this show.

Can you give a few examples of what creative choices you had to make when playing this role?

Some of the creative things were picking what to play. So Stuart Morley and Becca [Kelly, Musical Director] initially gave us an idea of what they wanted us to play. And as we made our way through, we realised that perhaps playing this thing in this situation gave us too much movement. At the beginning, I was originally gonna play the opening guitar bit, and it became clear later on that we wanted Judas to appear later. So what we had to find was the instigating moment for Judas to start playing the guitar.

What does Judas represent in this show, at least in the overture? And it came to be the final phrase that Pilate sings in the trial, “Don’t let me stop your great self destruction.” That bit is reflected in the guitar part, so we gave that to Judas to hammer home the fact that even though he's not Pilate in that moment, he lays the groundwork for that happening. He’s the instigator for Pilate making that decision. If it wasn't for Judas handing him in, then we wouldn't get to that stage. So it made sense for for Judas to play that bit. 

In terms of the limitations of having an instrument changing the creative decision, it didn't feel right for Judas to be in the temple scene, being tempted by all the things that are going on, like the cattle sellers and the people misbehaving. Because I needed to play a really tricky guitar part at that point, me and Paul decided that Judas should be watching on, so we made the decision that I'd be above the stage in one of the balconies, watching the action.

It's much more effective that Judas is simply watching the action at this stage and not getting involved in it, to have this figure looking over the events and being influenced by what he's seeing - it felt a little bit more active in a way. 

The way you're talking about how the music became a character with the actor-musos, it's fascinating!

Yeah! The joy of the actor-muso is that you're essentially playing the subtext. Everything that Judas says, at least in the first act. He says what he wants, but beneath that, there's a level of agitation and a level of joy in the music that isn't necessarily reflected in the same way in the text. So if you're playing that music underneath, you're giving an additional comment. Simply playing a lick on the guitar says another thing that is not in the text, so that kind of thing is profoundly important for character building, and to understand the attitude of someone. You can stand there and look like you're annoyed, but if you're actually playing, it's way more active, and you get much more information about what the character is feeling. Just because they're playing a lick on the guitar or a fill on the drums, you understand what they're feeling because music is intrinsically feeling.

And what has it been like performing the show to audiences at the Watermill Theatre?

Great! They're really nice audiences that we get at the Watermill. Paul's been doing actor-muso shows here for a long time. In the past two years especially, they've really ramped up with Lord of the Rings two years ago and Barnum last year, which was directed by Jonathan O’Boyle. So they're used to the large scale, actor-muso stuff. Now, this is probably the one of the biggest ones that they've had.

But as a result, they have a level of expectation that's beyond the size of the barn. We have a section that breaks out into the gardens in this production, as they did in Barnum and Lord of the Rings. And that's a really special moment, because you're able to get out of the claustrophobia that you felt in Act One and suddenly breach the city walls, as it were, and explore the Garden of Gethsemane and what it feels like to be in a more expansive space.

And then suddenly, once Jesus is arrested, we're brought back into the claustrophobia of the barn. The audiences seem to lap that up! There's something so lovely about being outside and suddenly having five times as much space to play with. The physicality that the show takes on is so radically different to what it has to be in a smaller space like the barn. It's been really fun. 

And this is always my favourite part of a contract, when we're about a month or so in and we've got a couple of months left, because we've made it our own. Reapproach what it is that you worked on through rehearsals and previews, but add some more introspection. It's remarkably fun, and I know that everyone feels the same about this. No one is close to getting bored of this production anytime soon, because there's so much to play with!

And how has it been to take on this role that you've loved so much of Judas?

Oh, it's a joy. I have to keep pinching myself! There's a couple of moments before doing some of my favourite bits. The opening is really great fun because I get to play my favourite melody, my favourite riffs. The “Heaven on Their Minds” riff is just so much fun! I have to keep pinching myself to be like, “Oh yeah, I'm doing this, and I'm being paid. It’s my job!”

And, at the same time, it's a job that I need to keep on top of and look after myself to be able to do. It's not just something that I can frivolously throw myself into every day. It comes with costs. It comes with not enjoying myself to the fullest extent after a show every night, and it comes with making sure that you're keeping on top of your vocal exercises and that you're you're taking good care of hydration and mental health and those things are, in a way, limiting from the full experience. But it's just the inevitability of a role like Judas. When you come on and every single note is a high C or a D, when you're singing that stuff agitatedly every day, it's hard work, but it's very good fun. It's very rewarding because of that hard work.

What do you hope audiences take away from this production?

Firstly, I hope that they're moved. This is the biggest story ever told - it's a story that's changed the course of humanity. And this musical has changed the course of musical theatre. When Tim and Andrew wrote this over fifty years ago, it was a real shift in the tides. There was Hair preceding it that had done stuff with rock in musical theatre, but nothing had quite gone so genre-specific as Jesus Christ Superstar had.

So I hope audiences take away the fact that even though this is an old piece, it feels contemporary - it still feels relevant. Even though people know the tunes, there’s still something very present and unaging about this piece of work. And that's down to the hard work of everyone in the cast and Stuart Morley, the musical supervisor and arranger for this version with Paul and Anjali. I hope that they feel like it's a fresh production. 

And I hope that they feel moved and joyous and excited. And on top of that, I hope they just have a good time and have and enjoy the songs. There's so many people that I can see during the shows miming along - even in the really dark bits! I just hope people enjoy it!

And finally, how would you describe the show in one word?

I would describe it as pioneering. That was Sondheim’s favourite word, so that's my favourite word!

Read our five star review of Jesus Christ Superstar here.

Jesus Christ Superstar runs until 21 September at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury