JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 2023

---

It's all there in the words of the title song—"Every time I look at you I don't understand, how you let the things you did get so out of hand. You'd have managed better if you had it planned, why'd you choose such a backwards time and such a strange land?" Jesus Christ Superstar made its return to Broadway Sacramento in its Broadway on Tour series on February 7, 2023, and played through February 12 at the Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center in Sacramento as part of the production's 50th Anniversary Tour, which began in 2022 and will continue to make its way around the country in the winter and spring of 2023. 

Created by lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber as an album in 1970 and then launched as a concert before premiering as a Broadway musical in 1971, Jesus Christ Superstar is a retelling of Christ's passion with a focus on his relationships with those who played a significant role during his final days on earth. Each of those people, as dramatized in this telling, held a significant misunderstanding of who Jesus was and his purpose in the world, all encompassed in music rooted in rock, with electric guitar and the newly developed synthesizer featured prominently in the score, a new idea for the times.

The central relationship in the drama is between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Very little is said about Judas in the Gospels, other than he was one of the 12 apostles and betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Rice and Webber chose to build a story around Judas that would make sense and establish the show's dramatic tension. Since Jesus chose Judas as one of his trusted inner circle, he must have been a good man. In the show's opening song, "Heaven On Their Minds," Judas lays it all out. He considers himself Jesus's right-hand man in his mission to heal people, nurture and encourage the poor, and preach a new covenant of love and humility. It was beautiful, but it all went sour as those around him began to call Jesus the Messiah and proclaim his divinity. Judas, who regards Jesus as a rabbi and faith healer, wants him to reject these ideas and go back to helping the sick and poor. He fears that if Jesus and the other disciples push this too far, they will be crushed by the Roman occupiers. This leads him to consult with the religious leaders of his faith, Caiaphas, the high priest, and Annas, and ultimately arrange for Jesus's imprisonment.

Equally important to the narrative is Jesus's relationship with Mary Magdalene. Nearly as mysterious as Judas, the Bible generally says she had some degree of wealth and was possibly a prostitute. It has also been speculated that she was the one whom Jesus saved from a stoning for adultery (a metaphor that Rice uses when Jesus defends her from Judas.) In this interpretation, Rice does indicate that she was a prostitute when Judas says "It's not that I object to her profession, but…" To make that picture complete, one would imagine that Mary grew up poor, or perhaps orphaned, and turned to prostitution to survive. But she also must have been very resourceful and kept herself from becoming a victim, as she sings "I'm the one who's always been so calm, so cool, no lover's fool, running every show." 

The root of Mary's misunderstanding of Jesus is that every man she has likely known, especially if she grew up without a father, has wanted her for one thing. But Jesus loves her for whom she is, and accepts her love and attention without wanting more from her. She outlines her confusion about this new relationship in "I Don't Know How To Love Him," which became a hit song for Yvonne Elliman and other artists. In it, she has no idea about how to deal with this kind of love, where sex is not part of the bargain. But she knows she loves him. Mary is also confused about Jesus's fate, not comprehending why he must go through all the pain and torture he endures, wanting dearly that they could go back to the way it was, as she sings in "Could We Start Again, Please."

One of Jesus's apostles, Simon Zealotes, or Simon the Zealot, views Jesus as the answer to freeing the Israelites from their Roman occupation, and hopes that he will inspire the 50,000 people to follow him and rise up against their oppressors. Simon tells Jesus in his song that "You'll get the power, you'll get the glory" and they will find themselves a home. Jesus rebukes him by saying "Neither you Simon, nor the 50,000, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself, understand what power is, understand what glory is." He tries to make it clear that he is not leading a revolution, at least not a military revolt.

Peter and the other apostles are frequently rebuked by Jesus for not understanding who he is or caring for his purpose, but want to know what their plans are, for the immediate term and the future. Not as zealous as Simon, they want their movement to grow peacefully. Once Jesus has been arrested, Peter tries to avoid conflict by denying he knows him, and he and the others join Mary in "Could We Start Again, Please," wishing, like Judas, that things could be simpler like they were before. Peter's line "I think you've made your point now, you've even gone a bit too far to get the message home" shows he regards Jesus' actions, including overturning the vendors and money changers in the Temple, as a stunt to get people to listen, not the fulfilment of his mission.

Meanwhile, Caiaphas and Annas have their own views of Jesus. Annas thinks of him as an insignificant distraction that keeps his followers amused, and nothing to worry about. Caiaphas, however, sees him as a real threat in many ways. As a leader of his people in occupied times, he is doing his best to keep them together and survive under Roman control. He fears that if the Romans see a "King of the Jews" crowned, they will believe Caiaphas and his council have lost control of the population and crack down to prevent or thwart a revolution. (In that way, he looks upon Jesus the same way Simon does.) He decides that to save their position and their people, Jesus must die, and he gets Annas and the council to agree.

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the territory, doesn't go along with any of them. Like Caiaphas, he wants to keep the peace and govern without trouble or conflict, but sees Jesus as just another distraction. He is unsettled by Jesus, however, having seen him in a dream that sees the mysterious Galilean exalted in the future and his own name sullied. Pilate's first solution is reject Caiaphas's demands to punish Jesus by sending him back home to face King Herod, choosing extradition rather than a local trial. Herod, who seems more interested in partying than governing, is amused by all the stories he has heard, views Jesus as a local celebrity, and tries to humiliate him by demanding that he show him some of his magic. When Jesus ignores his pleas, he get frustrated and sends him back to Pilate.

The people of Jerusalem, who welcomed Jesus with hosannas when he arrived and delighted in hearing his message of peace, love, and salvation for the poor, turned against him when he upset their routines by overturning the marketplace they had going in the temple, and they ultimately backed their religious leaders in condemning Jesus. They were fine with him when he had good news, but did not like to be challenged about their way of life. Pilate, in his final misjudgment, thinks he can save Jesus by pointing out to the mob that he is one of them, and that their respect for Caesar is a novel idea. But by ultimately capitulating to their demands, he believes he can keep the peace and wash his hands of any responsibility.

I never had the chance to see Jesus Christ Superstar on stage during its early years, but my love of the musical grew from the 1973 Norman Jewison film starring Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Yvonne Elliman. Though filmed on location in Israel, it featured many elements that kept it in the realm of a stage play, with minimal sets, often featuring scaffolding, and opening and closing segments of the cast members arriving to and departing from the production. It also mixed in surreal images of modern military equipment and costuming for the Romans. Beyond the great music, what held the film together was the emotional core established between the main characters. What struck me about this new production was the lack of a strong emotional connection between the performers, something I also found disappointing in the 2018 television production starring John Legend. Granted, it is easier to communicate that in film with the advantage of close ups and multiple angles, but it seemed like they made no effort to achieve it. Perhaps most telling was the presence of on-stage microphones, either held by the performers or on stands. That communicated that this is more of a concert than a stage play. 

Opening with the distinctive electric guitar theme as played by Isaac Helgestad from his onstage perch on stage behind the actors, the 50th Anniversary Tour production of Jesus Christ Superstar kicks off with Judas, as played by Elvie Ellis, singing "Heaven on their Minds" with an extraordinary voice that more than does justice to the music. He is joined on stage by Jack Hopewell as Jesus, who, with his hair pulled back into something of a man-bun and an acoustic guitar always at the ready, is suggestive of a youth leader at a modern Christian church. When he engages with the apostles in the song "What's the Buzz," we hear his strong, but somewhat reedy tenor voice.

The lack of an emotional core is shown early in the production during the song "Everything's Alright." Judas confronts Mary about wasting money on myrrh (an ironic connection to the three wise men?) when they could have used it to feed the poor. When Jesus pushes back to say they cannot free the poor from their lot, he tells Judas to appreciate what they have now, because "You'll be lost, you'll be sorry, when I'm gone!" In the film, the two men grip hands, look into each other's faces, and, just when you feel they have renewed their strong connection, Judas remembers his disillusionment, pulls away, and leaves in disgust at what has become of Jesus. It is a powerful moment, and the final straw that will lead Judas to his betrayal. Sadly, in this production, most of that is lost as performers basically sing the words and move on.

Later, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem singing "Hosanna" with the crowd and Caiaphas warns him to quiet the mob, Jesus responds that nothing can be done to stop the shouting and that, were they silenced, "The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing." He then tells his followers to "Sing out for yourselves, for you are blessed." It is a truly stirring moment in the film, and shows Jesus at the height of his ministry to the people. Again, in this production, it just feels like a nice song.

Another key moment is Mary's song, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" as outlined above. When Yvonne Elliman sang it in the film, you could feel her intimate connection with Jesus and read all the pain and confusion in her face and in every line she sang. The song tells her whole story in just a couple of minutes. Faith Jones, who plays Mary in this production, has a beautiful voice and delivers the song perfectly, but as a song. We don't feel her connection to Jesus, her connection is more to the audience.

An unusual moment in the production was during "Gethsemane." Following Jesus' rebuking of the apostles, including his prediction that Peter would soon deny him and his final argument with Judas, the apostles sing their "Look at all my trials and tribulations" song with silly smiles on their faces, which doesn't befit the downbeat mood of the scene. I suppose they took the line "What's that in the bread, it's gone to my head" to imply they are in a drugged stupor and not sad at facing the end of their time with Jesus.

The choice to have Jesus, in his soliloquy, "I Only Want To Say," perform the song while strumming his guitar gives the performance the feel of a folk song performed for the audience rather than Jesus's final appeal to God to let him avoid the pain he knows he is about to suffer. It may as well be Bob Dylan singing "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright." Ted Neeley doesn't have the greatest singing voice, especially when compared to his costar, Carl Anderson, but when he delivers this song in the film, it is heart-wrenching. You feel every bit of conflict in his mind, most notably when he sings "Why then am I scared to finish what I started? What You started—I didn't start it!" This is Jesus's final song in the show, and makes his final statement about his life and mission. I suppose this production's director, Timothy Sheader, wanted to give Jack Hopewell a chance to shine, but the format doesn't do him justice.

The other stars of this production, notably Isaac Ryckeghem, whose menacing bass fits Caiaphas perfectly; Kodiak Thompson, whose amusing tenor does Annas justice; Erich W. Schleck, who does a nice campy Herod; and Brett Hennessey Jones as Simon, Nicholas Hambruch as Pilate, and Colin Robertson as Peter, all sing their parts well and do a fairly good job delivering their message within the limiting structure of this production. And the "orchestra," led by keyboardists Mark Binns and Ryan Wise and featuring Reggie Powe on bass, Jimmy Bonaparte-Coggins on drums, and Issac Helgestad on that distinctive guitar, was stellar throughout, and could be seen through their cage-like structure behind the performers as part of the set.

As I stated before, it's not really fair to compare a stage play to a film, as they are different mediums and have their own strengths and opportunities, but stage plays do not limit the ability to draw the audience into a story in an emotional way; that can be their greatest tool, as an in-person connection can create an immediacy that film lacks. So my hope was to feel the emotions inherent in this story combined with the thrill of live performance, and thus the show comes up a bit short. But overall I was still satisfied with the production as more of a concert featuring the great music of Jesus Christ Superstar. That will always be a show worth experiencing if the performers are up to the task. And the opening night audience gave the cast an enthusiastic standing ovation.

Jesus Christ Superstar opened in Sacramento at the Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center (formerly the Community Center Theater) in downtown Sacramento on February 7 and ran for a week. The tour will continue throughout North America in 2023. For more information about upcoming shows see www.BroadwaySacramento.com. 

Ken Kiunke, 2/20/2023

Reprintable with attribution to Ken Kiunke and kenkiunke-finearts.com