REVIEW: Jesus Christ Superstar at Mayflower Theatre

JESUS CHRIST – SUPERSTAR! Yep I sung it too! At Mayflower Theatre this week, perfectly timed for Easter, is the critically acclaimed ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ – back from the dead if you will. This revived production started in 2017 with two sold out runs at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, before taking over North America (again) with a tour that is still ongoing. This is an updated, slightly modernised version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s original concert turned Broadway musical smash-hit, and its not hard to see why it has such raving reviews and accolades. If you’re not aware of the story, you are more than definitely aware of ‘Superstar’s’ title tune (as sung above…); but for those of you unaware, the story takes us through the last few weeks of Jesus Christ’s life, seen through the eyes of Judas. 

This production is all about the music! As it was originally written as an album and later turned into a musical production – the new design and direction from Tom Scutt (designer) and Timothy Sheader (director), lends itself perfectly to not only the story but also the music style. A lot of the modernisation comes from the set, design and costume (which we’ll get onto a little bit later), but this particular production of ‘Superstar’ has everything that you’d expect from an Olivier Award winner (Best Musical Revival). The coherence between Drew McOnie’s wonderful choreography, with the new design elements and powerful vocals/instrumentals, all give this musical the ‘Rock-Opera’ vibe. What I particularly liked was the fact that you couldn’t tell that this musical is over 50 years old. Granted this version isn’t 50 years old, but the music and story is – and it felt as if it could’ve been written yesterday. Although they both more than likely took some inspiration from the original, this version of ‘Superstar’ was like the perfect modernised love-child of ‘Les Misérables’ and ‘Hamilton’.

The raw emotion in his performance was stunning.

This cast was superb! Firstly I think I need to mention the ensemble. The energy in dance and movement took this performance to a whole new dimension. Their movements were strong and gave an extra edge to the story by adding physical emotion into the mix. Brilliant from all them! We also HAVE to mention the main man!Playing ‘Jesus’ tonight was understudy, Luke Street. He was phenomenal! His voice had the perfect rock tone and his rendition of ‘Gethsemane’ was flawless. The raw emotion in his performance was stunning. Keeping on the trend of incredible voices, Hannah Richardson as ‘Mary’ was again phenomenal. In particular ‘Everything’s Alright’, which also included Shem Omari James as ‘Judas’, was beautifully sang from all three of them. Shem’s voice also lent itself perfectly to the narrative of the story, like he was singing to the audience and telling them what was happening/what he was thinking. Although he may not be involved for too long, ‘Herod’ played tonight by Timo Tatzber, completely switched up the pace of the musical, and got a huge reception. Overall, this cast clearly has lots of talent and they showcased that – they sparkled out there tonight, and that was way before the glitter! (if you know you know). 

When it comes to set and design, as I mentioned earlier – this is really something that has made this production that much better. The set itself is modernistic industrial minimalism, with iron pillars making up the back of the staging where the band sits (will also touch on this later). In the centre of the stage is a cut out crucifix on the backdrop with a grated, giant, three dimensional crucifix on a slant centre stage. This is used as a runway at times, and the levels of the set at the back for characters to run up and down on is very nice in adding layers to what you’re looking at. The little modernised touches of cables and wires being used as bits of symbolism and replacements as restraints was also a nice oxymoron from the story to modern times. The costumes were also on this same line as well. Minimalist and modern but that’s all they needed to be. The lighting was a mixture of minimalist – to rock concert. There was no in-between. I particularly loved the way it looked like the cast would just appear from under the crucifix because of the way the lights were formed. Incredibly effective! 

You’re expecting to see a Broadway show, and that’s exactly what you get.

To talk about the music, I don’t think there’s too much that can be said. It’s an album that’s gone gold and platinum, and you can see why. It’s not really surprising coming from the minds of theatre royalty. The live band fronted by Michael Riley smashed it tonight. Live music always adds so much more to musical theatre, and when its basically a rock concert on stage – even better. I also love it when we have actors that can play instruments live on stage. It not only showcases the incredible performers further, but I think in ‘Superstar’s’ case, it pays a nice homage to when this used to just be a touring concert. The same can be said in the way handheld microphones are used – its something new and fresh to see in a current musical. The guitar solos were straight from Slash’s songbook, and there were so many different styles of music – including the sax solo! You can definitely see why this was instantly so popular in the 70s. Rock music was at its high point. To make another similarity to modern day, ‘Hamilton’ has done the exact same thing in todays age. Rock is to ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, what rap is to ‘Hamilton’. 

Overall, the production value of this musical is certainly something that doesn’t disappoint. You’re expecting to see a Broadway show, and that’s exactly what you get. It’s again collaborative between multiple different art forms. By having the band on the stage, they now become a character. I don’t think enough has been said about the dance either. So much is happening, and when the ensemble go from sequenced dance individually to in unison it looks so clean. When they bring out different crucifixes that light up or pour glitter, it again is something very simple that has a very big pay off. A scene that I can recall instantly would be the last supper, because that’s exactly what it represented. If you were to walk in without context to what was going on, you’d know exactly what it was. Extremely clever direction. At the point when Jesus gets crucified I knew what was coming, but I wasn’t prepared for the atmosphere to get as dark as it did. The effect of having him hanging there with a light shining through him, left a silhouette which was exceedingly powerful. The silence that followed this was potentially the longest that I have ever witnessed in a theatre. 

From silence to a standing ovation roar, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ got exactly what it deserved. I feel like I could talk on and on about this particular production, but what fun is reading about it when you could go and see it yourself? (Which you definitely should do!). I remember I always used to think that this musical was going to be heavily religious which put me off previously. However, if I could just ask you to go and listen to the ‘Overture’ from the album – it may be enough to get you into the theatre like it was with me. ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ is at Mayflower Theatre until Saturday 30th March before carrying on, on its UK tour. There may be some cast changes with Julian Clary playing ‘Herod’ from Thursday-Saturday. I’m sure this whole company is going to continue to perform to the high standards that gained this musical revival its impressive reputation, and I wish them all the luck as they move forward.