‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Finds New Breath in a Familiar Passion Story
“This international touring production of the Broadway musical seeks to humanize its characters through physical performances and a fresh approach to its rock opera score.”
A Broadway musical as legendary as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar needs little introduction. Fifty-five years since its original staging, its rock opera score remains an inspiration to generations of theater performers. And in the Philippines, its popularity has also endured since its first Filipino productions in the 1970s—unsurprising for a nation that already regularly dramatizes the Passion of Jesus Christ through processions and other religious rituals.
Originally put up in 2016 at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London, this specific incarnation of the show has in turn endured through the COVID-19 pandemic and is set to be staged in several cities across Asia and Australia following this Manila stop.
Before the gala performance of Jesus Christ Superstar at The Theatre at Solaire on May 5 (following previews during the previous weekend), members of the cast and the artistic team spoke to the media about the uniqueness of this staging.
Through ordinary eyes
Given that this Jesus Christ Superstar is an international production, the talent on stage hails from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Most notably, for this Manila stop, the role of Mary Magdalene is played by the Philippines’ own Gab Pangilinan.
“What that means is we have different cultures, and each culture has its own personality. But the production also has its own personality,” said resident director Richard Pitt. “And that’s one thing about [Timothy Sheader’s] direction of this show: they wanted everybody to be an individual, wanted people to come as themselves.”
Encouraging the cast to bring themselves to these roles is another way of bringing the characters from the symbolic and the mythic down to a humanized, vulnerable level. “[Mary’s] an iconic role with an iconic song—and I try to take that away from how I approached it, just to remove the pressure of having to fill in the shoes of an iconic role,” Pangilinan said, reiterating the production’s approach of shedding the status that’s been built up around the musical. “As usual, as we approach any role, it’s the truth—what [Mary] stands for, what she believes in. It all boils down to what the story is trying to say.”
For Joshua Bess, who acts as understudy for the roles of Jesus and Pontius Pilate, in addition to being part of the ensemble—and who, indeed, played the title role for the gala performance, filling in for Luke Street—his covering multiple parts gives him the privilege of seeing the show’s truth from a whole range of perspectives.
“It’s interesting, as Jesus, to see what Pilate’s going through, and to be a part of his dreams and his destiny. Whereas Pilate is getting all these signals and these messages subconsciously and doesn’t know what it means,” Bess said. “And from the ensemble, being a Jesus follower is also interesting because you also have to kinda play oblivious, that you don’t know what’s going on.”
One continuous breath
“The way we start the show,” said Kodiak Thompson, who plays Annas, “we don’t know who’s gonna play which role. We all begin in attire that doesn’t give away our tribe. You don’t know what’s gonna happen.”
Thompson described a distinct cohesion to the choreography (by Drew McOnie), as the ensemble, through movement, functions as a hivemind or a “collective conscience” that has the performers alternate between being righteous and antagonistic. “It’s physicalizing [the story] in a way that you can’t ignore,” he said.
In a similar way, the production employs the live cohesiveness of a nine-piece orchestra instead of pre-recorded backing tracks without altering Lloyd Webber’s original score, which draws heavily from rock, funk, gospel, and folk styles of the 1970s.
“We just come at it from a fresh perspective,” said musical director Harry Haden-Brown, who can also be seen on stage, accompanied by a full rock band and three wind instruments. “Our musicians are all listening to each other. We can all hear the singers. And I think that’s what keeps it fresh. It’s the same thing but we rediscover it every show.”
Haden-Brown also emphasized, especially to those who may be having their first experience of Jesus Christ Superstar here, that this is a sung-through rock opera—meaning only several lines of dialogue are actually spoken between the show’s virtually seamless succession of musical numbers. This Regent’s Park production also skews closer to the concert style of the original 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar concept album.
“A large thing that our original director said was that this is based off a record that came out 50 years ago, and that record just kept spinning,” said Ethan Hardy Benson, who plays Pilate and understudies Jesus and Judas. “The breath just always moves around.”
New perspectives
The Jesus Christ Superstar vinyl remains a common touchpoint, with Grant Hodges (who plays Caiaphas) and Erich W. Schleck (King Herod) sharing the experience of having had the album passed down to them by family. But the fact that the original vinyl is so beloved also sets a high standard that the production strives to keep. “Everyone might have a version [of Jesus Christ Superstar] that they love, and we feel such a responsibility to please and to meet the expectations of all of those people,” Haden-Brown said.
This sense of responsibility also only strengthens the cast’s confidence in complicating how these characters are culturally perceived. “I try not to think of Jesus as the religious figure that he is. I try to think of him as the person, as the man,” Bess said of the role, which he considers “untouchable” but still widely open to interpretation. “All the other Jesuses that I’ve seen play in this production, I feel like I get inspired by every single person I see go on and do it.”
The same perspective applies for Javon King, who has spent about two years portraying Judas—a name synonymous with betrayal—as “misunderstood” and well-intentioned rather than villainous. “I have to lead with love,” King said. “Everyone has a set, preconceived notion of who they think Judas is or what he does. And I think, ultimately, he was doing what he thought was best for his friend and for his community of people.”
Jesus Christ Superstar approaches this well-known story in a unique way and for Pangilinan, who first joined the cast during the production’s very brief, five-day rehearsal without really knowing anyone involved, it gave her an experience outside of her comfort zone.
“That was a lot of mental preparation, because when you enter a room not knowing how the process is gonna go, you have to be so open and so vulnerable, and I’m just so lucky that it’s these people that I ended up with,” she said. “This particular production is reintroducing me to my love for theater and why I entered it in the first place. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
Jesus Christ Superstar is produced by GMG Productions, David Ian for Crossroads Live, and Worklight Productions. The show runs until May 31 at The Theatre at Solaire, Parañaque City, with weekday and Saturday performances at 8 PM, Saturday matinees at 3 PM, and Sunday performances at 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM. Tickets are available at TicketWorld.
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