The
News Tribune July 5, 2013
Harlequin Productions’ staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” is unlike any other, yet it has elements reminiscent of many others such as “Les Misérables,” “West Side Story,” “Rent,” and even touches of “42nd Street” with a bit of Motown thrown in.
In a program note, director and scenic designer Linda
Whitney quoted Webber as saying the newly mounted arena tour in England and
Australia is “the closest to the original intent of any production ever.” It is
that production that Harlequin has adapted for their stage.
Much of the rock opera, which has no spoken dialogue, is
dark and angry with moments of extreme tenderness and one song offering outlandish
comic relief – when Antonia Darlene in a flaming red dress singing “Herod’s
Song” with a back-up ensemble. Imagine if you can Aretha Franklin with Motown
backup singers and dancers doing the Charleston.
The play is set in modern times with Jesus and his disciples
being poor rabble rousers like today’s Occupy movement and street youth, while
the Jewish establishment and Roman power structure are the equivalent of
bankers and Congressmen and corrupt judges backed up by cops in riot gear.
Whitney’s set is a dark and congested array of industrial
ladders and towers on a set of tiered steps rising to a back wall where there
are three large video-projection screens. The costumes by Jocelyne Fowler and
the wigs and hair by Darlene look authentic and scruffy and, in the case of the
powers that be, slightly exaggerated.
The large casts moves about this congested set in stylized
rhythms to the amazing choreography of Jessica Low, who also plays the role of
Mary. Her masterful choreography involves street people in hoodies marching in
procession like medieval monks, protestors climbing towers, and the large
ensemble in dancing fight scenes.
The story is that of the last week in the life of Jesus with
a focus on the conflicts between Jesus and Judas and Mary Magdalene’s desperate
love for a man who is also a god, expressed most movingly in Low’s the great
solo “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”
It opens with a dramatic scene of riot police with large
shields pushing back protestors, and then goes to intimate scenes depicting the
relationship between Jesus and Mary, and Jesus and Judas. A scene of prostitute
and their clients and pimps cavorting on the temple steps leads to the scene of
Jesus clears out the temple. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus (Bruce Haasl)
pleads with God in the heart-wrenching song, “I Only Want to Say.” The scene of
Jesus being whipped is cringingly realistic, and finally there is the dramatic crucifixion
with a flying cross made of light towers of the type seen at outdoor rock
concerts acted out to the tune of a jazz-and-classical-inspired instrumental by
Bruce Whitney’s six-piece band.
This version of “Superstar” is not just a musical; it is a
spectacle with all stops pulled out for heightened emotional impact.
Haasl as Jesus and Christian Doyle as Judas are stunning.
Their solos and their highly emotive acting are breathtaking. Also outstanding
are Josh Krupke as Pontius Pilate, Joe Woodland as Caiaphas, and Samantha Camp,
Gregory Conn and Benjamin Cournoyer as priests.
This
production is loud, it is emotionally draining, and it is stunning in its dark
beauty.
WHAT:
Jesus Christ Superstar
WHEN:
Thursdays through Saturdays, 8p.m., Sundays 2 p.m. through July 21
WHERE:
State Theater, 202 E. 4th Ave., Olympia
TICKETS:
prices vary, call for details
INFORMATION:
360-786-0151; http://www.harlequinproductions.org/
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