David Farnor | On 13, Aug 2020

“Who are you? What have you sacrificed?” sing crowds of onlookers throughout Jesus Christ Superstar. Sometimes, to appreciate an old story, you need to see it from a completely new and unfamiliar perspective. That’s the dual achievement of the 2012 revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s bold, brash musical.

Staged at The O2 as part of an international arena tour, it takes what began as a concept album because nobody would back a theatre production and turns it into a dazzling piece of stadium-filling spectacle. Written off the back of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, it retells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion from the point of view of Judas Iscariot, the man who famously betrayed him. Even now, it’s a daring concept, and the playful wit with which Lloyd Webber and Rice’s creation goes about its reimagining of the Bible is thrilling to witness.

That’s partly thanks to the intricate lyrics and the orchestration itself, which seamlessly blends orchestral emotions and rock band flourishes. Through-composed to dispense of any unnecessary unsung dialogue, it barrels along at under two hours, with the compositions smoothly segueing from loud to quiet and from anger to tenderness.

The cast are all fantastically game, and surprisingly well matched to their roles. Chris Moyles – yes, really – is clearly having a whale of a time as King Herod, here depicted as a red-suited answer to Jeremy Kyle, mixed with Stanley Tucci’s TV presenter from The Hunger Games. Mel C, of Spice Girls fame, brings heart and sympathy to Mary Magdalene, and reality TV winner Ben Forster is an earnest Jesus, who finds himself suddenly swarmed by followers and just as suddenly sentenced to death by them.

By taking Judas’ perspective as a disillusioned disciple, the story raises questions of faith – and lack of faith – and director Laurence Connor frames it against a topical backdrop of social inequality, the Occupy movement and Bansky-esque graffiti. Jesus, as the title suggests, becomes a celebrity as much as a Messianic saviour, while his subversive message of equality and uprooting unfair systems strikes a chord with both protestors and the wealthy elite in a capitalist society.

“Is Jesus a Lord or a fraud?” asks Herod, telling people to text their answers in to vote. The result is less an interrogation of whether Jesus is who he says – although the musical tellingly ends on ambiguous note by not continuing the story past the crucifixion – and more a satirical study of belief, fame and power, one that humanises the other man at the centre of the story.

Playing that figure is Tim Minchin, and he unquestionably delivers a superstar performance, whether he’s glowering with uncertainty, sulking with melancholy or singing at the top of his voice – a voice that matches Forster’s falsetto-filled range and visibly demands a huge physical commitment from the comedian and musician.

What emerges is far from subtle, with garish lighting and all the microphones turned up to 11, but that borderline ridiculous, unabashedly glamorous show is precisely what the rock opera has always promised, and this extravagantly mounted production is big enough to wow even on a small screen.

Jesus Christ Superstar ’12 is available on BroadwayHD, as part of a $10.79 monthly subscription

 

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