Just when I thought I knew all about Jesus by the age of 10 via a Catholic upbringing, along came composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
Here was the Church’s Holy Week and its lead up reimagined as a way-out rock musical, completely shattering every image I had of Jesus garnered from an abundance of ecclesiastical imagery and the series of My Way to Godchildren‘s catechisms on the curriculum.
It almost seemed sinful loving how much it made me feel listening to the edgy and phenomenally appealing 1972 original Australian cast recording belonging to my oldest sister.
More than half a century on, Jesus Christ Superstar has lost nothing of its power to convert younger generations. That was glaringly obvious at Melbourne’s opening night at the Princess Theatre for the latest blockbuster touring production which premiered at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016. A sense of euphoric madness swept the theatre.
Webber and Rice’s boldly created and neatly compressed account of Jesus Christ’s last days nudges 2 hours (including interval) and fires every minute of it with a raft of sterling songs and a lot of amped up intensity.
From British director Timothy Sheader, it’s an impressive staging and contains numerous memorable tableaux – including the striking pose by the ensemble mimicking Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous Last Supper – in this award-winning production.
But don’t crucify me! Opening night was a mostly thumping musical grind that needed a miracle to bring it anywhere near its potential. Memories of that brilliant original 1972 Australian cast recording featuring Trevor White (Jesus) Jon English (Judas) and Michele Fawdon (Mary Magdalene) were being pulverised from the get go.
The clarity of Rice’s lyrics were generally lacking and performances were often as shamelessly showy as those in an episode of Australian Idol. Stuck in its midst, it felt like a paean to fans of reality television singing competition shows whose coerced collective screams ring out at any hint of the voice’s rise to sustained top notes. Any sense of thoughtful subtlety was rarely offered.
The same could be said for Drew McOnie’s freakish, pumped up choreography. And, while invigoratingly played by the band of seven musicians led by David Skelton on keyboard, the music’s electricity had minimal dimensional depth which was perhaps more due to questionable sound balance.
If you’re not familiar with the story, read up – or finding your nearest Catholic church and walking yourself through the 14 images of the Stations of the Cross hanging from the nave walls might help a little, too. Otherwise, it could be a challenge working out what’s going on.
At the very least, the show does, however, make it clear there’s a guy with a fanatical following (Jesus) whose ruffled some feathers in the community’s halls of power and someone is conspiring (Judas) to betray him.
Starting with Tom Scutt’s imposing set design featuring a structural tower either side of the stage and a huge raked cruciform platform between them, it has a lot going for it visually. Scutt’s well-delineated costumes have a contemporary grunge-meets-Country Road aesthetic about them in Jesus’ corner and a militaristic gothic look in the other while Lee Curran’s lighting gives exceptional contrasts of mood throughout.
As for the show’s culprits, Jesus (Michael Paynter) might be mistaken for a guitar-bearing busker if you didn’t know better – although a shot at modelling wouldn’t have been a bad idea either. Paynter is eye-catchingly buff and has muscularly impressive vocal chops to match but falls somewhat short in charisma to be a convincing superstar.
Still, it’s likely a mid-performance standing ovation and idolising screams for Gethsemane are bound to be repeated for the entire season. I could barely understand a word of what Javon King’s troubled Judas was generally shouting about but his powerhouse singing voice and stage magnetism is undeniably compelling.
The best performances (including crystal diction) on opening night came from Mahalia Barnes in her theatrical debut as a warm and soothing Mary Magdalene and Tana Laga’aia as Jesus’ tender disciple Peter. Barnes’s renditions of Everything’s Alright and I Don’t Know How to Love Him are intelligently and affectingly drawn and, together with Laga’aia, Could We Start Again Please was a total standout as Peter and Mary sing of their loss and confusion over Jesus’ arrest.
Peter Murphy’s Pilate is carried off convincingly, Elliot Baker and John O’Hara as High Priests Caiaphas and Annas are distinctively idiosyncratic and, arriving in a mountain of gold drapery before shedding it for a gothic burlesque tease, Reuben Kaye’s Herod is perhaps a little too hilariously over-the-top but wows with a hugely entertaining Pilate and Christ / Herod’s Song.
And do go see it! You might leave with frazzled eardrums and asking yourself in Mary’s words, “What’s it all about?” but, let us pray, it might just ignite a desire to listen to a better version and realise what it really is about.
Jesus Christ Superstar
Princess Theatre, Spring Street, Melbourne
Performance: Thursday 20 March 2025
Season continues to 22 June 2025
Bookings: www.ticketek.com.au
Following the Melbourne season, Jesus Christ Superstar will play Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre – QPAC from 29 June 2025. For more information, visit: www.jesuschristsuperstarmusical.com.au for details.
Images: Michael Paynter and Ensemble in Jesus Christ Superstar – photo by Jeff Busby | Michael Paynter and Ensemble in Jesus Christ Superstar – photo by Jeff Busby | The Ensemble of Jesus Christ Superstar – photo by Jeff Busby | Javon King and Michael Paynter in Jesus Christ Superstar – photo by Jeff Busby | Michael Paynter and Mahalia Barnes in Jesus Christ Superstar – photo by Jeff Busby
Review: Paul Selar