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A wildly uneven
production of "Jesus Christ Superstar,"
Saturday evening (the second of
two shows that day), marred an absolutely
stunning turn by actress
Christine Rea as Mary Magdalene. With her
rich voice scaling
Springfield Symphony Hall heights, and an
enticing flower-child look,
Rea took the capacity house by storm with
her rendition of "I Don't
Know How to Love Him" during the first
act.
The musical, which opened on Broadway well
over 20 years ago, showcases
Ted Neeley, who took the title role on
Broadway and for the 1973 film
version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim
Rice musical. By Saturday night,
Neeley's voice was pretty much shot and he
seemed fatigued. Lady Luck
seemed to smile upon him as intermission
was delayed 30 minutes due to
a medical emergency. When the production
resumed, Neeley seemed rested
and reassured and, although his vocals
still ranged from whisper to
scream, his overall performance improved
markedly. Neeley's a
thoughtful actor and he gives Jesus a
pensive, appealing portrayal.
The spectacle of a rock musical follows
Jesus as his chief rival, Judas
Iscariot (an unimpressive Gary Rowland),
challenges the leader. Judas
feels Jesus has become headstrong. Judas
betrays Jesus, who is judged,
after his arrest by the Roman governor,
Pontius Pilate (Jason Raize).
Jesus is questioned by Herod (an
Elvis-like P.J. Terranova is bizarre
but side-splitting). Eventually, Jesus is
put to death and the
crucifixion follows.
All of this, including scenes and songs,
might have been a mystery to
the full house Saturday night and perhaps
to the 2100 patrons who
attended the matinee hours before. Someone
either forgot or decided not
to distribute even paper playbills. Buying
the glossy tour book and
insert in the lobby gave one a sense of
cast but not of specifics.
Disconcerting stuff.
Back to the show: The subplot, or romantic
theme, finds Mary Magdalene
unabashedly fond of Jesus. She's poignant,
desperate, plaintive as she
expresses her love for the charismatic
man, something of an elder to
her.
She lights her torch for Jesus in the
first act with an almost Janis
Joplin-like "I Don't Know How To Love Him"
(except that Rea has a more
mellow voice than did Joplin). She keeps
it lit during the second act
with "Could We Start Again, Please."
The microphone system employed by The
Judas Company and/or Symphony
Hall is a bit suspect. Either that or the
voltage was simply cranked up
way too high by technicians; for, a number
of performers were, to be
kind, shrill in their upper registers. A
few theatergoers actually held
their hands over their ears from time to
time.
All of this is too bad because this is a
nifty musical, early
Rice/Lloyd-Webber and, delightfully, fresh
material. It doesn't seem to
date.
The tour brings plenty of music, noise,
resplendent lighting and
costuming, and through Tony Christopher's
supervision, hot
choreography, from time to time.
Some of the young performers are quite
able, as both singers and
dancers. Their spirit lifts a bus and
truck tour when travel must be
exhausting.
After the Springfield shows, the cast and
crew jumped on a bus for a
five hour ride to York, PA, then to Utica,
N.Y. Do they catch a few
winks on the bus? No wonder some seemed a
bit ragged around the edges.
Maybe it doesn't matter. Virtually
everyone was on his or her feet at
the final evening curtain. Before
adjourning, the musicians in the
orchestra pit began a spontaneous jam,
having a fine time of it before
packing up for the next performance.
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