Jesus Christ Superstar Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 6th February 2024 Review
Jesus Christ Superstar is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh this week (until Saturday 10th February), and this is one of the few musicals that needs no introduction to its story, but as always viewing it through the eyes of Judas gives it a different perspective.
I have to admit that when I read that this was a re-imagined production of this iconic stage musical, I had a few pre-show reservations as many times they fail to capture whatever made the original magical. For the first few minutes as the cast took to the stage in grey hoodies and a Jesus wearing a baseball cap I thought that this production was going to be a huge failure. Fortunately the baseball cap got removed very quickly and despite some contemporary choreography that seemed to be part of so many shows these days, everything started to fall into place in a new perspective as soon as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic score and Tim Rice’s wonderful use of lyrics started and you knew instantly that this was still the Jesus Christ Superstar that so many of us have taken into our hearts over the years.
If there is a secret formula to writing not only a stage musical, but one that will last the test of time, then Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice certainly know it, and this is the foundation of this show. Together they created here a show with music and lyrics that are so strong that it can withstand endless re-workings, re-imaginings and still remain intact at its core. Somehow this show also manages to retain its 1970s feel without becoming dated as so many other productions of its time have done over the years. The show’s songs, including “What’s The Buzz”, “Everything’s Alright”, “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” and “Hosanna” have lost none of their magic over the years.
After a very short time I settled into the choreographic style of this production (Drew McOnie) and realised that the costume design was a lot more subtle in its homage to the original show than it first looked. Instantly making this show stand out though were the combined vocal and stage talents of Ian McIntosh (Jesus) and Shem Omari James (Judas). This show needs both these roles to be played by very strong performers of equal ability to draw an audience to them and tonight those dynamics worked so well on stage. Ian McIntosh and Shem Omari James are a very good team on-stage with each knowing when to give the other the space that they need to create the emotions that these often difficult to phrase and sing songs require. Completing the trio of main characters, Hannah Richardson gave us the Mary that was needed both vocally and dramatically to make this show’s Jesus a very identifiable human being, not a divine figure, but in the words of her own song “just a man”.
As always, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical score weaves so many different musical styles into one wonderful soundtrack with the contrasts in vocal ranges and styles from Caiaphas (Jad Habchi), Annas (Matt Bateman) and Pilate (Ryan O’Donnell) all of whom gave some very good performances tonight. King Herod was performed tonight by Timo Tatzber and always this almost vaudevillian routine is a pleasure to watch. This show though always needs you to listen to its words as Tim Rice can tell a narrative in lyrics with an ability that few people have.
There is also a lot going on with the design of this production (Tom Scutt) and it is full of at times very subtle and not so subtle iconography. Very good lighting design (Lee Curran) and sound design (Nick Lidster) combine here to give this production of Jesus Christ Superstar a very distinctive visual look.
This show was a pleasant surprise proving that sometimes the original show and the re-imagined one can both live happily together with no conflict at all as to which is the better of the two.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
I have to admit that when I read that this was a re-imagined production of this iconic stage musical, I had a few pre-show reservations as many times they fail to capture whatever made the original magical. For the first few minutes as the cast took to the stage in grey hoodies and a Jesus wearing a baseball cap I thought that this production was going to be a huge failure. Fortunately the baseball cap got removed very quickly and despite some contemporary choreography that seemed to be part of so many shows these days, everything started to fall into place in a new perspective as soon as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic score and Tim Rice’s wonderful use of lyrics started and you knew instantly that this was still the Jesus Christ Superstar that so many of us have taken into our hearts over the years.
If there is a secret formula to writing not only a stage musical, but one that will last the test of time, then Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice certainly know it, and this is the foundation of this show. Together they created here a show with music and lyrics that are so strong that it can withstand endless re-workings, re-imaginings and still remain intact at its core. Somehow this show also manages to retain its 1970s feel without becoming dated as so many other productions of its time have done over the years. The show’s songs, including “What’s The Buzz”, “Everything’s Alright”, “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” and “Hosanna” have lost none of their magic over the years.
After a very short time I settled into the choreographic style of this production (Drew McOnie) and realised that the costume design was a lot more subtle in its homage to the original show than it first looked. Instantly making this show stand out though were the combined vocal and stage talents of Ian McIntosh (Jesus) and Shem Omari James (Judas). This show needs both these roles to be played by very strong performers of equal ability to draw an audience to them and tonight those dynamics worked so well on stage. Ian McIntosh and Shem Omari James are a very good team on-stage with each knowing when to give the other the space that they need to create the emotions that these often difficult to phrase and sing songs require. Completing the trio of main characters, Hannah Richardson gave us the Mary that was needed both vocally and dramatically to make this show’s Jesus a very identifiable human being, not a divine figure, but in the words of her own song “just a man”.
As always, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical score weaves so many different musical styles into one wonderful soundtrack with the contrasts in vocal ranges and styles from Caiaphas (Jad Habchi), Annas (Matt Bateman) and Pilate (Ryan O’Donnell) all of whom gave some very good performances tonight. King Herod was performed tonight by Timo Tatzber and always this almost vaudevillian routine is a pleasure to watch. This show though always needs you to listen to its words as Tim Rice can tell a narrative in lyrics with an ability that few people have.
There is also a lot going on with the design of this production (Tom Scutt) and it is full of at times very subtle and not so subtle iconography. Very good lighting design (Lee Curran) and sound design (Nick Lidster) combine here to give this production of Jesus Christ Superstar a very distinctive visual look.
This show was a pleasant surprise proving that sometimes the original show and the re-imagined one can both live happily together with no conflict at all as to which is the better of the two.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com