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Arts & Culture


Finding her faith, Jayne Moore takes in the sights and sounds of the seminal, genre-defining rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar


H


aving watched the BBC’s search for Jesus in readiness for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar - which for the first time


has given rise to its arena format for which it was intended when it was first written in 1969 - I was not let down. Te original show’s first incarnation was


as a rock-opera penned by Tim Rice and the previously mentioned Lloyd Webber when they were both in their early 20’s. Lloyd Webber famously struggled to gain


support for the production, instead settling for releasing it on a double LP in 1970 which went on to reach number one in February 1971. It went on to tour theatres around the world for the next 30 years, but the arena was always its true destiny. It has been a lifetime in the making, but it seems that dreams really do come true for the Lord. Casting of Jesus was light entertainment delight of the BBC primetime Saturday night schedule, with the budding Jesus’ battling it out. Some really did look the part, others less so, but in the words of the Lord himself, ‘who really knows what Jesus looked like?’ Ben Forster won the glory of Jesus and he proved that he was a worthy winner with his performance being honest and awe consuming, although it has to be said that the star of the entire performance has to be Tim Minchin as Judas. Such a moving and stimulating performance, he left me breathless.


Melanie Chisholm played Mary Magdelene with such grace, even the modernisation of the show made her seem relevant, Chris Moyles on the other hand made me feel uneasy in his portrayal of Herod, asking for the audience to text to vote for who should die, perhaps it was the parody of today’s media savvy world, or the stiffness in his performance, he seemed ill at ease and as such made me uneasy. Having never seen the original film, I


have little reference to compare, however the production was brought up-to-date with a back drop of last year’s riots in London and the distance our young people feel agains a government who are not listening. I loved the intensity of the performance


and two of the other Jesus’s, 21 year old Jeff Anderson (Baby Jesus) and Tim Prottey-Jones, who both give an outstanding performance on the night. If you are a fan of the original then the


addition of the iPhones and iPads may become a little off-putting, but it captures our world as we live it with real time media and social commentary from the streets, it is gritty and immensely entertaining.


For more information, visit www.jesuschristsuperstar.com


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