It isn’t often I see a show that really does deserve a standing ovation but Timothy Sheader’s immaculately directed, imaginative, sensitive new version of Jesus Christ Superstar is definitely on the list.
A lone guitar begins to twang with louche sexiness at the opening of the overture – framed and lit on the top of the scaffold which forms the set and houses the band. And from there, of course, Lloyd Webber’s remarkable score (his best ever?) ensures that the tension builds and builds. The central tug between Judas (Tyrone Huntley) driven initially by a sort of reasoned common sense and eventually destroyed by guilt and the passive, troubled Jesus (Declan Bennett) is impeccably directed by Timothy Sheader. And the last supper scene at which Judas and Jesus confront each other in a troubled, edgy syncopated 5/4 time interspersed with the apostles’ conventional maudlin hymn-like chorus is pretty special.
Bennett, dripping with blood and quivering, twitchy agony in the second half as dusk falls over the Park makes fine, moving use of his tenor singing voice occasionally cracking into falsetto, or becoming ragged with pain.
Then among many other lovely things comes the contrast between Bennett’s mild voice and the gravelly basso profundo of Cavin Cornwall’s dangerously charismatic Caiaphas. Peter Caulfield stops the show with King Herod’s glittering Presley-style number. Anoushka Lucas’s Mary sings the lyrical numbers with powerful warmth.
The pulsing, vibrant, relentlessly energetic ensemble work is outstanding too as they leap, sweep their limbs in arcs, drum their feet in magical unison. Drew McOnie’s very original choreography creates an exciting, dynamic choral backdrop to the verbal narrative.
Reviewed by Susan Elkin