“Judas Iscariot, you just sold out your BFF the son of God for 30 pieces of silver; what are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to DisneyWorld!”
No, no, that wasn’t actual dialogue from the 21st century updated Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, but you wouldn’t know by the audience reaction. I’m pretty sure the live Easter crowd thought they were watching their local boys go for the state football championship. How else could anyone explain the thunderous, hooting applause following downers like “Blood Money,” “Peter’s Denial,” and “This Jesus Must Die?” You’d never guess from the audience reaction the Crucifixion of Christ was anything less than a day at the circus.
In the wake of Vatican II, several composers discovered their love of Christ need not be limited to ballads played exclusively on December 25. Hence, a number of Biblical-inspired musicals were written in this era, including “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and “Godspell.” The irreverent and oft dissonant Jesus Christ Superstar felt like experimental theater when it was written; it felt like experimental theater when the movie was made in 1973. Nearly fifty years later, however, the musical exaltations to God have endured Madonna, Night Ranger, and Joan Osborne among many, many others. And Jesus Christ Superstar still feels like experimental theater.
I can’t fault this thing for lack of energy. There’s nothing but electricity as hands scurry to reset props after the opening guitar solo. (Dudes, aren’t you supposed to set the stage before the show begins?) No matter. In a scene stolen from The Warriors, Judas (Brandon Victor Dixon) gets to address Jesus’ biker gang –and when I say “biker,” think BMX, not Harley—with “Heaven on Their Minds,” which is about as upbeat as the tunes get in this musical.
Most audiences don’t know Broadway performers and, hence, said theater productions set to film often add in more universal notables to woo a crowd. Idina Menzel may be the queen of modern musicals, but add a televised audience and John Travolta can’t even get her name right. Many productions of said nature will take actors-who-might-be-able-to-sing (think Russell Crowe in Les Miz); Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert sought singers-who-might-be-able-to-act, sagely inserting John Legend as Jesus and Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene. Given how much help the soundtrack needs, I think going the popstar route was the right choice. However, while Russell Crowe can’t sing, he can act. And putting the camera that close to John Legend for 150 minutes is asking a great deal. I found the Legend of Jesus fairly mopey. Given Legend’s slight resemblance to Yankees HOFer Derek Jeter, I found myself wondering –constantly- “Is this what you do when you fall three back of the Red Sox, Derek? You slump around the house and cosplay in casual Jedi wear?”
Here’s a question: Where exactly is this thing set? House? Yard? Biker bar? Herod’s castle? It’s impossible to know the setting of any scene in this musical without lyrical cues. Huh, dudes dressed like Neo from The Matrix. They must be apostles, right? Silly me. They’re the bad guys. Oh. Ummm, you do realize Neo is Jesus Christ, right? The Matrix is a Jesus parallel. Never mind.
One quibble I definitely must air is the recurring medieval slander of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. It’s now 2018. I love that we’re finally accepting of a non-white Jesus. Yay! Now, can we try and get some of the other details right? Sure, that would mean re-writing lyrics, I know. Gee, it’s not like you rescored the entire musical or anything. Oh, you did. Well, we’
re now up to Wonder Woman and #MeToo in women’s history, and yet Superstar decided not to give an historically correct view of Mary Magdalene, but instead let us know that it’s ok that she’s a prostitute. This is what #MeToo means to you, huh? OK. Progress is progress, I suppose.
There is no question that John Legend and Sara Bareilles can sing and such almost makes up for everything else. Most people who see musical theater know the really good stuff often happens right before intermission. I’m not sure if this is to make sure you’ll return for Act II or simply to reward those who paid for their tickets and not those lousy freeloaders sneaking in during the smoking break. Whatever the reason, I’d say 40% to 50% of musicals can be enjoyed entirely in Act I. This is exactly the case in Jesus Christ Superstar, which turns very depressing and musically grating after Bareilles’ heavenly rendition of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” The plain fact is you can throw in all the energy in the world into a concert, but if the music ain’t great, it ain’t great. Music-wise, Jesus Christ Superstar might not even rank top 10 among the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber … and it shows. Were I to do it again, I’d happily repeat the Bareilles number a few times and wrap it up afterwards. Unless you’re a glutton for snuff films like The Passion of the Christ, you can give this a rest at exactly the same time Sara does. Bottom line? Four blessed minutes per hour may be a decent ratio for “SNL,” but this is prime time.
FWIW, the second coming will be pay-per-view, shows daily at 7:30 with a 2 pm on weekends.
♪I don’t know how to pan this
What to write, how to show dis
I’ve been torn, questioned my scorn
In these past days, when there’s bile
I know this made friends smile
I don’t know how to tell you
Alice Cooper is not a coup
He’s a man. An aging man
Whose career is long over
It’s fairly lackadaise
An iffy score
Should I out it down?
Should I rant and shout?
Should I remind you all
What good film’s about?♫
Rated TV-PG, 150 Minutes
Director: David Leveaux, Alex Rudzinski
Writer: Tim Rice
Genre: Christ!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People for whom musicals are already a religious experience
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The dissonance challenged
♪ Parody Inspired by “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”
