Originally published April 20th, 2014.
♪Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ/Who are you, what have you sacrificed?♫
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist
Tim Rice originally composed “Jesus Christ Superstar” as an album in 1970, and
a stage album followed a few years later. Since then, it has been revived and
adapted in countless productions, most notably in Norman Jewison’s 1973 motion
picture, which starred the main Broadway cast.
For a long time, those productions hewed
closely to the bell-bottoms-and-glitter 70s trappings. It worked, but sometime
in the late 90s, Webber and Rice decided that it was old hat. A change was in
order, and the turn of the millennium seemed—no, was—the best time to set that into motion.
A revival tour starring Liverpudlian actor
Glenn Carter marked the opening gambit, and, when that ended in 1998, its cast
and crew drew their plans to capture the updated show on film so that it could reach a wider audience. A traditional filmed performance, which is normally edited from the best "takes" of a tour, would not do. No, this required something more...it required a full studio. Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire--James Bond's cinematic home--provided that space, and then some.
The first few seconds make it clear that
this is not your mom and dad’s Superstar.
The Roman-inspired set dressings sit uneasily with modern graffiti (a sign
reading “Nothing to be gained here!” points to a recently-killed man in a darkly
amusing touch). Meanwhile, a Roman patrol strides menacingly about the set, dressed in a hybrid costume of Centurion shielding, SWAT team gear, and Darth Vader.
And Jesus presides over it all, dressed in
a modern tank top and capri pants. (I should note that His clothing does change
over the course of the show. He starts out modern, but gradually changes into a
poet’s shirt, and finally into the tattered remains of a long robe.)
The new, modern styling extends to the
production and cinematography as well. You’d expect a filmed stage production
to be little more than a static camera covering a proscenium stage, but Superstar does away with that: The set
is designed as an enormous “jungle gym,” with built-in ladders and platforms.
Also, the set has two levels: The main stage area is at the top, and underneath
is the cold, menacing, subterranean headquarters of the Pharisees. A motorized
catwalk that raises and lowers as the action requires serves as a kind of “third
level.”
There’s some static camerawork on
display, but Superstar makes
impressive use of the Steadicam (a camera on a perfectly-balanced harness) to
pull and push you through the action, effectively creating a fully-immersive
experience. Imagine if someone added stereoscopic 3D to the experience!
Lastly, Superstar 2000’s watchword is “visceral.” This is not some sedate,
disco-fashioned presentation to be observed and forgotten. No, this one picks
you up by the lapels and drags you through an emotional wringer! The scene in
which Jesus casts out the moneychangers is an invasion of sex, drugs, and
rock’n’roll upon the sacred, with huge fistfuls of money passed around among
slot machines, TV sets, drug paraphernalia, and cage dancers in belly-dancer
garb. It’s so exaggerated that you can’t help but feel Jesus’ bewilderment grow
into rage, and cheer Him on when He smashes a TV set and drives them all out.
On the other hand, you can’t help but feel Pontius Pilate’s growing revulsion at the 39 lashings he prescribes to Jesus. Even
though it’s just stage blood being slapped onto Glenn Carter, his and Fred
(Pilate) Johanson’s acting, dramatic music, high-contrast lighting, and striking
sound design combine into a single, gut-wrenching package. (In a nice character
moment, Pilate starts out all full of bravado, but as he starts counting to the
teens and twenties, he’s practically flinching with every impact!)
With all that aside, it’s time to ask the million dollar question: What
makes this a Millennium Artifact?
For better or for worse, Superstar 2000 honors the past by
keeping the staging, orchestration, and music the same as it ever was, while
updating the feel of the work and bringing the latest technical tricks into the
work. More than that, it successfully transplants the ethos of the late 90s and early 2000s into the older music and staging.
The result is...timeless, for lack of a better word.