JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR

US, 2016, 99 100 minutes, Colour.
John Legend, Brandon Victor Dixon, Sara Bareilles, Ben Daniels, Alice Cooper, Jin Ha, Norm Lewis, Jason Tam, Eric Groenwall.
Directed by David Laveaux, Alex Rudzinski.

Audiences have been familiar with the LPs of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Tim Rice’s rock opera of the late 1960s. It was staged extensively from 1970 – and this has continued throughout the decades with almost continual revivals. The film version, directed by Norman Jewison, with Ted Neely as Jesus, was released in 1973 and has continued as a popular version.

Since then, there have been filmed versions of stage productions including a version with Rick Mayall, another version with Tim Minchin, and now this version with John Legend as Jesus.

The songs and music, the lyrics, are very well-known and audiences will know what to expect and enjoy the different interpretations. John Legend is perhaps a bit quiet as Jesus compared with other versions. Brandon Victor Dixon, on the other hand, is a big and powerful Judas. Sara Bareilles fulfils expectations with her singing as Mary Magdalene.

There are also some interesting supporting cast presences, including Alice Cooper with a scene-stealing performance (very consciously on his part) as Herod offering his variation on the lyrics and the different turns. Ben Daniel, on the other hand, is a very serious Pilate.

When this version was first released on television it was punctuated with commercials, too frequently for most viewers and some of the comments were quite adverse. However, in later years, it was released on television without the commercials and so the audience is able to respond as expected.

One difficulty is that many in the audience consider it just another version of a rock concert, voluble at times and their response, in their applause, interrupting the dramatic effect when it was not necessary.

The stage is vast and long, the performance played at the Marcy Armory in Brooklyn, so is the background, very tall, housing the orchestra, enabling the cast to scale scaffolding and perform from the heights. In this version, there are quite a number of dancers for a glamorous and sometimes exotic presentation of the songs in the drama.

However, it is another opportunity to respond to Jesus Christ, Superstar and to appreciate different performances and different interpretations.