Back in the day, before Andrew Lloyd Webber got lush, he and the under-appreciated Tim Rice wrote a tuneful rock opera with the cheeky title Jesus Christ, Superstar. It had all the life-and-death anguish, impassioned arias and massed choristers of grand opera, set to infectious rock rhythms and a witty, colloquial text. Launched in 1970 as a double record album, it has since been staged all over the world and remains one of the two definitive rock operas. (No points for guessing the other one is Tommy.)
This weekend’s production at the Academy of Music (is it a coincidence that it comes on Easter’s heels?) is the second large-scale musical mounted by PACE, the Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton. As in 2008’s West Side Story, director David Fried Oppenheim has updated the staging to underline what he sees as its very contemporary relevance.
“This is a show that uses the story of Jesus as a parable, as a cautionary tale, about celebrity adulation,” he explains. “It’s also about the role, today more than ever, of the hyper-paced media and their drive to create and then destroy the next superstar.”
So instead of placing the narrative, which covers the last week of Jesus’ life, in an abstract Judea, like the 1971 Broadway extravaganza, or contemporary Israel, like the 1973 movie, Oppenheim takes the title literally. He’s set the gospel tale in a rock concert hall where Jesus and his band are booked to perform. Onstage video screens document the live action and a gaggle of paparazzi follow the superstar’s every move. At first hosanna-ed by his followers, he is ultimately betrayed by his entourage and crucified by his fickle fans.
To Oppenheim, this isn’t a whimsical reinterpretation, but a faithful rendering of the authors’ intent. For instance, he’s taken the scene of tabloid reporters swarming around Jesus during his arrest and expanded it into a running theme. He’s also latched onto what he sees as a pretty explicit reference to another “superstar rock martyr,” Jim Morrison, in a reporter’s line, “Did you think you could get much higher?”
In this rendition, the campy King Herod (Frank Borelli) is portrayed as a glitter queen backed by a sexy chorus line, the cynical Roman governor Pontius Pilate (Jason Rose-Langston) as a silky-smooth politician, and Mary Magdalene (Teresa Lorenco) as the groupie who sees past the star’s luster. Jesus is played by John Losito, who, ironically enough, was seen last season in the Theater Project’s John and Paul as John “We’re more famous than Jesus” Lennon.
The MTV-style choreography is by Mary Ann Holmes, the rock-venue set and lights by Jody Barker and Ivan Park, and musical direction by Marnen Laibow-Koser, with an onstage band led by guitarist Eric Lee, and a cast and crew of nearly 80, making this the most ambitious undertaking yet by the always-ambitious PACE organization.
Jesus Christ Superstar: April 8-11, Academy of Music, 274 Main St., Northampton, tickets at www.JCStix.com, 584-9032 ext. 105 or 800-595-4TIX.
