I was trying to think about how to start this. Attempt number one: If you happen to have seen the trailer for PACE’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, you’d be anticipating a pretty amazing show before stepping foot into Northampton’s Academy of Music Theatre—and you would not be at all disappointed.
Attempt number two: Talk about rising to the occasion; PACE—the Performing Arts Center of Easthampton—made that phrase come true with its knockout version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. The music harkens back, perhaps, if you listened to the music obsessively (as, Wednesday night, I discovered was the case for many of my friends), but this is not a nostalgic theater experience; this is a dynamic and gutsy production. This iteration of the story so aptly captures this moment in time, and renders the production both fun and thought provoking (itself a pretty glorious accomplishment). What’s more the production exemplified what I gather PACE to be about: at once, there’s the best of community theater “values,” in that people with passion for this cool magic called theater are making it—a sense of democracy and eager industry comes forth—and yet, it’s anything but the phrase formerly used for community theater, which was Little Theater.
In every sense, this production really delivered big. The staging and choices about set design, use of videography, costuming, and really, how the light—not figurative—the story was cast in, were all big—and bold. In the information swirl and overload we are currently experiencing, that sense that fame—almost blind adoration, dizzying for all—conflates with faith and belief and love and talent… well, what’s there to say except, “Uh, yeah.” Every “legend” we’ve got has seen how the bubble of fame mixed with the cult of corporate greed, twists things around and makes us question what’s what. Think anyone from Bill Clinton to Tiger Woods and the myriad Brittany Spears’ in between. Finding a way to shine light upon that slant to this tale, and that slant on this production—overriding, in a sense, the venerable-to-Broadway-Webber—was pretty surprising (unless you saw PACE’s production of West Side Story, and then you realized, lack of fear is another characteristic of PACE, and its mesmerizing leadership in the form of one David Fried Oppenheim). Good surprising.
One more thing about David: when I first met him, I remember thinking to myself that he was like the Pied Piper, because the kids he had performing Snoopy over at PACE (and do you know about PACE? Do you realize what this organization is endeavoring to do for Easthampton? If not, please find out) seemed to be eating out of his hands. I remember thinking to myself I would like this guy in my young, theater-obsessed son’s life. He is clearly that positive a force. Proud, fortunate blogging mother can report that her now 14 year-old son* worked (hard) as the assistant stage manager for Superstar, and as has been the case every single time he’s worked with David, he’s a happier young man in the presence of this generous force (the mama sneaks in a quick thank you here).
Pied Piper-ness notwithstanding, this production raises the bar on anything PACE has done before and will impress you. I’m no theater reviewer and although I was grilled on the walk home about my favorite part, I truly would have to defer to a kind of frustrating answer (to one assistant stage manager), which was that I didn’t have a single favorite part because the entire production was such a WOW. Okay, that said, I did, but I liked the surprise of it and I’m not going to tell you here, because I want you to have your big-smile time warp moment, your very own self. The singing is strong, the staging is innovative, the set is fun, the ensemble and dance pieces manage to wow you in a small amount of space (a miraculous feat, I am thinking, of its very own) and all these people pulled this off while leading other lives, too. Seriously, don’t miss this show.
*One aside, at the very real risk of embarrassing her eldest son: at one moment last night, she saw that son in the wings, looking all adolescent-lanky and adult-level competent and it was impossible not to flash to standing herself (against the rules) in that spot watching her five year-old reindeer prance across the Academy stage. The Academy is Northampton’s majestic jewel of a theater. Along with the moments of pride, way back then and last night, this Northampton resident found herself thinking how incredibly fortunate our little city is to have the Academy of Music restored, gleaming and more and more frequently, filled. These days, the theater has a renewed sense of energy and purpose and seems to be fulfilling its present purpose—as gem and resource for the area—exceedingly well.
