Lucas Milne
Theatre History 127
February 2nd, 2025
Jesus Christ Superstar
The musical I saw was called “Jesus Christ Superstar” and it was originally
written by Tim Rice with the music composed by Andrew Lloyd-Webber. The play was
originally released in 1970 as a concept album, but quickly moved to Broadway due to
widespread popularity. I saw the musical at the Frederic Wood Theatre on the UBC
campus. The performance was put on by a group of about 15 students for a thesis project
on musical theatre.
I think an important theme of the musical is fanaticism. I believe this is an
important and central theme because of the use of the ensemble, Jesus and Judas’s
eventual demise, and the religious themes scattered throughout the musical. For
example, in ¾ of the musical, Jesus is loved by a crowd of thousands. The crowd
believes that Jesus has some sort of healing property that can benefit their lives. This
eventually leads to Jesus being crucified. Additionally, the demise of Jesus is due to the
fact that the people of Jerusalem did not view showing affection (kissing) to be
appropriate. So when Judas came across Marie and Jesus kissing in the barn, he used
the peoples’ beliefs to besmirch Jesus and to tear him down once and for all. Whether
Judas himself believed in remaining “untouched” is another question, but Judas had a
goal, and that was to be revered as much as Jesus was.
My first image is when Jesus is being crucified on the cross. This image comes at
the very end of the musical where the people have turned on Jesus and demand for him
to be crucified. Pilate, the governor of Judea, interrogates Jesus. At this very moment,
the staging was very intricate. It was the moment before, that the ensemble, as well as
the spirit of Judas, were performing the most upbeat song in the musical: “Superstar”.
Jesus, in tattered clothing, and after being flogged 39 times by the angry mob, is pinned
to the cross. His arms are outstretched and they dangle off a giant wooden cross, and his
legs are attached to the single wooden beam, that being the support of the cross. There
were no other actors on stage except for Jesus. He was wearing his bloody white shirt
that had more holes than shirt at that point. He also wore his black pants. The lighting
on stage was visceral and intense. The spotlight was on Jesus, but the light surrounding
the cross was red and blue, seemingly opposing each other, just as Jesus and Judas once
did. The set was simplistic: there were 3 wooden blocks on either side of the wooden
cross, each once doubling in size from stage left to stage right (and vice-versa for the
other side). The set was minimal, most likely due to budgetary restrictions, but maybe
also to accentuate the performances, rather than the spectacle that is often associated
with musical theatre. The sound that played at that very moment was very interesting.
Throughout the musical, the music was very grand and groovy. But, in this tiny moment,
there was no score. In fact, it was completely silent. Only Jesus’s heart-wrenching
speech about how only God could judge him could be heard. The ensemble was nowhere
to be found, only Jesus remained by himself, left all alone to die. The image’s overall
effect is to hone in on the themes that were previously established, and to make the
audience horrified and disturbed. The audience should feel for Jesus here, and not
sympathize with the mob that led him to his death.
My second image is near the halfway point of the musical when Judas and Jesus
embrace for the first time. I believe this moment was not included in the original
Broadway performance of the musical, so I thought it was interesting that the director
(s) decided to include it. After discovering Marie and Jesus embracing, and after his
smear campaign had worked a bit too well, Judas, remorseful of his heinous actions,
decides to kiss Jesus as a form of retroactive retribution. Judas is a complex character,
so there could be multiple meanings to this one, but my interpretation is that Judas
wanted to express his feelings of love, hatred, and admiration. He decided to do one
final act of defiance before he would become the new messiah of Judea. Jesus and Judas
held both of each others’ hands before Judas quickly grabbed Jesus’s face and
passionately kissed him. There are no other actors onstage once again, but the
ensembles’ presence is felt, as after they separate, Jesus is arrested by Judas’s Roman
soldiers, seemingly in an ambush. Jesus was wearing his normal clothes, but his shirt
was not tattered. Judas was wearing his silk red button-up shirt and black pants as well
as runners. The lighting was very gentle and neutral, as if to express that nothing of the
ordinary was happening, kind of like a red herring of sorts. The set was the exact same
the entire time. I think what made this image stick out to me was the fact that it was so
unexpected (due to the fact that Judas and Jesus were essentially mortal enemies). The
unpredictability of this moment, mixed with the fact that homosexuality was not
commonly accepted or heard of during this era, made it a very memorable sequence.
The actors were upstage right. I think what the image was trying to convey was that
history is not always what historians believe it to be. The fact that the general population
may never know the extent of Judas and Jesus’s relationship is fascinating and I believe
this image was put in to create a dialogue around the subject of historical inaccuracies.
All in all, this musical was a very pleasurable experience, and it made for a very
fun night. I would definitely see this musical again and I would rate it a 9/10.
