Jesus Christ Superstar: Live Arena Tour

Before I get to this very title, let me tell you where I am coming from on this: When I first saw the Motion Picture "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the 70s, I was hooked right away. I've never been a great fan of musicals, but this one had such a great score, I loved it and got the soundtrack on vinyl as soon as it was out. Since then I have not only seen the original Broadway show (on tape) but also multiple later live performances until well into the 90s and even in different countries. Each of those had its own style, its own cast, its own "feel", but all of them were great.

This one though, the "Live Arena Show", I simply don't like, and believe me I've tried!

First of all, it's wayyy to overmodernised to me, cellphones, tablets and all. This may just be my personal taste, but hey, it's my review as well. Second, the costumes, makeup and hairstyles of "the followers" are downright ridiculous. While the style of Herod and Pilates are pretty good in a tongue-in-cheek way, those of the followers are just pathetic.

But the worst thing is, that Tim Minchin as Judas as well as Ben Forster as Jesus are just weak in any way. "The Temple" usually gives me goosebumps of delight, be it performed by Ted Neeley or Ian Gillan or some of the other Jesuses I've heard so far. In Forster's Case its all just "Meh".

Also, Melanie C has a great and unique voice, I am just nor sure if its the right one for the role. Maybe I am just used to the smoothness of Yvonne Elliman, but it also did not feel right to me.

In conclusion I did not enjoy it very much. If you are like me and love the Motion Picture or the Broadway Show, it might not be for you as well. On the other hand, if you are a younger person and this is the first time you ever see Jesus Christ Superstar at all, chances are that you will like it. If so, PLEASE listen to the original Soundtrack afterwards and I almost can guarantee you that you will be blown away!

Ok, to be totally frank, NOT ONLY am I a huge Tim Minchin fan, I've watched all of his concerts & shows I could find and some of series AND I've been listening to the original JCSuperstar album since the early 70's. All of my kids, who are full grown adults now, love the album. When I heard about this UK arena tour video, WOW! I was so excited to watch it, but then I saw that Tim had been cast as Judas, that just added to my delight.

Now, I get that not everyone likes Tim's act, he can be fairly caustic to a gentle mind. But I just love his stuff. Swearing & all. You cannot deny the guy is super talented.

This production was placed in a rock arena, as creators ALW & TR had originally planned while writing it. With a huge flatscreen at top of the steps which lets the audience see better close-ups.

The 1973 movie was very good (8/10), but as talented as Ted Neely was, I would've preferred to have seen Ian Gillian in the Jesus role (he does Jesus on the original soundtrack). In this version, Ben Forster is pretty good as Jesus. The way the arena is set up, if you're familiar with the original Norman Jewison film from 1973, you'll know where each scene & character is 'supposed' to be. Tim is excellent as Judas. MelC ,as Mary, is easy to watch. I love her gothy/punk look.

So, maybe I'm not unbiased, I've watched this movie so many times since buying it. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes JCS or Tim Minchin or rock operas or just a good show to spend some time on.

PS: Another Tim Minchin achievement is "Matilda, the Musical", he wrote all the songs and they are brilliant! (Watch Matilda at least once with the captions on so as not to miss any of his sharp lyrics!).

Tim Mitchin and Mel C were great in the show, both have impressive voice and excellent play. Only one thing made this marvellous piece of art a little bit "sour": playing of Ben Forster. He acted like a hysterical child, though his voice was fair good, except some overtone.

First off, I should say that the filming itself of this production is well done. Good camera angles although the editing never lets them breathe enough. Still a well filmed live production I would say. I've given this a 6 largely in part due to the production value.

The production itself however is strange. They have really modernized it (nearly post-modernized it), which actually makes it feel more dated times. The dystopian hierarchy is a very cool change that I liked, but other changes like turning the temple into a night club just didn't work and ruined the integrity of the original scene.

They also auto tune a lot (if not all) of the voices, plus apply many other vocal effects, and it's really really noticeable.

Jesus also just was miscast. He can hit the high notes, but doesn't have much strength or power to them. Range isn't everything. His voice is far to smooth and soft for material that requires full voice screaming. Sounds like a Bee Gee instead of hard rock screaming. I must point out that sings the wrong vowel sounds quite regularly too, which really should have been caught by the music director.

Tim Minchin really does steal the show as he appears to be just about the only person on stage who really understands and is dedicated to the material. He gives it his all, and it's a real travesty that they auto tuned and smoothed out the grit in his voice as the role of Judas is not supposed to sound nearly as smooth at they made it.

Overall it's an interesting adaptation. If you're a fan of the musical in general, you might enjoy it just as a different take, but the vocal effects alone will ruin it for many classic theatre fans.

JCS transposed into the present with Jesus and the disciples as anti-capitalists, the pharisees are corporatists/bankers, Pilate is a judge and Herod is some sort of game show host or entertainer.

The lyrics simply don't make any sense when sung in these circumstances. The Temple is now a nightclub called "The Temple", so when Jesus sings "my temple should be a house of prayer", it just makes you think he must have been the previous owner. Herod, Pilate and the Pharisees are all part of the same culture as opposed to Romans and Jews so again it simply just doesn't work.

Musically the band is very good, better than the movie and almost as good as the original concept album. The singing is generally very good with Tim Minchin being easily the weakest link, he sings through his nose. Jesus is very good and Mel C sings well, although she is just doing a direct copy of how Yvonne Elliman did it, not that that's a bad thing.

Last Christmas I saw the Court Theatre production here in Christchurch. Much lower budget, much smaller cast, much superior.