Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be reviewing my thoughts of Jesus Christ Superstar, which I saw the matinee performance of at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham on 13th January 2024, making this my first show to see of the year.
This follows the tale of Jesus' last days before his crucification, as seen through the eyes of Judas. This had a mixture of both modern elements and also elements of Rock in it, as it is of course a rock opera. This was also a weekend where I needed to de-stress, as with a situation beyond my control with regards to my short film that happened (which you can see in my first weekly highlights of 2024 here: https://www.theautisticactress.com/post/project-autism-trials-and-tribulations-and-getting-over-barriers), I needed some time away from the stress. So it did help regulate my mind massively.
The cast gave off a brilliant performance for each role. Ian Macintosh played the leading role of Jesus. I can see why he was nominated for an Olivier Award, as his take on the biblical character adding bits of modern elements like his guitar and his costume gave it a nice touch. His version of Gethsemane was amazing. It’s a hard song as it is, so you can tell how much effort he put into the performance. Well done Ian.
Shem Omari James played Judas in the show. He definitely has got a strong set of lungs on him, and he carried the story really well especially in the opening number. He really did tell the story of the show and his chemistry with Ian really showed. He definitely deserves to go onto bigger things, and I hope this show will do him just that.
Hannah Richardson played Mary, Jesus’ lover. Her chemistry with Ian was a heartwarming sight, and we can see how much she cares about Jesus. Her rendition of "I Don’t Know How To Love Him" was also on point. This is a song I’m eager to learn but it’s safe to say I will learn from that performance there. If she’s not nominated for some type of award then there needs to be a petition put in place.
Matt Bateman and Jad Habchi really complimented each other in the role of Annas (and Caiaphas. Caiaphas' voice and how deep it went was insane, and a lot of work really had gone into it, and it complimented Annas’ voice too, especially when it came to the more upbeat moment in “This Jesus Must Die”. And when it came to the upbeat moment in the song, along with the other actors who were priests, the way they made it look like a rock band with the hop swaying and micrography (my new work for movement with microphone) it made the number very entertaining.
Finally Pilate was also a person to remember, and was played by Ryan O’Donnell. I loved his modern take on this character, and the costume in particular really added to this character. And the notes he can reach when it came to the Trial By Pilate/39 Lashes were some fear to achieve. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
It wasn’t just the principles that gave an outstanding performance, but the ensemble really added to the show. And with any ensemble roles, they each had their own individual character, so it really did bring the whole piece together. And without them there would be no show. The choreographer Christopher Tendai did a good job at bringing both principles and ensemble together nicely.
The final key moment that stood out for me was the songs. I still remember them from when I did the show back in 2019, and despite forgetting some of the lyrics, that didn’t stop me from singing along. I still remembered some of the harmonies in it too. But then again that’s the power of music for you.
There were a few points where I was abit disappointed in, and one of which was the expectation of the cross. It had been later out on the front of the stage and i thought in the end it would’ve been lifted up when Jesus was crucified. But then again coming into it with an open mind, they knew that it would also be a dangerous thing to do as if that fell on him, then I think it wood definitely be game over. I also didn’t enjoy herods performance as much as I thought, as I knew it would be the most light hearted and comedic moment of the show, but I do appreciate the effort put into the number, and I still managed to sing along to it, so it did have its good elements. The final thing I noticed was that in the programme it didn’t mention who was playing Simon, Peter and Herod. This was a shame as I consult tag them in my posts when I shared it on my socials, but whoever was playing those roles on that day at the 2:30 matinee, a brilliant job they did indeed.
Overall I would give this show a 3.75. Yes there were moments where I felt let the side down, but after a stressful week with a situation beyond my control happening, it definitely felt good to let it out through the medium of song.
And that was my review of the show. I hope everyone enjoyed this read and as I said before everyone’s opinion is different, so this was just my reflection of the show.
See you soon for another blog. Until next time…
This is The Autistic Actress Signing off :)
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