Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican
Aug. 23rd, 2019 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julietYesterday my sister and I went to the Barbican (which is a very comfy theatre!) to see their production of Jesus Christ Superstar (which apparently is the same as the 2016 Regent's Park outdoor one).
I loved the choreography and the set (especially the catwalk crucifix). There was a LOT of glitter used in various contexts and I liked that too (though had some sympathy for whoever has to clear the stage up after each performance...). The scene with the moneychangers in the Temple was particularly good in terms of the palette change (lighting and costume) and use of gold glitter; and dipping Judas' hands in silver to represent the 30 pieces of silver was very striking.
Part of the staging concept is using actual mics for the songs (as well as stick-on mics for backing singers and some of the speech). Once I got used to that I largely liked it. It also mean that there was less of the "X can have their back to the audience, because they're amplified!" blocking, which I find *quite annoying* in some productions (Hamilton, I'm looking at you), because that looks weird if you're presenting it as Arena Rock Show. Caiaphas & Co having staffs which they then turned upside down to use the mics on their other ends sounds a bit absurd but was honestly great.
Judas (Ricardo Afonso) was excellent. Jesus (Robert Tripolino) was a bit nasal in the first half, but did better in the second. "Gethsemane" was good, although I wasn't wholly convinced by him strumming a guitar in the first section of that; once he lost the guitar it improved dramatically. Pilate (Matt Cardle) was also excellent, and Caiaphas (Gavin Cornwall) had the necessary voice (right down in his boots) and presence.
It was, however, too damn loud. I don't think this is just me being old & grumpy; the lyrics were swallowed up by the sheer volume a lot of the time. Fine, yes, I know the lyrics so it doesn't matter to me (and I tend to suspect that most people seeing it probably do too?) but it's still frustrating. It's in a theatre with good acoustics (as far as I know, anyway; it didn't feel like they *needed* the volume to reach the back or anything) and a well-behaved audience. It doesn't need to be cranked up to 11, Rock Show concept or not.
The main thing I seriously disliked was putting "Jesus Christ Superstar" over the crucifixion. (Maybe other productions have done this? I've not seen it done that way before.) To me it undermined both the power of the crucifixion scene[0], and the power of the song, losing two of the three emotional peaks in the second half. Judas did a damn good job of it, but applauding him with Jesus on the cross in the background felt weird as hell. I have to assume they were going for that cognitive dissonance, but I didn't like it (and nor did W).
Other than that: good show, thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
[0] The first time I saw this live -- already knowing both the story[1] and the musical well -- I was 10 or 11, and the flogging and crucifixion both hit me very very hard. I remember it vividly. Possibly I was just too young for it tbh.
[1] I was reflecting during the second half about the extent to which you can make some staging decisions based on the fact that the story is extremely well known; e.g. when Judas hung himself, they did it by him throwing his mic (with red cable) over a balcony. With appropriate setup and lighting this worked really well, but it also worked because you already *know* that's what he does. But I was reflecting on this also because while at L's age (7), listening to the music, I would have known the story, L doesn't, because we're atheists and he's growing up atheist. I have currently-incoherent thoughts about cultural background knowledge and so on; without particularly wishing to buy into the privileging of Christianity in this society.
I loved the choreography and the set (especially the catwalk crucifix). There was a LOT of glitter used in various contexts and I liked that too (though had some sympathy for whoever has to clear the stage up after each performance...). The scene with the moneychangers in the Temple was particularly good in terms of the palette change (lighting and costume) and use of gold glitter; and dipping Judas' hands in silver to represent the 30 pieces of silver was very striking.
Part of the staging concept is using actual mics for the songs (as well as stick-on mics for backing singers and some of the speech). Once I got used to that I largely liked it. It also mean that there was less of the "X can have their back to the audience, because they're amplified!" blocking, which I find *quite annoying* in some productions (Hamilton, I'm looking at you), because that looks weird if you're presenting it as Arena Rock Show. Caiaphas & Co having staffs which they then turned upside down to use the mics on their other ends sounds a bit absurd but was honestly great.
Judas (Ricardo Afonso) was excellent. Jesus (Robert Tripolino) was a bit nasal in the first half, but did better in the second. "Gethsemane" was good, although I wasn't wholly convinced by him strumming a guitar in the first section of that; once he lost the guitar it improved dramatically. Pilate (Matt Cardle) was also excellent, and Caiaphas (Gavin Cornwall) had the necessary voice (right down in his boots) and presence.
It was, however, too damn loud. I don't think this is just me being old & grumpy; the lyrics were swallowed up by the sheer volume a lot of the time. Fine, yes, I know the lyrics so it doesn't matter to me (and I tend to suspect that most people seeing it probably do too?) but it's still frustrating. It's in a theatre with good acoustics (as far as I know, anyway; it didn't feel like they *needed* the volume to reach the back or anything) and a well-behaved audience. It doesn't need to be cranked up to 11, Rock Show concept or not.
The main thing I seriously disliked was putting "Jesus Christ Superstar" over the crucifixion. (Maybe other productions have done this? I've not seen it done that way before.) To me it undermined both the power of the crucifixion scene[0], and the power of the song, losing two of the three emotional peaks in the second half. Judas did a damn good job of it, but applauding him with Jesus on the cross in the background felt weird as hell. I have to assume they were going for that cognitive dissonance, but I didn't like it (and nor did W).
Other than that: good show, thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
[0] The first time I saw this live -- already knowing both the story[1] and the musical well -- I was 10 or 11, and the flogging and crucifixion both hit me very very hard. I remember it vividly. Possibly I was just too young for it tbh.
[1] I was reflecting during the second half about the extent to which you can make some staging decisions based on the fact that the story is extremely well known; e.g. when Judas hung himself, they did it by him throwing his mic (with red cable) over a balcony. With appropriate setup and lighting this worked really well, but it also worked because you already *know* that's what he does. But I was reflecting on this also because while at L's age (7), listening to the music, I would have known the story, L doesn't, because we're atheists and he's growing up atheist. I have currently-incoherent thoughts about cultural background knowledge and so on; without particularly wishing to buy into the privileging of Christianity in this society.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-23 02:10 pm (UTC)I agree that staging the title number over the crucifixion is a deeply weird choice. I suppose if you're aiming to make people feel uncomfortable (implicated, maybe?) that's one way to achieve it, but...?
no subject
Date: 2019-08-25 02:34 pm (UTC)The staging was overall excellent though.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-25 09:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-25 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-25 04:25 pm (UTC)I had a children's introduction to Islam book when I was about L's age, I think. It was mostly about practice, and in some ways I think it was more helpful than R.E. lessons that were mostly stories behind festivals.