After The Applause

I am happy to admit that Jesus Christ Superstar is certainly my favourite musical, I love every single song and have been dying to see a production in person after many years of rewatching the same ones on Youtube. Furthermore I am also happy to admit that I am a huge fan of Sam Ryder, so when this production was announced I was full of excitement and anticipation. Sam is known for his out of this world performance in Eurovision 2022 earning the UK second place in one of our best results in recent history and imagining his voice over Lloyd-Webber’s power ballads and catchy hooks seemed like a match made in heaven. However, despite being so excited to see this show I left the theatre with some very mixed feelings and a vast list of things I thought were sensational and others that definitely were not.

First lets start of with the good…

I am not being dramatic when I say this but Sam Ryder in this production gives us one of the best male vocalist performances ever seen in the West End and if he doesn’t get acclaim for this then he has certainly been robbed. From the moment he hits that first high note in ‘What’s the Buzz” the audience understands, this role was made for Sam Ryder. As we journey through the rock opera I also discover Sam is a fabulous actor, not only using his vocals but his physical expression is perfect especially in the scenes venturing nearer to Jesus’ crucifixion.

‘Gethsamene’ is often regarded as one of the most difficult musical theatre songs to sing, with many talented vocalists attempting it over the years but yet Ted Neely (the original JC) still tops the list. However the night I saw Sam perform this song will forever live in my memory, it was gob-smacking, he hit every note and the whole audience got more and more excited as the song went on, everyone in the Palladium audience realised they were witnessing a master on stage. When the song finished the crowd erupted, to the point where the show was delayed for around 5 minutes due to the fact the audience couldn’t stop cheering. Sam Ryder’s performance of this song must be seen to be believed and he hits the notes whilst playing the guitar as well, is he a man or a machine?

For a JCS production to soar it can’t just be Jesus who is a superstar (get it), the rest of the cast must be too on their top game and in this production they are! We didn’t get to see the listed Tyrone Huntley as Judas due to illness so instead saw the alternate who is an actor I have seen many times in the West End, Billy Nevers (Hamilton and & Juliet). Billy has a very strange vocal range where he can incorporate rasp and anger before then softly singing like an angelic choir boy and I thought this was perfect for Judas, as was his tall frame that meant him a very prominent figure on stage as he towers over Mary Magdalene during ‘Everything’s Alright’. I loved Desdemona Cathabal as Mary, her gentle soothing voice instilling calm in my heart after a dramatic second act and her chemistry with Sam was very good. Furthermore, the priests were excellent with Matty J and Bob Harms demanding the stage as the evil Caiphass and Annas, not only demanding due to their stage presence but also their glittery costumes that got a giggle from me as they marched out at the beginning.

Someone who is going to get a huge shoutout from me as a big fan of the music is David Thaxton as Pontius Pilate. He smashed Pilate’s 2 songs and I loved his voice during the trial but my favourite moment was during the whipping of Jesus where he counts the 39 lashes, when he got to 9 he simply did a pivot and stamp and I don’t know why but I thought it was utter genius. I don’t think he will get the appreciation he deserves due to his limited stage time but he comes on smashes it completely and leaves.

Now I know what your thinking, Charlie it sounds like you loved it all so much so why only 3 stars. I did, I loved the cast and I loved the crazy choreography by Drew McOnie that captures the chaos or peace of the story throughout. What I really think this play was let down by was the production design, I thought it was very very weak and at the end just underwhelming. I say weak rather than bad because of course I have mentioned the costumes and choices that I did enjoy but I thought that the choice to chuck glitter at Jesus instead of whipping him was just weird and looked odd, furthermore the fact that there was a huge cross on stage the whole time and then they decided to crucify Jesus on some twigs at the edge of the stage with the cross just sitting behind him was just a bit baffling. The choice of having on stage standing tickets felt a bit gimmicky as they stand behind the action and don’t seem to be doing much and I felt the scaffolding staging was very basic. Lloyd-Webber’s musical needs more, it is a musical about death, anger and violence and I don’t think the aesthetic of that is glitter and scaffolding. I just felt it was a shame because the cast and ensemble are sensational but aesthetically for a JCS production this was weak.

Again as I always say this is just my interpretation and I may be wrong as this is a re-run of a touring production from 2016-18 so it obviously was popular but I felt it was a little confusing at times, especially the crucifixion that just saw Jesus squirming on a tiny cross meaning the end fell very flat.

MY VERDICT:

The question you may all have is do I recommend this production and the simple answer is ‘yes’. The cast are outstanding and smash it out of the park, go see it for them and Sam’s superb rendition of Gethsemane but i just wasn’t wowed by other aspects of the production which was rather disappointing. Still this summer palladium musical is worth a visit, but not at the extortionate £100 being quoted at the moment for restricted view seats.

This is something that West End theatres need to sort out, no matter demand for the production theatre should still remain somewhat affordable and when I found out about these prices I felt it was very poor. Other theatres in London certainly cater for this which is great to see but £100 to stare at a pillar instead of Sam Ryder cannot be worth it!

Rant over and you will certainly have time to see this as it tours in 2027 around a theatre, hopefully, near you!

Hope you’ve enjoyed two reviews in one night, still more to come soon with my thoughts, likes and dislikes on Hadestown, Hot Mess and How The Other Half Loves whooshing to your inbox in the next weeks!!