Sydney Entertainment Centre
Friday June 7, 2013 :
In the days leading up the 2013 production of Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS), many of my friends reminisced about seeing John Farnham, Kate Ceberano, Marcia Hines, Jon English and Trevor White in the previous Australian productions with glowing memories. It is a musical that is much loved throughout the world, with themes, if taken away from their biblical context, has relevance within any year it is performed.
Civil unrest, the Occupy protect, and the riot squads are on show within the first minutes of the ‘Overture’, and then those so familiar Superstar chords erupt. For this reviewer, it was chilling. It was a powerful moment, one of many that would occur during the night, and one that highlighted half of the reason why JCS connects so well – the strength of the music. Couple that with superb vocalist/actors, musicians, and production, and you have a four decade winner.
On stage, the performance of Ben Forster as Jesus was quite stunning. His delivery of ‘Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)’ was the absolute highlight of the night. Tim Minchin was suitably strong as Judas, with ‘Judas Death’ emotionally taxing. Mel C (Mary Magdalene) was, I thought, an interesting choice for the role but on tonight’s performance, she held her own especially on ‘Don’t Know How To Love Him’. When you include Jon Stevens (Pilate) and the comical “game show” delivery of Andrew O’Keefe (King Herod), the cast of this 2013 production was everything that Jesus Christ Superstar deserved.
Reviewer: Kevin Bull
Photographer: David Youdell
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23-ngR7-A9E