Jesus Christ Superstar
You can always tell it is summer
in Vancouver: the ubiquitous umbrella makes a rare appearance; the
sun worshippers come out of hiding along English Bay beaches; and the
sounds of musical theatre fills the evening air (and occasional afternoon) in
Stanley Park.
The Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) season
at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park has begun. This year TUTS presents Andrew Lloyd
Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (reviewed below) and Irving
Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun.
Jesus Christ Superstar
Sir Lloyd Webber’s rock opera opened the TUTS season on July
10th to near perfect weather, a relatively full house for a mid-week
opening and a few pesky bugs – both of the insect variety and of the
sound variety.
Andrew Byerlay as King Herod in the Theatre Under the Stars
production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Photo: Tim Matheson
Shades of the Middle East are represented here with some
actors in military garb toting machine guns but that is mixed with some of the
more traditional costuming you would expect in the telling of the final days
Jesus Christ. It was nothing more than confusing and certainly not consistent.
Unfortunately there were very few real stand-outs among the
leads but that is not surprising given the difficulty of this musical theatre
genre. Lloyd Webber and his cohort Tim Rice has created a musical that, for
better or worse, requires the actors to sing like rock stars – problem is none
of the leads are up to this challenge. Compounding this problem were the
various sound problems that were experienced on opening night – let’s pray that
these sound problems get fixed fast as the very nature of the show requires a
flawless sound to realize the show properly and the actors need all the help
they can get.
Adam Charles as Judas tries but he simply cannot reach the
high notes necessary to pull off this role effectively and Tamara Vishniakoff as
Mary Magelene started off well but fell short through her big number. Mat Baker
as Jesus does a fine job but for a lot of the time it felt like he was aimlessly
walking around the stage – many times I had to play “Where's Jesus” (with
apologies to Waldo) – this of course, is more Director Barber’s fault than
Baker’s.
Some of my favourite scenes in Jesus Christ Superstar
are those with Caiaphus (Stefan Winfield) and the priests. Unfortunately
Winfield simply could not get his voice low enough and still be understood. By
comparison though, Brandyn Eddy as the Priest Annas has the perfect voice for
his role but because of Winfield’s inability to hit his notes the juxtaposition
of the low and high that makes these scenes so compelling is simply lost.
Always a crowd favourite, the Herod (Andrew Byerlay)
production number was, as expected, amusing to watch. Byerlay and his entourage
have a great deal of fun and this is one of the few places in the show where
Troy McLaughlin’s choreography actually worked for me. In contrast to this bit
of fun, Doug Thomas as Pilate brought a real intensity to his numbers that were
spot-on.
Musical Director Douglas Macaulay does his best with the
orchestra but again, the musicians, like the actors, are simply not up to the
challenges inherent in this show. The necessary loud and in-your-face rock
effect was simply lost and I'm not sure that even a better sound system would have helped
here.
Undertaking any production at the Malkin Bowl has to be a
challenge but attempting to undertake a difficult rock opera like Jesus
Christ Superstar is even more difficult. TUTS has to be commended for
its ongoing contribution to the summer theatre season in Vancouver which can be
rather dismal but it really needs to re-think its choices. Let’s hope Annie
Get Your Gun fares better (more on that later).
Jesus Christ Superstar plays in repertoire with Annie Get Your Gun through August 16th. Visit
http://www.tuts.ca for tickets and information.
PS: If you do decide to go, be
sure to bring a sweater or jacket; it is amazing how quickly the Bowl cools off
after the sun goes down. Some bug spray (the environmentally friendly kind,
course) might also be handy just in case.
Food and beverages are available on site but if you want to
really make a night of it – bring along a picnic basket from home and enjoy the
grassy knoll behind the seating area – the gates open two hours before show time
so there is plenty of time for a leisurely picnic before the crowds begin to
arrive and the curtain goes up.
