The musical is more about rebellion and wanting freedom than anything else. When it was written in 1970, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wanted the musical to reflect on the relations between Jesus and Judas, not the religious message, and the issues facing Jerusalem at the of the events. When it was released it caused great controversy because for the first time, the death of Jesus was being told in an unbiased way.
I think the reason that the musical and film have been given this label of being overly religious is because the musical was always set in Jerusalem and everyone looked very Biblical in all of the productions. The way that the new production is to me a breath of fresh air for the musical and has reinvented how people see it.
Although it sounds very cheesy, the setting for the new production was a modern day British city and it was all based on the Occupy movement which cause controversy earlier this year. Yes, you may sneer but it really was cleverly done because at the end of the day, Jesus was the Che Guevara of his day (minus the "I'm the Son of God thing...). The high priest were portrayed as a kind of MI5 kind of thing and Pilot was a barrister. Judas (played by Tim Minchin) and Mary (played by Mel C) were your stereotypical socialist protesters (i.e: dreadlocks and political t-shirts) but Jesus (played but Ben Forster) looked a little bit like a posh boy who was rebelling against his Tory parents by joining a socialist organisation and strangely enough like Syed Massood from Eastenders.
Tim Minchin as Judas was fantastic. The last musical I thought he would get involved in was "Jesus Christ Superstar", if you have ever seen one of his shows, you will know his views on God and religious people. Personally, I think Tim Minchin is one of the best Judases there has been over the past 40 years, he put in so much emotion and his death scene truly was heart breaking. Minchin really surprised me, I knew to some extent he could act because he is a comedian, that is what you have to do but he really did take it to another level in his performance.
One of the most beautiful songs in the musical is "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and for me in order for the production to be a success, Mary Magdalene has to nail this piece. I have to say, if I had to choose a bit of the musical I loved the most, it had to be this song. Mel C did a brilliant job portraying this song and Mary. To do Mary Magdalene well, you need to have the voice for it, you have to be able to be so gentle but also be able to turn on that power in a heartbeat and Mel really did nail it. You must also be able to act like Judas, the message behind the song is being to scared to fall in love and so you really need to show that when you perform it. The way the director portrayed this piece was simple yet very affective, it really was just her, audience and the music which really did create a lovely atmosphere which reflected the song.
Herod, is one of my favourite characters in the musical. Unlike the Bible's portrayal, Andrew and Tim created an eccentric light hearted character who adds a bit of humour to the show. Chris Moyles, surprisingly played Herod very well. They made the setting for "Herod's Song" a kind of game show thing and of course Herod was the host. Herod was portrayed in this production as sharp and classy, he had everyone falling at his feet and everyone on stage loved him. I thought they did really well to make that part of the show fit because in the original film, it seems a bit out of place - it seems like they drag Jesus miles away for one little song and dance and then make him treck back and it seems a little bit pointless but in the show it flows nicely and doesn't seem out of place. Although only having one song, Moyles made the most of it and was very entertaining and I think he surprised a lot of people because of how much of a good job he did.
Nobody will ever be able to convince me Ben Forster was the right choice for Jesus. Personally, I feel doing a T.V show to find the new Jesus was a clumsy move because it wasn't the die hard fans who chose Jesus, it was the general public. I do not believe for a minute that the show's fans would really choose Ben as their main man, throughout the show, Ben over acted EVERYTHING and watching him was a little bit draining and disappointingly, he did the same in the production. Although he nailed "Gethsemane", I couldn't help but feel he was trying a bit to hard. It seemed to me he was trying a bit to hard to be Ted Neeley but was struggling to do it. When ever he tried to sound angry, he would squeal so he sounded like a stroppy toddler. At one point, he made my Aunt laugh he was squealing so much. Yes he could sing the slow songs brilliantly and was a very good Jesus, I couldn't help but think someone else from the could have done a better job.
All in all, the show was one of the best things I've ever seen. It was really nice to see my favourite musical brought into the 21st Century and given a new lease of life. I really would go and see this version of the musical again and would urge anyone else to go and see it as well.
Herod, is one of my favourite characters in the musical. Unlike the Bible's portrayal, Andrew and Tim created an eccentric light hearted character who adds a bit of humour to the show. Chris Moyles, surprisingly played Herod very well. They made the setting for "Herod's Song" a kind of game show thing and of course Herod was the host. Herod was portrayed in this production as sharp and classy, he had everyone falling at his feet and everyone on stage loved him. I thought they did really well to make that part of the show fit because in the original film, it seems a bit out of place - it seems like they drag Jesus miles away for one little song and dance and then make him treck back and it seems a little bit pointless but in the show it flows nicely and doesn't seem out of place. Although only having one song, Moyles made the most of it and was very entertaining and I think he surprised a lot of people because of how much of a good job he did.
Nobody will ever be able to convince me Ben Forster was the right choice for Jesus. Personally, I feel doing a T.V show to find the new Jesus was a clumsy move because it wasn't the die hard fans who chose Jesus, it was the general public. I do not believe for a minute that the show's fans would really choose Ben as their main man, throughout the show, Ben over acted EVERYTHING and watching him was a little bit draining and disappointingly, he did the same in the production. Although he nailed "Gethsemane", I couldn't help but feel he was trying a bit to hard. It seemed to me he was trying a bit to hard to be Ted Neeley but was struggling to do it. When ever he tried to sound angry, he would squeal so he sounded like a stroppy toddler. At one point, he made my Aunt laugh he was squealing so much. Yes he could sing the slow songs brilliantly and was a very good Jesus, I couldn't help but think someone else from the could have done a better job.
All in all, the show was one of the best things I've ever seen. It was really nice to see my favourite musical brought into the 21st Century and given a new lease of life. I really would go and see this version of the musical again and would urge anyone else to go and see it as well.
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