JC Superstar is undoubtedly my favourite musical. I have watched the movie countless times, listened to the original recording countless times, and I've attended 4 live performances of it. I know this rock opera inside and out. I was very hopeful that this version would blow me away. But it just never did.
I'll get to my actor critiques in a moment. First, a couple of production notes. 1 - I thought a few choices the directors made were interesting. Having Annas be the one who says "Someone Christ, King of the Jews" to Pilate was very bizarre. That is intended to be one of the guards who clearly had never heard of him before! 2 - A few lyric changes caught me off guard, but I have no objection to them trying to modernize the words a bit to fit a modern day audience. 3 - I do realize that a stage production is sometimes limiting, but for Jesus to only throw ONE CHAIR during the temple scene made it completely underwhelming and almost laughable, which it should never be. 4 - I suppose that the falling ladder was sufficient to get the point across for Judas' suicide, but all the stage adaptations I've seen before managed to actually give us a visual of Judas hanging. I do not know how they did it, but they did! This one needs more here. 5 - And lastly, in terms of criticisms, I thought the 39 lashes scene really missed an opportunity. Watching what happened on stage never explained why Jesus' back was all cut up from being whipped 39 times. you
There were a few good points too! 1 - the crucifixion scene was quite moving and really put a new spin on that which I thought was neat. 2 - Most of the costumes were great, especially the priests. Perhaps not Jesus', but the rest were on point. 3 - I've seen some people complain that he music was "too loud" or "drowned out the singing" at times. I really disagree. The music was played fantastically throughout. I could have done without the mosh pit in front of the stage, which did occasionally distract from the acting, but I understood it. Again, a new twist which generally speaking, worked as intended.
John Legend is a great singer. He was not a good choice for Jesus though. He completely wimped out on one of Jesus' best moments during Gethsemane. His range is just not right for this role. Also, his body movements as he strained to hit some notes and his inability to really show Jesus' emotions were distractions. Jesus' role in this opera is almost more about acting than singing, although it is a challenging vocal range that is needed at times too. Legend just doesn't have the acting chops for it, and I was surprised that he didn't seem to possess the vocal chops either.
Brandon Victor Dixon was a phenomenal Judas. By far the best part of the entire show. I knew nothing about him before watching this performance, but I cannot wait to see more of him now. He was the highlight of the entire production.
I thought having Alice Cooper perform as King Herod was a great choice from a marketing standpoint, but he never really seemed to buy into the role as such. I saw another review suggesting David Lee Roth would have been a better choice - I think that would have been amazing!
Norm Lewis always seemed to be trying too hard too keep his voice as deep as he could. It is vital to that role, for sure. But HD cameras did not help him hide that it was a strain for him. That part needs to be menacing! He never managed to scare me.
No one else stood out to me. Everyone else was adequate but not great in their roles. I think there must have been much better choices for Mary than Sara Bareilles, but she did ok. Erik Gronwall made the most of his big moment, but I thought he was just ok as well. Ben Daniels actually did quite well as Pilate. It was too bad that his final note of the production was missed, though. But it is a difficult thing for any singer, so I can't say that it took away from his performance as a whole. Lastly, in terms of actors worth mentioning, Jin Ha was just fine as Annas- not fantastic, but not poor.
Thanks for reading!!
I'll get to my actor critiques in a moment. First, a couple of production notes. 1 - I thought a few choices the directors made were interesting. Having Annas be the one who says "Someone Christ, King of the Jews" to Pilate was very bizarre. That is intended to be one of the guards who clearly had never heard of him before! 2 - A few lyric changes caught me off guard, but I have no objection to them trying to modernize the words a bit to fit a modern day audience. 3 - I do realize that a stage production is sometimes limiting, but for Jesus to only throw ONE CHAIR during the temple scene made it completely underwhelming and almost laughable, which it should never be. 4 - I suppose that the falling ladder was sufficient to get the point across for Judas' suicide, but all the stage adaptations I've seen before managed to actually give us a visual of Judas hanging. I do not know how they did it, but they did! This one needs more here. 5 - And lastly, in terms of criticisms, I thought the 39 lashes scene really missed an opportunity. Watching what happened on stage never explained why Jesus' back was all cut up from being whipped 39 times. you
There were a few good points too! 1 - the crucifixion scene was quite moving and really put a new spin on that which I thought was neat. 2 - Most of the costumes were great, especially the priests. Perhaps not Jesus', but the rest were on point. 3 - I've seen some people complain that he music was "too loud" or "drowned out the singing" at times. I really disagree. The music was played fantastically throughout. I could have done without the mosh pit in front of the stage, which did occasionally distract from the acting, but I understood it. Again, a new twist which generally speaking, worked as intended.
John Legend is a great singer. He was not a good choice for Jesus though. He completely wimped out on one of Jesus' best moments during Gethsemane. His range is just not right for this role. Also, his body movements as he strained to hit some notes and his inability to really show Jesus' emotions were distractions. Jesus' role in this opera is almost more about acting than singing, although it is a challenging vocal range that is needed at times too. Legend just doesn't have the acting chops for it, and I was surprised that he didn't seem to possess the vocal chops either.
Brandon Victor Dixon was a phenomenal Judas. By far the best part of the entire show. I knew nothing about him before watching this performance, but I cannot wait to see more of him now. He was the highlight of the entire production.
I thought having Alice Cooper perform as King Herod was a great choice from a marketing standpoint, but he never really seemed to buy into the role as such. I saw another review suggesting David Lee Roth would have been a better choice - I think that would have been amazing!
Norm Lewis always seemed to be trying too hard too keep his voice as deep as he could. It is vital to that role, for sure. But HD cameras did not help him hide that it was a strain for him. That part needs to be menacing! He never managed to scare me.
No one else stood out to me. Everyone else was adequate but not great in their roles. I think there must have been much better choices for Mary than Sara Bareilles, but she did ok. Erik Gronwall made the most of his big moment, but I thought he was just ok as well. Ben Daniels actually did quite well as Pilate. It was too bad that his final note of the production was missed, though. But it is a difficult thing for any singer, so I can't say that it took away from his performance as a whole. Lastly, in terms of actors worth mentioning, Jin Ha was just fine as Annas- not fantastic, but not poor.
Thanks for reading!!