What struck me from the very beginning, when I saw the 1973 movie was, how this musical presents such a strong view on the gospel, respecting the premise that Jesus was Messiah, and that in his own time this would have led to all sorts of dynamics, opinions, opposition, support, etc. So I have always been a fan of the material itself, since the music is probably the best that Andrew Lloyd Webber ever wrote, at least in my opinion.
So I watched this modernised revamp from start to finish, maybe with the wrong expectations. Jesus is not presented as anyone anyone special, more of a random leader of a political rebel group. Neither Jesus nor this group ever seems to stand for anything, as I see it because of the poor lighting and the highly distracting banners, showing what they should stand for. But are they punk or hippy... Unclear.
One of the Big Central Pieces in this musical is of course Gethsemane, where Jesus prays to his father. Up till then Ben Foster has been shown as a weak uncharismatic character, weak also vocally, though he does hit all the challenging notes. And then at Gethsemane, suddenly he is over emotional, crying before he even starts, which left me with the feeling that he is just not up to whatever he was catapulted into by his undefined group of followers.
But even more distressing is the bland dispassionate portrayal of Judas by Tim Minchin. From the very start he seems to be focused on his vocals, delivering a super-clean version of this highly challenging part. But after a while I started noticing the use of autotune... So maybe he was not quite up to the part, vocally? Meanwhile is acting is either non-existent, or else this indifference to Jesus and the mission J.C. and the disciples are on, was directed on purpose...? This uninvolved acting style goes on, scene after scene... Maybe the idea was to show Judas as being in a depression? Not very exciting from a theatrical point of view. Just like Gethsemane for J.C. seemed to come out of nowhere in this production, the suicide of Judas seems completely without motivation.
As for the rest of the cast: Mel C sings the part fine but again I see no relation between her and J.C. At some point it all seems more erotic than what is called for in the script, another odd choice by the director. A nice surprise was the choice to make Herod a kind of TV game host, well performed by Chris Moyles. The Herod piece I have always found a weaker spot in the score, the strange choice to refer to music from the 20s or 30s... That never made sense to me. So in this case, pulling that scene out of context into this strange tv-show world finally got my attention. Another part that almost kept my attention was Alexander Hanson's Pilate. He first appearance - the dream - is captivating. I see an intelligent magistrate with a nuanced view of who and what J.C. may be. Frankly it's also the first performer who is showing some acting skills. But unfortunately the direction further along is not helping him. To dress him up as a British style judge, wig and all... strange and distracting. Still, I appreciated seeing the acting performance being dramatic and consistent, unlike most of the rest of the cast.
The band and musical direction is excellent. Maybe hearing this show without seeing all that bad acting and the questionable distracting visuals would be a more satisfying experience. Still, a show where the core is an overdramatic highlight from the gospels should at least but J.C. and Judas at the center of this drama. Presenting it in a non religious way... maybe it could work, but then some very engaging alternative should be presented, and some passion about 'the cause' should be displayed. But then I'm not sure this could be done without some rewrites of the lyrics. In this presentation I was left feeling indifferent to the characters and puzzled by some of the scenes. What is the meaning of the last supper without the religious context? Who is J.C. addressing in Gethsemane...?
And to be clear, I am not at all a profoundly Christian person. But Christian enough to have always been intrigued by the meaning of the crucifixion and the way it got to be so central to the teachings of the church. Personally I am more of a gnostic believer, feeling it's good to question and investigate the events and teachings from Jesus' life. And in that context I also thoroughly enjoy and respect a movie like 'The Life of Brian'. But all that is a different story.
So I watched this modernised revamp from start to finish, maybe with the wrong expectations. Jesus is not presented as anyone anyone special, more of a random leader of a political rebel group. Neither Jesus nor this group ever seems to stand for anything, as I see it because of the poor lighting and the highly distracting banners, showing what they should stand for. But are they punk or hippy... Unclear.
One of the Big Central Pieces in this musical is of course Gethsemane, where Jesus prays to his father. Up till then Ben Foster has been shown as a weak uncharismatic character, weak also vocally, though he does hit all the challenging notes. And then at Gethsemane, suddenly he is over emotional, crying before he even starts, which left me with the feeling that he is just not up to whatever he was catapulted into by his undefined group of followers.
But even more distressing is the bland dispassionate portrayal of Judas by Tim Minchin. From the very start he seems to be focused on his vocals, delivering a super-clean version of this highly challenging part. But after a while I started noticing the use of autotune... So maybe he was not quite up to the part, vocally? Meanwhile is acting is either non-existent, or else this indifference to Jesus and the mission J.C. and the disciples are on, was directed on purpose...? This uninvolved acting style goes on, scene after scene... Maybe the idea was to show Judas as being in a depression? Not very exciting from a theatrical point of view. Just like Gethsemane for J.C. seemed to come out of nowhere in this production, the suicide of Judas seems completely without motivation.
As for the rest of the cast: Mel C sings the part fine but again I see no relation between her and J.C. At some point it all seems more erotic than what is called for in the script, another odd choice by the director. A nice surprise was the choice to make Herod a kind of TV game host, well performed by Chris Moyles. The Herod piece I have always found a weaker spot in the score, the strange choice to refer to music from the 20s or 30s... That never made sense to me. So in this case, pulling that scene out of context into this strange tv-show world finally got my attention. Another part that almost kept my attention was Alexander Hanson's Pilate. He first appearance - the dream - is captivating. I see an intelligent magistrate with a nuanced view of who and what J.C. may be. Frankly it's also the first performer who is showing some acting skills. But unfortunately the direction further along is not helping him. To dress him up as a British style judge, wig and all... strange and distracting. Still, I appreciated seeing the acting performance being dramatic and consistent, unlike most of the rest of the cast.
The band and musical direction is excellent. Maybe hearing this show without seeing all that bad acting and the questionable distracting visuals would be a more satisfying experience. Still, a show where the core is an overdramatic highlight from the gospels should at least but J.C. and Judas at the center of this drama. Presenting it in a non religious way... maybe it could work, but then some very engaging alternative should be presented, and some passion about 'the cause' should be displayed. But then I'm not sure this could be done without some rewrites of the lyrics. In this presentation I was left feeling indifferent to the characters and puzzled by some of the scenes. What is the meaning of the last supper without the religious context? Who is J.C. addressing in Gethsemane...?
And to be clear, I am not at all a profoundly Christian person. But Christian enough to have always been intrigued by the meaning of the crucifixion and the way it got to be so central to the teachings of the church. Personally I am more of a gnostic believer, feeling it's good to question and investigate the events and teachings from Jesus' life. And in that context I also thoroughly enjoy and respect a movie like 'The Life of Brian'. But all that is a different story.