Barbican Theatre
Date: 7 August (Wednesday), 7:45pm
Seats: Circle, Row CC3-4
(Seen with Richard!)
Notes: This was a reasonably late booking, in that we booked on Saturday night for this Wednesday evening performance. Both Richard and I love Jesus Christ Superstar, both having been exposed to it in childhood (separately). In my case, it was one of the few musicals my Nana had on VHS and that I used to watch on repeat (also Pirates of Penzance, the Mikado, HMS Pinafore, and Cats, primarily), even though I was much too young to understand it. It was one of the musicals which helped bond Richard and I when we first met, and we saw it in Sydney on tour when the arena tour came to Australia which was awesome.
This production we are really lucky to have seen - I thought we had missed it! It was on in 2016 in the Regents Park Open Air theatre, then it was back in 2018 (which we missed out on) and then it went to Chicago, and now it's back! This time around it's at the Barbican Theatre, which is a new venue to us and really cool. So between this being a highly successful production and our personal histories, I was very excited for this performance!
There were basically no discounted tickets available for this show due to demand, so we ponied up full price for Circle seats in Row CC (a row of 4). We were only overhanging a few rows back, although we were right on the edge. This is listed as restricted view, and it was but we only missed about 3 minutes of singing, if that, when Judas was on part of the band set above the stage. Other than that it was actually pretty great, and I would definitely sit there again! It might have been better to sit on the other side, as a lot of action was done facing towards the other side, but definitely worth the money.
The set itself was quite industrial and minimalistic, with lots of crosses in the architecture as well as a very large one on the stage itself. There were a few different levels (even if they are only a few steps up) and then the band was on stage a full level above. Some action did take place up there in front of the band. It was very well thought out and as the stage isn't big, they made great use of the space.
They also used the space well for the choreography. It felt more like timed movement than choreography, in the sense that it was more guttural and felt less like dance moves (if that makes sense). I felt like it was very effective, as well as some of the visual choices. My two favourite examples of this were when Judas took the money, they dipped his hands in actual silver (paint?), and they remained stained for the rest of the show. Also, during the whipping, the whole cast took turns to "whip" Jesus by throwing handfuls of glitter violently at him. It was visually compelling and enthralling to watch.
This cast was pretty much incredible!!! I'll start with the only one I was disappointed by, which is also my least favourite musical theatre role (perhaps ever?), Mary Magdalene. The actress playing her, Sallay Garnett, had a very 'smoky jazz club' vibe to her voice which just didn't suit the role, go with the others in the cast, and meant she didn't fully sustain many of her notes, which was a shame.
But the others? Phenomenal. Simon (Tim Newman) really blew me away with his Simon Zealotes number with crazy good vocals and many riffs! He was an unexpected surprise. Also unexpected was the only actor I (thought I) knew going in - Nathan Amzi, who I had seen a few times in Heathers as one of the adults. He played Annas, the assistant to Caiaphus, and his voice was so intense and strong. Plus he pulls great faces!
His leader, Caiaphus, was the first one to blow me away. His vocals were so great and he sang all the lowest of low notes like you're supposed to (but not all actors do, because they're super low) and he was really enigmatic. It turns out he's been the only Caiaphus through both the Open air and the Chicago productions, and I can see why!
Robert Tripolino played Jesus and going in to Act Two, I wasn't 100% sold on how good Gethsemane was going to be. He was good in Act One, but not quite what I had hoped. But actually, he came good! His Gethsemane was amazing - not note perfect, but his emotions overcame that for me in his performance and I thought he was fantastic!
But the real star was Ricardo Afonso, who played Judas. As soon as I heard his voice I recognised but I couldn't place it. When I read his bio, it said he was in the original cast of We Will Rock You - which I saw twice in 2008! So I'm pretty certain I saw him play Galileo back then which is where I know his voice from. But wow. His Judas is INCREDIBLE. He was so intense and riffs were amazing and there were multiple times my jaw actually dropped because he was so incredible. I actually don't think I could describe it properly, and I certainly didn't feel like my clapping and cheering and giving a standing ovation did his performance justice.
If you can get there, RUN, don't walk - it's not on for long!!!
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