Reviews of Nbc Production of Jesus Christ Superstar
Review: In 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' an Onetime Story for (All the same Another) New Millennium
A conceptual and artistic triumph, NBC's live telecast of "Jesus Christ Superstar" on Easter Sunday may take finally justified the recent live musical fad on network TV. Some technical flubs and 1 mixed-bag lead performance aside, the production was genuinely thrilling, taking chances with the staging of a classic only controversial Broadway bear witness, much more daring than previous alive musical broadcasts similar "The Sound of Music" or "Peter Pan."
With the R&B hitmaker John Fable playing Jesus Christ, Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene and Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas Iscariot, NBC'southward "Superstar" didn't lack for talent or star power, fatigued as it was from the worlds of pop and theater. The real masterstroke, though, was the decision to perform live before a large audience at the Marcy Avenue Arsenal in Brooklyn. The energy of the crowd clearly goosed the cast, counteracting the over-prepared stodginess that hampers and then many of these specials. And the crowd's passionate whooping underscored one of the musical's primal themes: the dangers of uncritical celebrity worship.
(The show averaged ix.4 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter, putting information technology ahead of all other original telecasts for the night — including CBS'due south "sixty Minutes" and ABC'south "American Idol.")
Written past Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, "Jesus Christ Superstar" has long held something of a surprise identify in the modern theatrical canon. Debuting in 1970 as a rock opera album, information technology fabricated the leap to Broadway in 1971 and was nominated for 5 Tonys — winning none. The 1973 movie adaptation by the director Norman Jewison was a box-office hit, only it is rarely touted as i of its era's slap-up films.
[John Legend, Sara Bareilles and their co-stars on "Superstar."]
Told largely from Judas'south point-of-view, the story closely follows biblical accounts of Christ's arrest and crucifixion in Jerusalem, while calculation substantial criticism of Jesus'due south followers; his communion with disreputable people; and his open up, dangerous antagonism of both the Jewish and the Roman government. The musical then pushes dorsum against its own skepticism, depicting the powers-that-be as corrupt, contemptuous and manipulative, exploiting the anxieties of Judas and the other apostles.
In the years immediately after its premiere, the musical raised eyebrows and ire with its incomparably nontraditional spin on Christ's concluding days. By considering Jesus more as a cultural phenomenon than as a divine figure, and by exhibiting as much sympathy for Judas as for the homo he betrayed, Mr. Webber and Mr. Rice delivered an interpretation of the Passion Play every bit radical in its mode every bit director Martin Scorsese'southward much-protested film "The Last Temptation of Christ" did in 1988.
NBC's version showed reverence primarily toward the original musical, which for decades has told an aboriginal story in a mode that pushes the audition to reconsider its relevance to the world today. Directed by David Leveaux and Alex Rudzinski, it respected the source textile's sublime ambiguities, which many nonreligious fans accept interpreted equally subversive — but every bit some popular-culture-savvy Christians take clung to it as a refreshingly tuneful, exultant expression of how faith can triumph over doubt.
Equally Jesus, Mr. Fable delivered where it counted, putting his rich, soulful vox to work in seamless performances of well-loved songs like "Everything's Alright" (in duet with the equally accomplished Ms. Bareilles) and "Gethsemane (I Simply Want to Say)." Mr. Legend was less impressive as an role player. This was a song-merely production, with zero dialogue, but information technology did require Mr. Legend to react — which he tended to do with a broad facial expression best described as, "John Legend is worried."
The powerful and charismatic Mr. Dixon more than compensated for whatever of the headliner's shortcomings. Given what "Jesus Christ Superstar" ultimately says about idols and the people in their shadow, information technology is appropriate that this production was dominated past a Broadway veteran best known for replacing Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr in the Tony-winning blast "Hamilton." This show has always been less virtually the titular "superstar" than nearly the people surrounding him.
This theme was axiomatic in the telecast's staging. In the early going, audience noise quondam overloaded the audio mix, making it hard to hear the lyrics. But by urging the crowd to go bananas every time Mr. Legend sang or even moved, the creative team reinforced the idea that perhaps the masses gathered around Jesus weren't paying close attention to his bodily message.
The set design and costuming were effectively minimalist, with a vaguely mail service-apocalyptic "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" feel. Exposed scaffolding, freshly painted graffiti and a teeming horde of shabby-looking extras added to the overall vibe of controlled anarchy.
That mayhem occasionally gave way to moments of startling clarity, including: Alice Cooper's magnificently scenery-chewing performance of "King Herod's Song"; Mr. Dixon's rousing take on the prove's big anthem, "Superstar"; and a miraculous chip of stagecraft during the crucifixion, in which Mr. Legend's Jesus seemed to disappear into another dimension.
Give a lot of credit to the network, and to Mr. Legend, who was one of this broadcast's executive producers (along with Mr. Lloyd Webber, Mr. Rice, and the televised theater veterans Neil Meron, Marc Platt and Craig Zadan). A live musical about Jesus on Easter Sunday may seem like a prophylactic selection, catering to an audience that has made Christian-themed movies similar "I Tin can Only Imagine" into hits. But from the multicultural cast to its deconstruction of religious iconography, this "Jesus Christ Superstar" was as thoughtful and challenging equally the show has e'er been.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/arts/television/jesus-christ-superstar-live-in-concert-nbc-review.html
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