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Ariel Company Theatre
presented the 1996/8
West End Version of …
At The Chequer Mead Theatre
in East Grinstead on the
11th
- 16th October 2004
to Sold out houses!
Tim
Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Jesus Christ
SuperStar
first exploded onto the
stage in 1971 and it was clear that the musical world would never be the same
again. Acclaimed as a masterpiece, it has attained the status of theatrical
legend. It is packed with hit songs including “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”,
“Could We Start Again”, Please and, of course, “Superstar”.
Fierce rock rhythms, chunky power chords and heart rending ballads all combine
in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s haunting and unforgettable score.
From his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through to his death at the hands
of Pontius Pilate,
Jesus Christ SuperStar
is an epic retelling of
the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth seen through the eyes Judas
Iscariot. Judas fears that the compassionate movement with Jesus at its head has
become a personality cult with many of Jesus' statements being taken up and
twisted by his followers. Jesus must be stopped! This is a must see story of men
and women driven to their fate by forces beyond their control, a unique musical
it is as powerful and compelling today as the day it was written.
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Act One of Jesus Christ
Superstar begins with a soliloquy in which Judas explains that he has
always been Jesus’ “right hand man”, but is becoming greatly concerned with
Jesus’ behaviour lately. Jesus is getting carried away, attracting too much
attention, and soon the Romans will intervene and kill them all. Judas is torn
as he wants them all to live, but Jesus doesn’t seem to understand the situation
they are in.
The Apostles question Jesus
about their future plans. Jesus tells them that they should “leave tomorrow for
tomorrow”, and that even if he told them they’d understand it less than he does.
Mary tries to comfort Jesus by anointing him, and Jesus and Judas argue over the
propriety of Jesus being publicly seen in Mary’s company.
The Roman priests decide that
Jesus is dangerous as he jeopardizes their authority. With the large pageantry
of the parade for Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the priests become even more
convinced that Jesus must die.
Simon tries to encourage Jesus’
political moves. Jesus finds that the temple has been turned into a market
place. Jesus becomes irate, and then saddened because he knows that his time on
earth is nearly up. He attempts to heal lepers, but they come at him in such
large numbers and frenzy that he is overwhelmed and screams at them to heal
themselves.
Mary soothes the distraught
Jesus, who is able to fall asleep in her care. She sings of her feelings for him
while he sleeps.
Feeling that Jesus has lost his
control of the situation, Judas turns to the Roman priests to reluctantly make a
deal with them for Jesus’ capture. The priests offer Judas a monetary reward for
helping them capture Jesus, but Judas doesn’t want their “blood money”. The
priests tell him of all the good things he could do with the money – “choose any
charity, give to the poor”. Judas reveals to them that Jesus will be in the
garden of Gethsemane on Thursday night.
Act Two begins with The Last
Supper where the Apostles blithely sing about the fame they will gain from being
Apostles. Jesus is appalled by them, exclaiming “look at your blank faces, my
name will mean nothing ten minutes after I’m dead!” He predicts that one of the
Apostles will betray him, and one deny him. Judas confronts Jesus, and the two
argue. Jesus tells Judas to “hurry, they are waiting.” Judas counters that “You
want me to do it! What if I just stayed here and ruined your ambition!” Judas
flees from the scene to find the priests. Jesus watches as the Apostles drift
off to sleep, no one staying awake to be with him in these final moments. Jesus
tries to understand his fate and why God has put him in this position.
Judas returns with the priests
and they arrest Jesus. Peter tries to summon the Apostles to wage an attack, but
Jesus tells him “Put away your sword, don’t you know that it’s all over?” Later,
confronted about his association with Jesus, a frightened Peter denies having
known Jesus to protect himself.
The crowd mocks Jesus as he is
brought to Pilate for sentencing. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod instead. Herod is
annoyed at the Messiah’s lack of miraculous powers and returns him to Pilate.
Peter and Mary reflect on the
rapidly changing situation before them, and wish that things could just start
over.
Unable to deal with what he has
done, Judas commits suicide by hanging himself.
Pilate presents the charges to
Jesus, giving him an opportunity to deny them, but Jesus does not try to defend
himself. The mob calls for Jesus’ crucifixion, and Pilate asks Jesus how he can
help him. Jesus tells Pilate that Pilate is powerless. Pilate has Jesus flogged
to try to appease the crowd, but they won’t settle for anything less than
crucifixion. Frustrated by Jesus’ almost willingness to go along with the
proceedings, Pilate agrees to the crucifixion exclaiming “Die if you want to,
you misguided martyr!”
Jesus is crucified and dies.
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Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd
Webber never intended Jesus Christ Superstar to be taken in a religious
context, but just as a piece telling a story in perhaps a new way. Judas is the
Apostle who sees what is happening. Through "Heaven On Their Minds" he explains
his position -- he admires Jesus, but is afraid that Jesus is going too far and
will get them all killed. The brilliance of the piece is that it depicts two
very human characters (Jesus and Judas) caught in a situation beyond their
control. ("Everything is fixed and you can't change it," Jesus tells Pilate. )
God "hold[s] all the cards" and "knew all along", leaving Jesus and Judas
carrying out plans that they don't necessarily want to go through with. There
are also some interesting twists in the lyrics. Judas refers to himself as not
knowing why God "chose" him, and Jesus is "sad and tired". It is Jesus who asks
"If I die what will be my reward?", but Judas says he "had no thought at all
about my own reward". On the humorous side, Judas is told by the priests that
"You'll be remembered forever for this" -- they mean his "saving of Israel", of
course. The Apostles' main interest is so that when they "retire we can write
the Gospels / so they'll all talk about us when we've died". Simon wants to be
Jesus' PR man, and when Jesus is arrested, someone in the crowd asks him "Do you
think that you may retire?".
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