Jesus Christ Superstar - U.K. Tour

Saw this today, Ian was off and we had the second understudy, Tim Roberts, as Jesus.

I saw the original run in Regents Park, but found this production better. The cast were even stronger and I think being inside helped to focus it even more without being distracted by surroundings.

Although initially disappointed not to see Ian after all the hype and clips I'd seen, I thought Tim was excellent. Maybe his big notes weren't quite at Ians level, but that's a very minor quibble. He is certainly the strongest Jesus vocally and acting I've seen. The final part of the show I found very moving and powerful.


Shem Omari James as Judas, just out of this world voice. And Hannah Richardson commanded the stage as Mary with again ridiculously strong vocals.

I also couldn't believe that all 3 leads had so relatively few leading acting credits. More than matched any more experienced performances I've seen.

I enjoyed the overall concept more than I did in Regents Park too.

The main two negatives for me were firstly Julian Clary. Yes he is funny and very good at what he does, but he does some what break the tension and focus from the story to him. Secondly the show itself. It really relies on having some prior knowledge to help add context and depth as to who some of the supporting characters are and motivations. But you can't deny the power of the music.

Overall though this was one of the most powerful, and vocally strong, pieces of theatre I've ever seen

I saw this at yesterday’s Southampton matinee. Having seen this production several times in every run they’ve done since it was on at Regent’s Park in 2016, I thought the tour was a bit disappointing. For me it’s incredibly cramped on stage now, making it hard for the dancers so the overall impression is a bit chaotic.

The main thing I was really frustrated by yesterday is that the performer playing Jesus didn’t play the guitar in Gethsemane. I was a few rows from the front and he was pretending to play, strumming a few times at the beginning but then miming. Is this how everyone now performs it or was it just our show?! It really ruined Gethsemane for me. I recall when Declan performed this song at Regents Park his soul went through that guitar. He even broke his guitar at one performance I was at, it was like he was one with it. And I believed every inch of his devastation, trauma and anger. (Sorry, his performance of Gethsemane was always a highlight of the show for me.)

I just had to mention it because it was very noticeable for me. Ruined the Gethsemane vibe!

As Eastbourne is not too far from where I live, went to see the show yesterday specifically to catch Luke Street as Jesus. His Simon is absolutely breathtaking so really wanted to hear him do more than one song.

Anyway, had a row B seat, just medial to the side speaker stack and was both literally and metaphorically blown away. This guy has such a sensational voice, bridging musical theatre and rock with perfection. Powerful, accurate and with gorgeous tone and quality.

I knew of him as I was a big Bat Out Of Hell fan, but unfortunately never saw him cover one of the leads - really wish I had. Anyway, booked again for Salford Lowry to see his take on Judas.

Overall, show in great health. Entire cast have really grown on me since I first saw it in Manchester. They had tough acts to follow given some of the MT legends that have previously appeared in this. Shem as Judas and Ryan O'Donnell as Pilate in particular I was slightly reticent about on the opening weekend but they have truly grown into their roles. Hannah Richardson is also sublime as Mary.

And I've said it a million times before, but Drew McOnie basically turning this into a dance musical with continuous flowing stylised movement (in a way like Cats) is an act of pure genius.

Easily the best thing touring the UK currently IMHO. I'll really miss it when it's gone. Website has last date as Blackpool in Autumn with "further dates to be announced." I rather suspect further dates won't be announced though and that will be that as recently saw the amateur version is available to licence again from the same date.

Also wonderful to have an ALW tour that isn't a cheap looking Kenwright production as they are few and far between. Other I guess than the Michael Harrison Joseph but that is such a let down compared to the RUG version. Lord knows where the next quality tour will be coming from. Guess the best I can hope for is that David Ian takes Cats out again (this is surely due!?)

Anyway, can't rave enough about the OAT production, in all it's incarnations. Wish there was a cast recording. Much as I love the 1996 Lyceum OLC, that is almost 30 years old now and would be nice to have Tom Deering's adaptations to the ALW orchestrations preserved. Never gonna happen alas.....

Birmingham next!

Absolutely - just an incredible talent! (They must know it given he's currently covering both Judas and Jesus, which is pretty unusual)

I know the MT talent pool is hugely overcrowded but really hope he gets to lead a musical that can show off his voice to the max soon.

Saw this on Saturday in Birmingham & was blown away by it. by far the best version of JCS I've ever seen. So much more of an ensemble piece than I've seen before & it really worked - everyone was so together. The vocals throughout were top notch & Ian McIntosh's Gethsemane just left me speechless

The way Timo says ‘what is it that you have got that puts you were you are has been rent free in my head for months

Hoping to see the show in Wimbledon this week. Does anyone know of any discount codes around?

in person at the box office or online?

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of what is undoubtedly one of the most classic musical scores of all time. I generally enjoy Andrew Lloyd Webber’s compositions and my recent trip to Pippin had me enthusiastic for some more MT from the experimental 1970s.

I loved it. I didn’t always know what was going on (always tricky with sung-throughs) but thankfully the story of Jesus Christ is a relatively well-known one, so I was able to piece it together during moments when the thread got away from me.

I’d read that maybe the open-air production didn’t quite transfer that well into indoor auditoriums, especially the size of Wimbledon (not my favourite space), but I didn’t feel that at all. The band and talented company filled the vast space tremendously.

For those who haven’t seen the show before, it’s high-octane, it’s frenetic and it’s bloody intense. Under Timothy Sheader’s direction this now well-established version of ALW’s show is performed in many ways as a concert - to the point the actors are actually using handheld mics throughout.

This modern twist only adds to the show’s intensity. But it is the cast who deserve all the plaudits, mainly for being heard over the electrifying live band. I saw alternate Jesus Luke Street. Wow, what a performance that man gave vocally, emotionally, physically. Incredible.

Shem Omari James was also impressive as Judas, whose perspective we are following the story from. Hannah Richardson have some special, sobering moments as Mary, while Ryan O’Donnell was brooding as Pilate. The whole ensemble worked their socks off and were a credit to Drew McOnie, whose choreography choices could definitely be defined as divisive but I was engrossed by them.

JCS is never going to be something I connect fully with. To me, regardless of how familiar the story of Christ is thanks to many hours of RE at primary school, it is too abstract to fall in love with. But this is a SHOW, in every sense of the word and I came away truly exhilarated.

Unfortunately, one patron sat in the front row appeared to be taken ill after attempting to leave the auditorium towards the end of Superstar. It seemed, from a distance, that they may have fainted due to the amount of blood and torture on display during the scene but I couldn’t say that with certainty. Hopefully someone on here will known if they were OK?

Four stars.

I saw this last night too and thought it was brilliant. I've seen a lot of productions of JCS (including the previous iterations of this at the Open Air Theatre and Barbican) and I honestly think this was the best version I've seen. Luke Street as Jesus was phenomenal.

Re. someone fainting. I was sat in the front row too and I had to look away during the flogging scene, it was very upsetting, I'm not surprised that someone found it too overwhelming (I only saw them leave and their companion go after them so no update I'm afraid).

Great to see the love for Luke Street.
Phenomenal performer, hope he has a great future!

It's also one of his covers, saw him as Pliate in Oxford and was also great in that role.