Jesus Christ Superstar - Regents Park Open Air / Barbican

Thanks for the feedback....

Not another dud production...! Seems such a waste of a really dramatic score. Will be praying for fine weather mid August when I'll be able to judge for myself.

it seems that all the posts that state that this is a semi staged production do so because hand held microphones are being used. but that is how it was originally done, 12 hand held microphones with LEADS thus meaning the whole thing had to be staged with cable management in mind. At least today there is the option of hand held radio microphones cutting this problem down. it is a fantastic score with probably the best lyrics from Tim Rice, it is a kind of hybrid between a theatre show and a rock concert hence why it is being presented this way in the park.

I remember the LEADS well from the original London production (which I saw many times!) but it never felt like a concert, it always felt like a full-blown stage production. It was incredibly dramatic!

Saw the show tonight and thought it was breathtaking!

Not sure I understand why people aren't calling this a full production. Yes it was very simply staged, yes they used handheld mics a lot, but I wouldn't call it a "concert". I loved the staging, and like the incorporation of the microphones etc into the props and scenery.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were both in attendance, and I had to resist looking at them all the time to gauge their reactions, although I did sneak a look during "Herod's Song". Rice was smiling, ALW was scowling (but I think that's his default expression).

Tyrone Huntley is the best Judas I've seen since Zubin Varla. It's very reassuring at the start of the show to hear him begin "Heaven on Their Minds" and know immediately that you can relax for all his big notes throughout the night because he will hit them with ease.

Unlike Declan Bennett who didn't have any of the vocal power required in Act I. I was dreading "Gethsemane", and while his long note was as unimpressive as I feared, his intensity throughout the rest of the song made up for it. Combined with stunning lighting it made it a highlight of the show (as it should be).

The rest of the cast were great, although I wasn't sold on some of the choreography (especially the woman having a fit during "The Arrest"). And if I didn't know better I'd say Caiaphas was played by Grace Jones!

Best line of the evening came during a chat behind me at the start of the interval:

Christopher Biggins: "I'd forgotten what a terribly good lyricist you are"

Tim Rice: "I hadn't"

I told them that I was available, but they insisted on Grace...

(Thanks for your more positive comments, steve...)

Liking the photographs from the production... Some Lion King masks (for the soldiers?), a jumping Pilate, and a stunning set piece from The Temple. Also noted was an interesting looking Herod, with (John the Baptist-type) heads served on platters at his feet.

Perhaps it's not going to be quite so bad as some posters have led us to believe...

I was there last night too, and agree with Steve10086 and Steffi that this is terrific!

Declan Bennett's disconnected Jesus did worry me at the start, especially since Tyrone Huntley, as Judas is electric. Bennett's underpowered diction was occasionally difficult to decipher, whereas Huntley's every word was crystal.

But that initial imbalance in their relationship works thematically for me: Jesus doing his laid back thing, while the unhinged and explosive Judas circles him like a stalker. Judas' shrill and unreasonable expectations of his superstar idol seem typical of a stalker, and this theme of Judas being a stalker seems to fit like Michael Jackson's glove with the pop star trappings of the handheld microphones.

Huntley's supercharged wild rasp was like a jolt of adrenalin for the audience as he tore through songs like a turbo-charged energiser bunny.

Bennett's Jesus does ultimately emerge from his hippy coma, prompted to life by Anoushka Lucas' tender and emotive Mary. His Gethsemane is a showstopper.

Herod's golden costume is so fabulous it needs to be seen to be believed, yet Peter Caulfield is so camp and crazy wearing it, that his inner glitter outgolds the gold.

The staging is plenty original, with two giant wooden two floor platforms allowing the band and the Romans to dominate from on high, while singers and dancers dynamically scale ladders and dance a new dawn to Drew McOnie's exhilarating choreography.

The pharisee Caiaphas comes across as a posturing phony, donning Matrix style shades, affectedly wielding his dual use microphone stand as a rod of power, which power is accentuated by Cavin Cornwall's voice of deep booming thunder.

The presence of Lloyd Webber, in his luminous pink shirt, and Tim Rice, in the audience, albeit not sitting together, gave the night an added frisson. But as the sun set behind the trees in a moonlit cloudless sky, and chiaroscuro lighting dramatised the choreography and staging, it was Tyrone Huntley that brought this show storming home.

4 and a half stars!

I've booked to see this again in August. Declan Bennett's Gethsemane alone is worth the ticket price for me. :-)

I loved it too! The staging was just great, love the way the Apostles are arranged around the big cross during the Last Supper scene. Fantastic choreography beautifully executed. The cast were all spot on. Declan Bennett blew me away. This is IMHO a terrific production of a classic musical.

Positive reviews from the papers... (Tyrone Huntley seems to have received rave reviews. According to our friend mrmusicals he replaced the original Judas, moving up from the role of Annas.)

And mrm still isn't revealing who Original Judas was...

Apparently this is looking for a West End house (presumable for a limited run) See the bottom of this article: nypost.com/2016/07/22/new-harry-potter-play-is-londons-hamilton/

Having JCS in a West End theater around Christmastime would smart of the producers to go.

If not, it would be a wasted opportunity.

Ross hasn't confirmed yet so that could change