Jesus Christ Superstar
Old Fire Station Theatre, 18-22.03.03

Director: Wayne Ives

Deep Blue Theatre have a reputation in Oxford for bringing cheesy but fun musicals to life on the OFS stage, and this term's performance of Jesus Christ Superstar is no exception. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera deals with the last days of Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas; an interesting concept to which the flawed lyrics and music sometimes fail to do justice. With a talented and enthusiastic cast, however, many of these problems can be (almost) overcome, and director Wayne Ives has assembled some of Oxford's finest to attempt this ambitious project. If the show is at times in danger of trivialising the potentially moving issues, it is a fault of the score and lyrics rather than the production itself.

Ives' brave decision to alter many well-known aspects of the musical pays off. By placing the song 'Superstar' at the beginning, he increases the poignancy of Jesus' death and avoids the incongruity of the up tempo song after the brutal trial and crucifixion. Similarly, the decision for Judas to poison himself adeptly sidesteps the problems of creating a suitably menacing noose in the OFS. Like many student musicals, the show could do with better microphones; Melanie Triffitt's excellent choreography unfortunately (and understandably) diminishes the power of the singing in chorus numbers, while some of the principals suffer from performing in such a difficult acoustic space. The enthusiasm of the cast, however, goes a long way towards making up for any technical shortcomings and the band succeeds in simultaneously putting in a polished and professional performance while never detracting from a show that is essentially focussed on the singers.

Jesus Christ Superstar is led by Chris Vessey and Guy Grimsley as Jesus and Judas respectively. Their experience shows, as each manages to create a
fully rounded and complex character out of what could so easily become a stereotype. 'Gethsemane' is a show stopper, while Grimsley's interactions
with the priests Caiaphas and Annas (the powerfully sinister pairing of John Blake and Chantelle Staynings) in particular demonstrates the difficulty of
his position and the net which is slowly and unavoidably closing around each man. Meriel Raymond makes a sweet Mary, a different interpretation from the usually forceful voices associated with the role which nevertheless has the effect of bringing a more touching human level to the show. Mention must
also be made of Simon Tavener and his dancing girls in the fantastic Herod's Song, and Richard Holdsworth (as a last minute replacement) makes an
imposing but vulnerable Pilate. The other principals, Peter (Slaven Vukasovic) and Simon (Mark Schaan), sing well and command the stage during
their solos.

The show is flawed, yes, with a great deal of repetition and occasionally downright embarrassing lyrics ("Hey JC, JC, won't you die for me, Sanna
Hosanna Hey, Superstar" will not exactly go down in history as musical theatre's finest hour) but for an evening of entertainment and great singing, you need not go further than the OFS this week.

Bridget Foswell, 22.03.03