I think it’s fair to say that many of us are very familiar with the music of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR but maybe the show is new to a lot of you. If that’s the case then we can highly recommend a visit to the Wales Millennium Centre this week. There we go, this is our review and I’ve already told you we love it.
Even though the show began life some 50 years ago as an album (because no producer dared put it on stage), it’s not that often we get to witness it live. This tour is really something special too, it’s reimagined and all ultra-modern with direction from TIMOTHY SHEADER. Now of course, they always say something is reimagined when a major tour heads off around the country, but in this case it really is.
In the show Jesus is effectively a rock star, a giant in a very cruel world and as such the stage is set like we are going to a gig, which in fact we are, in part. There’s a huge crucifix surrounded with scaffolding and boxes everywhere. There’s also microphone stands dotted around which are used to great effect by the performers. The band are on stage throughout the entire show, with the cast occasionally adding to the musical sound too playing instruments.
This production feel contemporary and very much of the time and yet it loses none of the timeless tradition of the Andrew Llloyd Webber and Tim Rice masterpiece.
We caught up with some of the audience at the end of the opening night, and two of the stars, Ian McIntosh and Shem Omari James…..