Jesus Christ Superstar tour- Page 2

[timote316]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 11:45pm

Instead of starting a new thread, I'll put my review here.

It actually wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, Natalie was out for the performance, I was upset at that, given the great reviews she had in this thread. However, her understudy, Darlesia Cearcy, was *amazing*. She really blew me away. My 12-year-old brother said me at intermission, "is that really her backup? She's awesome!" (I need to teach him the correct theater terms... lol). Given that it was the second of two shows today, Lawrence Clayton, the usual Judas, was out as well. Todd Fournier, his understudy, was also very good, although hard to understand at times (the whole cast was). Jesus (Eric Kunze) was excellent, although, again, hard to understand.

Other thoughts:
-I don't know if it was just the Providence Performing Arts Center or everywhere, but the sound guy should be fired. Unless a person was singing with really low background music or was belting, you could not hear a thing. Such a different production needs the words to explain things, and you just couldn't hear anything
-The crucifixion scene was excellent. You could literally hear a pin drop in the theater. I love that effect. Although, a cell phone beeping totally ruined the effect (and I was pleased to find out it wasn't mine lol). And the lights shooting up at the end of the scene was odd, yes.
-The girls during the title song were too much. WAY too much. Their costumes were inappropriate for the moment, and their gestures even more so. Too over the top for me

I think I covered everthing I wanted to. Overall, I'd give the production 2 stars out of 4, not the best show ever, but still decent. Would have been 3 stars, but I couldn't understand it.

Thanks for your thoughts on the tour!

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 11:48pm

Lawrence has been out A LOT.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 11:49pm

Thanks for the notice. Will see it next week.

[raccoon5833]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 11:55pm

You saw it recently...is there any way you can tell me who Raymond Patterson is currently playing?

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 11:57pm

I believe he understudies Judas...I will run and look at my program.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 12:00am

I was wrong. He plays Pilate.

[raccoon5833]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 12:02am

I need to see it again...I actually liked the tour, and he's a friend of my mom's.

[timote316]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 12:14am

Yup, Raymond was Pilate. He was good, except for his Darth Vader costume. He also understudies Jesus, but I cannot see him in that role at all.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 1:22am

-I don't know if it was just the Providence Performing Arts Center or everywhere, but the sound guy should be fired.

The sound mix was awful in Toronto too -- waaay too much reverb. It made the voices sound metallic in tone.

I think I did catch Eric Kunze on a very bad night, because all the reviews I've read have praised him. When I saw him, he seemed very much like he was phoning in his performance, or struggling through it. He never sang with the rhythm of the orchestra; sometimes actors vary the tempo for dramatic effect, but Kunze was frequently a few BARS behind the music (I swear he was three bars behind during some of "Gethsemane"), which was a bit rediculous.

Updated On: 1/16/05 at 01:22 AM

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 1:28am

The sound was messed up in Akron, too.

I felt a breeze/vibration from the bass.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 1:38am

Oh yes, now I remember. When the bass came up, the seats of the Canon Theatre were shaking as if I was at Canada's Wonderland.

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 1:48am

At least you didn't have to watch Sebastian Bach as Jesus. *shudder*

I still suffer repercussions from that horrible experience.

[MadeofGold]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 4:03am

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour recently in Stamford. I thought the lead performers were all uniformly strong (though I did have a problem with understanding Eric Kunze at times) and that the ensemble was very good. Having never seen JCS before and obviously, having nothing to compare it to, I thought it was a good production.

[UsherMJD]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:45pm

Hi everyone, this is my frist post here. I'm Mike!

I just would like to say that I LOVED this production of JCS. I think you all have to realize the concept that Jerusalem was under an occupation at the time this all happened. In their attempt to modernize the setting, they also had to put more emphasis on the military being present in their lives. Jesus' deciples were spreading the gospel, all while being watched by the romans. . . so this translates into spraypainting on walls and soldiers in riot gear.

Also, I'd like to mention that I am an Usher at PPAC (prov performing arts center) and it was the show's sound system that was a bit off, I had trouble understanding the lyrics as well. I do remember the sound being better when that same cast came 2 years ago. On friday night, the full cast was performing, and I loved them all. Kunze does tend hold onto his syllables a little longer than you may be used to, but he doesn't go off from the score.

This cast was even better than the one that came two years ago. Most of the main characters were played by same actors except for Judas, Pilot and Herod. Now, I did miss Carl Anderson quite a bit, but Clayton waw amazing and the new actors playing pilot and herod are ten times better than the last two.

All I have to say (hehehe get it???) is that although the darth vader costumes may be hard to swallow at first, if you learn to accept where they were trying to go with their idea, this production is quite incredible. If you haven't seen this production yet, I'd hope you'll go into with an open mind.

-Mike

[timote316]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:57pm

Welcome to the board, Mike!

You know, I watched the movie, and have been listening to the cast recording (the original one, but still the same music), and I've come to an appreciation. I like the music, and I've come to accept the costumes. If the show was still in town, I'd think about going again.

That happens a lot to me... I need to familiarize myself with a show before I see it...