#1
Posted: 1/18/04 at 8:44pm
I was lucky to go and see this today at the Tampabay Performing Arts Center.
I literally bought the last available ticket for the show which turned out to be in the balcony.
I looked into the orchestra pit and was very surprised to only see seven people there! 3 guitar players, 3 keyboard players and the drummer. I’m guessing the keyboards made all the sounds I found that somewhat disappointing.
Having seen the show before, I thought I knew exactly what to expect but this must have been a new staging of it with different costumes then I remember. I loved the long swishy coats some of the men wore.
Some the words to the songs were somewhat different as well.
The set was a simple set of stairs with a catwalk between two columns that they used to great advantage. Like for the Temple scene, they dropped tote boards like the stock market and when
Herod had his song, they dropped his name, all in lights and the stairs lit up as well. When Jesus was in prison, they dropped prison bars over the cat walk and the scene where Judas commits suicide was interesting as well.
Jesus was played by Eric Kunze who did an outstanding job. I watched his version of Gethsemane very closely and was not disappointed. He had the punch on the right words which is what I have said before about other versions of the song. I’m beginning to wonder if singing the song in a concert is considered different than singing it in a play. It seems the emotions are different but that just might be me.
I would tell you about the great body and handsome face Jesus had but that might be considered the wrong thing to do. I might wind up in Hades if I did tell you that because one should not lust after Jesus. So consider yourself not told. Is it warm in here or is it just me? Anyway, my only problem with him was his hair which was very long and silky looking and he kept running his hands through it. After a time it drove me nuts. At least he wasn’t a quick draw Jesus with a mike in a holster under his arm.
I also greatly enjoyed “Could We Start Again Please” which was choreographed to show the beatings he took in prison in slow motion. Very, very well done but I have such a hard time watching that kind of thing. Even if it is a play, I had to keep a firm hand myself because I wanted them to stop hurting him. I know, he wasn’t really hurt but I get involved in the story and wanted to leep onto the stage and take that whip away or at the very least, yell, "Stop it!" at the top of my lungs.
Mary Magadalene was played by Natalie Toro who had a wonderful sweet voice. Very, very nice and I would like to see her again someday.
Other stand outs were Pontius Pilate/Stephen Breithaupt, Judas/Lawrence Clayton and I have to say, Catiaphas/Lawson Skala who had a voice so deep it sounded like it was coming from his toes. I swear he looked like Ming the Merciless from “Flash Gorden”. The kicker was (and I’m very sorry I don’t know the character name so I can’t name the actor) the one priest was the total opposite of him. He was a short, bald, black man with a very high voice. They were GREAT together. Tall/deep, short/high.
Anyway, I enjoyed myself and I strongly recommend seeing this version of “Jesus Christ: Superstar” if you are lucky enough to have it come to your town.
D
I literally bought the last available ticket for the show which turned out to be in the balcony.
I looked into the orchestra pit and was very surprised to only see seven people there! 3 guitar players, 3 keyboard players and the drummer. I’m guessing the keyboards made all the sounds I found that somewhat disappointing.
Having seen the show before, I thought I knew exactly what to expect but this must have been a new staging of it with different costumes then I remember. I loved the long swishy coats some of the men wore.
Some the words to the songs were somewhat different as well.
The set was a simple set of stairs with a catwalk between two columns that they used to great advantage. Like for the Temple scene, they dropped tote boards like the stock market and when
Herod had his song, they dropped his name, all in lights and the stairs lit up as well. When Jesus was in prison, they dropped prison bars over the cat walk and the scene where Judas commits suicide was interesting as well.
Jesus was played by Eric Kunze who did an outstanding job. I watched his version of Gethsemane very closely and was not disappointed. He had the punch on the right words which is what I have said before about other versions of the song. I’m beginning to wonder if singing the song in a concert is considered different than singing it in a play. It seems the emotions are different but that just might be me.
I would tell you about the great body and handsome face Jesus had but that might be considered the wrong thing to do. I might wind up in Hades if I did tell you that because one should not lust after Jesus. So consider yourself not told. Is it warm in here or is it just me? Anyway, my only problem with him was his hair which was very long and silky looking and he kept running his hands through it. After a time it drove me nuts. At least he wasn’t a quick draw Jesus with a mike in a holster under his arm.
I also greatly enjoyed “Could We Start Again Please” which was choreographed to show the beatings he took in prison in slow motion. Very, very well done but I have such a hard time watching that kind of thing. Even if it is a play, I had to keep a firm hand myself because I wanted them to stop hurting him. I know, he wasn’t really hurt but I get involved in the story and wanted to leep onto the stage and take that whip away or at the very least, yell, "Stop it!" at the top of my lungs.
Mary Magadalene was played by Natalie Toro who had a wonderful sweet voice. Very, very nice and I would like to see her again someday.
Other stand outs were Pontius Pilate/Stephen Breithaupt, Judas/Lawrence Clayton and I have to say, Catiaphas/Lawson Skala who had a voice so deep it sounded like it was coming from his toes. I swear he looked like Ming the Merciless from “Flash Gorden”. The kicker was (and I’m very sorry I don’t know the character name so I can’t name the actor) the one priest was the total opposite of him. He was a short, bald, black man with a very high voice. They were GREAT together. Tall/deep, short/high.
Anyway, I enjoyed myself and I strongly recommend seeing this version of “Jesus Christ: Superstar” if you are lucky enough to have it come to your town.
D
