A triumphant return

When the great Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich came to London in 1972 for the British premiere of his 15th symphony, he took the opportunity to go to the theatre. Chekhov? Gogol? Shakespeare? No. He went to see the groundbreaking rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. He loved it so much he went again the following night. He told his biographer Elizabeth Wilson: “Very good music! Very good music!” He was particularly impressed by the way the rock drums and bass worked with the orchestra. 

That production of Jesus Christ Superstar ran for more than eight years and had 3,358 performances, making it the longest-running West End musical at that time. This despite the fact that when writers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were originally shopping around the idea, they couldn’t even get financial backing for an album, let alone a show. It originated as a single with the song “Superstar”, sung by Murray Head. It was released in November 1969 and supported with a live performance on David Frost’s Saturday night TV show (it can be found on Youtube). As the backing singers sang the “Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ” chorus, the producers helpfully flashed up images of Christ on the cross. The switchboard was buzzing with calls from outraged viewers. The single did well enough to secure the funding for an album and then it became a celebrated piece of musical theatre. 

Now it’s back in the West End for the first time in 30 years. This production, directed by Tim Sheader, was first seen at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016 and retains its Judas Iscariot (Tyrone Huntley) from then. However the big new draw is Eurovision star Sam Ryder making his musical theatre debut as Jesus. 

The set comprises scaffolding containing the musicians and, at stage level, “cages” accommodating some members of the audience. Across the stage is a cruciform ramp via which characters enter and exit.

Jesus Christ Superstar tells the story of the last week of Christ, from the perspective of Judas. The apostle is worried that Jesus is metaphorically getting high on his own supply and starting to believe the hype about him. JC’s “#BeKind” project is losing its way and becoming a thorn in the side of the authorities.“You’ve begun to matter more than the things you say,” Judas sings in the show’s first number.

In real life, Ryder gives every impression of being an easy-going, amiable hippy and that’s pretty much how his Jesus appears, at least initially. Because this is a sung-through musical we depend on the lyrics and the physical movements of the actors for characterisation. Ryder falls slightly short here. He’s not an actor and not all of his lyrics are enunciated clearly. However, he more than makes up for this with his incredible voice. Like Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, the creator of the role on the original 1970 album, Ryder has a multi-octave range and he deploys it to thrilling effect in his showcase song “Gethsemane” in the second act. At the performance I attended, this was a literal show-stopper, prompting a lengthy standing ovation. Ryder is contracted to transfer with the show to Drury Lane in the autumn and then go with it on a national tour until late next year. If he plans on singing like this every performance, he could cause a national shortage of manuka honey trying to look after his voice.

But one of the reasons for this show’s enduring popularity is the fact that it has several truly great songs and they are spread among the cast. Judas gets the first number after the overture. “Heaven on their Minds” has an overdriven guitar riff that’s a real earworm and is built around the pulsing drive of the rock rhythm section. You can see why Shostakovich was so impressed. Huntley was nominated for an Olivier for his work in the 2016 show and is also terrific here.

Desmonda Cathabel as Mary Magdalene gives a beautiful, yearning-filled rendition of the ballad “I Don’t Know How To Love Him”. As she sings about her sexual desire for Jesus, it’s a reminder that some of Rice’s lyrics were once considered highly controversial. They probably still are in some places. Even the title of the show — the linking of “Jesus Christ” with “Superstar” — was thought vulgar.

I’m a convert

Obviously, the story of Jesus’s final days is not a barrel of laughs but there are moments of levity. The recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is very well done. Herod (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and the vaudevillian “King Herod’s Song” (“Prove to me that you’re no fool, walk across my swimming pool”) are good fun. Over the course of the run, Herod is to be played by a number of celebrities including Boy George, Layton Williams and Julian Clary. 

And the number that started it all back in 1969, “Superstar”, is another spine-tingler, accompanied by some mesmerising choreography and brilliant staging. The final scenes are undeniably powerful and, indeed, thought-provoking. The show’s not perfect. Some of the more subtle moments are lost in the hi-decibel, hi-energy sound and the precise narrative can be difficult to follow but Lloyd Webber’s skilful blend of hard rock, gospel and soul with more conventional “classical” orchestration still sounds dynamic and exciting. I’m a convert.

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Jesus Christ Superstar is at the London Palladium until September 5 then the Theatre Royal Drury Lane before touring