'Jesus Christ Superstar' review — this electrifying, soul-stirring production is rock opera heaven

Read our review of Jesus Christ Superstar, starring Sam Ryder, now in performances at the London Palladium to 5 September.

Summary

• Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar plays the London Palladium
• Tim Sheader's electrifying production is a rock gig
• Eurovision star Sam Ryder impresses in the title role
• Tyrone Huntley and Desmonda Cathabel are excellent as Judas and Mary Magdalene respectively

We’re in the midst of a full-blown Andrew Lloyd Webber resurrection, so it’s extremely apt that, following on from last year’s Evita, the London Palladium now hosts his and Tim Rice’s divinely brilliant Jesus Christ Superstar. Tim Sheader’s rock-tastic production was first seen at Regent’s Park Open Air in 2016, and it makes a pulse-racing, soul-stirring, triumphant return. Hallelujah!

Rather like that Evita, which riffed off Rachel Zegler’s real-life celebrity, we get an actual superstar in the title role: Eurovision hero Sam Ryder. With his luxuriantly long mane, and a serene-yet-sunny hippie energy that irresistibly draws people in, he is a latter-day musical Messiah, and many fans will come specially to see him. The production makes a virtue of it, giving him a star entrance (which duly gets rapturous applause). He proves a perfect foil to Judas, who, as played by a returning, Olivier-nominated, utterly electrifying Tyrone Huntley, is ceaselessly restless, unmoored, and ferociously disillusioned.

Ryder is also a canny choice given that Sheader’s revival rousingly honours the show’s original 1970 concept album. This rock gig ethos is embedded into every purposeful creative choice, such as the handheld microphone that people tussle over; later, Jesus is bound with electrical cords. It connects us, too, with one of the major ideas: the unwieldy might of celebrity.

This Jesus’s totemic power fuels delirious worshippers, alarms his detractors, and becomes a burden for the increasingly lonely man himself. Ryder beautifully conveys that anxiety, and is very affecting in the show’s harrowing final stages. He also wows with his astonishing falsetto in “Gethsemane”, though needs to articulate the lyrics more clearly.

Huntley’s performance has grown even richer, more vocally dexterous, and more heartbreaking. His Judas acts from a place of love and fervent belief in a better world, making his decision palpably agonising. He’s almost in tears as he implores Jesus to change course, and again when he realises he is doomed to infamy. There’s a radical exploration here of God’s plan versus free will – is Judas somehow a victim? What about the self-serving Pontius Pilate (a commanding David Thaxton), who tries to wriggle out of his villain role?

As Mary Magdalene, Desmonda Cathabel breathes gorgeous new life into “Everything’s Alright” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. She confides her mixed feelings – exhilarated, scared, awed – with authentic spontaneity, and her folk-tinged voice recalls contemporary singer-songwriters like Sara Bareilles. Excellent too are Bob Harms and Matty J’s High Priests, Billy Nevers’s sincere Simon, and, relishing his one big number, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as a flamboyant, gleefully psychotic Herod. (I can’t wait to make a return trip to see how the other Herods, like Boy George and Julian Clary, chew up the scenery.)

Drew McOnie’s muscular yet expressive choreography remains a marvel, especially for the zealous, convulsive mob (led by the magnetic Charley Warburton). Tom Scutt’s design features towering scaffolding as well as indelible details like gold glitter hurled at Jesus during his flagellation, or glistening liquid silver poured over Judas’s hands. Tom Deering gets a thunderous rock sound out of the phenomenal onstage band; along with Lee Curran’s blinding stadium floodlights, it adds to a thrillingly visceral experience. The climactic “Superstar” is extraordinary in its juxtaposition of euphoria and sheer horror.

There are thought-provoking themes here, such as the fraught nature of protest, sacrifice, faith, and fanaticism, but this production is, at heart, a passionately human drama. Rock opera heaven.

Jesus Christ Superstar is at the London Palladium to 5 September, and then at Theatre Royal Drury Lane 16 October-9 January 2017. Book Jesus Christ Superstar London Palladium tickets and Jesus Christ Superstar Theatre Royal Drury Lane tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Jesus Christ Superstar (Photos by Johan Persson)