For those unfamiliar with both the 1970 rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and the New Testament accounts of Jesus’s final seven days on which the opera is sorta-kinda based, the week begins with Jesus and his followers parading joyfully into Jerusalem and ends with him dying on a cross.
Matt Roberts as Caiaphas, the high priest who masterminded the plot to destroy Jesus, couldn’t have been better. Tall and imposing with a voice that was so deep, it seemed to issue from underground, Roberts was a combo of Viking pillager and motorcycle gang leader in a black leather get-up that highlighted his ample chest. My theatre-going companion whispered to me at the July 17 performance, “Yummy.”
Caiaphas’s henchmen, played by Stephen Alan Carver and Jon Apostol, were powerful too, especially in the scene in which Apostol delivered the 39 lashes. Though he stood at a safe distance from Scott Roberts, who played Jesus, Apostol did not need to draw blood or even make contact for the audience to wince with the implied cruelty of the act.
On the other end of the spectrum was Greg Nicholas with his over- the-top King Herod, clad in flashy hot pants and demanding that Jesus walk across his swimming pool. Nicholas gave a riveting, fun-loving performance of debauchery in juxtaposition to Jesus’s somber asceticism.
Neither Herod nor Pontius Pilate (Bob Cory) wished to take responsibility for Jesus’s death, Herod because he was too busy partying to be bothered and Pilate because he perceived that Jesus was not only innocent but a man set apart. Cory expertly portrayed the anguish of a man who is damned for all time and, at least according to this opera, knew he would be damned.
The character who showed the greatest range of feeling was Judas (Lorne Stevenson), the disciple who informed the authorities of Jesus’s whereabouts in exchange for 40 pieces of silver. Stevenson superbly portrayed the complex web of emotions that were required for this archetypal betrayer: love, disappointment, frustration, greed, anger, envy, self-loathing, shame, guilt, confusion, fear, regret and suicidal depression. Had this been a speaking part, Stevenson would have been perfect. Unfortunately, at points his words were incomprehensible, at many others off key, and a few times he screeched in attempts to reach the high notes.
In contrast, Latonya Kitchen, playing Mary Magdalene, had a hell of a voice, full and rich. She, however, was also miscast. Had there been a part for the other Mary, Kitchen would have been ideal. She doted over Jesus as if he were her son, not like a woman who wanted to bed a man. For his part, Scott Roberts as Jesus barely registered her, his mind already halfway to heaven. There was no chemistry, either physical or spiritual, between them, save for what Mary said was in her heart.
He was, however, a believable Jesus, especially when singing of
his imminent demise and his reluctance to follow his path to the end. Equally compelling and pitiful was his portrayal of Jesus’s utter exhaustion when besieged and eventually overwhelmed by the sick who demanded to be healed.
Glittery, hot-pink bikinis and hip-shaking do not make a woman sexy. The prostitutes at the temple where Jesus unleashed his anger at the money changers and the playthings, both female and male, at Herod’s palace should take note that sexiness requires attitude not accoutrements. Perhaps Matt Roberts a la Caiaphus could show them how to be “yummy.”
Jesus Christ Superstar continues at the Long Beach Playhouse’s Mainstage through Sunday, Aug. 15. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $24 for adults, $21 for seniors and $14 for students. Tickets may be purchased online at lbplayhouse.org or by calling (562) 494-1014. The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St.
