Preview
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Touring production
Starring Carl Anderson, Eric Kunze and Natalie Toro
June 17-22
Jubilee Auditorium
Let’s welcome back everyone’s favourite member of the Holy Trinity, one of the world’s biggest, longest-lasting celebrities, complete with some of the best production numbers, undoubtedly the biggest advertising department and definitely the best costumes and ’70s hairdos.
Yes, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar is back in town.
It goes without saying that the sub-genre of rock opera lies uneasily within the larger categories of opera and rock music. Lloyd Webber’s first major work, JCS suffers both from his worst faults and those of the genre: uneven pacing, simplistic characterization and, shall we say a certain, um, lack of subtlety.
But JCS has, to a large extent, stood the test of time. And so has its longest-running star, Carl Anderson, who returns once more in the role of Judas for this latest touring production. Anderson has made the better part of a career playing the quintessential misunderstood villain, ever since performing the part in Norman Jewison’s much-loved 1973 movie. And it’s fair to say that, having pretended to be Judas for 30 years, the man feels a bit proprietary about the role, with a depth of background knowledge that few people could match.
"Judas is the only real person in the play," he states unequivocally. He’s responding to a question of why the character of Judas seems so much more vital than the comparatively whiny and milksop Son of God (played in this production by Eric Kunze). "Everyone else is either in the myth or of the myth." Anderson has a distinct tendency to talk in sentences that sound tantalizingly profound and quotable. "Judas is the only cat who’s like you and me, and can ask the same questions you and I would ask."
Yes, Anderson has spent some time thinking about the theology of it all.
"In order to talk about this play, you got to separate the mythology of Christianity from the religion. A myth cuts out all the shit that makes the story less aerodynamic."
Much like a good play, then – suggesting that most of Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice’s work was already done for them.
"Yeah, here’s the thing about myth – the whole point of a myth is that nobody asks no questions. You go straight from A to Z without questioning a damn thing. And the good thing about this play is that Judas is the only cat in the play who’s asking questions.
"It’s not that he’s a good guy," Anderson adds. "I don’t play him as a good guy, but he’s not a bad guy either. He’s just… complex. Like I said, he’s real."
Make fun of Andrew Lloyd Webber if you like, but it’s arguable that this single work changed the way a generation looked at Christian mythology – especially in its juxtaposition of Jesus, trapped in the middle of the lethal star-making machinery, and Judas, who just wants him to keep it real and stop sleeping with prostitutes. The picture of Judas as the scapegoat, whose deepest fault was asking the uncomfortable questions, is one that has perhaps survived the most poignantly today, in an era when asking rational questions can be seen as traitorous.
"You see, I know shit about Judas that your average audience member doesn’t know," says Anderson. "I know that he’s connected to the Pharisees, that Caiaphas is his brother-in-law. This is a town we’re talking about, and Judas is walking a very fine line. He’s trying to convince these family members, who are getting pressure from Rome to deal with Jesus, that he’s actually a cool guy with something important to say. And when he sees Jesus getting caught up in the myth of it all, it scares him. Nobody else knows this stuff, but that’s the Judas I’m playing."
And when asked about the pitfalls of being 30 years older than his character – in the words of Pete Townshend, "it’s hard to be an angry young man when you’re a rich old fart" – Anderson bristles slightly.
"Well, first of all, I ain’t rich. And who’s to say how old Judas was? Nothing anywhere says how old he was. (In this show) I climb walls, I run across the stage. My Judas isn’t as athletic as he was 30 years ago, and he ain’t as angry out loud, either. He’s a completely different Judas from the movie, more thoughtful. He’s a better Judas."
Fevered and overheated they may be, but Superstar and Anderson have both stood the test of time better than most things from 1973. They are still kicking some ass and asking the tough questions. |
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