I actually received a few facetious contacts last night asking if I was OK because I abstained from commenting on last night’s latest entry in the live televised musical parade, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC. The truth is, I was so absorbed in the show that I didn’t even think to get on line. That alone says that for the first time since its renaissance, they did something right. Very, very right. I admit that the show is a very personal one for me, as I have two Easter weekend traditions since I was a teenager–watching the gloriously overdone five hour spectacle of Cecil B. de Mille’s The Ten Commandments, and watching the classic 70s experience of Norman Jewison’s period perfect Jesus Christ Superstar. Truthfully, considering the mixed at best success of every other entry in the field, I hedged my bets and watched the movie Sunday morning just in case it was disappointing. It gave me even more appreciation to see NBC’s labor and the new directors’ new vision.
So the history is NBC contracted Jennifer Lopez to produce and star in Bye Bye Birdie this past November. Then she got busy being Jennifer Lopez and postponed it. Twice. Upon hearing that rival to the game Fox had bought the rights to do a spring Rent, NBC thought fast and came up with the replacement idea of a perfect match up, Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s classic seasonal favorite Jesus Christ Superstar on Easter night. Their fifth entry in its series (following Carrie Underwood’s The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz, and Hairspray), apparently the learning curve is complete. Rather than a full out review, here is what (hopefully) NBC learned in their 5 year curve, because they did an awful lot of right.
1) Trust in your material. The reason these shows are so well known and well loved is because they are GOOD. As hard to swallow as The Sound of Music was, the one thing they deserve credit for is persenting the show in its stage form intact as written, good or bad. From Peter Pan on, the thing became that the new producers knew better than the creators and the audiences and had to rewrite them for TV, to “fix” and “improve” them. Every one has suffered in the process. Peter Pan gained a layer of comic campness by their ridiculously overly PC efforts (like, it was not OK to have Indian characters dance around chanting nonsense words, but it was OK to dress them in Cher’s Bob Mackie Halfbreed costumes.) True, this is an all music sung through show, so there were less opportunities, but it has been done. No new songs. No reshuffling the playlist. (Of course it helped to have the master Andrew Lloyd-Webber himself involved.) The evening was faithful to the show, which is not only one of Lloyd-Webber’s best, but arguably the best rock opera score ever written for stage. (Sorry Rentheads, it’s true.) Thank you for honoring that.
2) The casting balance was right. Unlike some past debacles (and not just poor left out to survive on her own Miss Underwood), stunt casting Hollywood names have helped greenlight the projects, but at the expense of the overall production. However, understanding these projects would not get the backing they do without a known name or two to draw fans, NBC struck a near perfect balance. John Legend received mixed reviews over the internet last night (mostly because he wasn’t a white rock tenor). But Legend provided a warmer, more loving, more accessible Jesus. He didn’t sing the score as we are used to it, but he sang it well and provided natural charm. Some criticized his acting, but he gave us a different (decidedly less angry than most) interpretation that I, for one, was open to. Accept the fact that the holy trinity of this show, Ted Neely, Carl Anderson, and the very understated Yvonne Elliman defined the roles impossibly for all to follow. Legend didn’t try to compete and gave us a grounded center for the spectacle. Sarah Bareilles was inspired casting. Mary Magdalene is the overlooked role in the show, but she is critical. Today, most actresses make the enormous mistake of over-singing the songs. In this age of “I can scream louder than you”, they all want to belt every one of the ascending climbs in “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” louder than the one before. But Miss Bareilles is a composer and musician who understands the dynamics. In this age when it is acceptable to bash Andrew Lloyd-Webber for serving up bourgeois musical fare, Mary’s track consists of some of the most wonderfully composed songs ever written for stage, and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” is arguably one of the most perfect songs ever written period. Bareilles wisely trusts the music and gave an honest vocal performance, the first ever since the completely underrated Miss Elliman flawlessly originated the role. There is a reason she is the only cast member to make it from concept to stage to movie. Like Elliman, Bareilles was moving, warm, and beautiful without overpowering or being a distraction.
The supporing roles wisely, for the first time since the only other thing The Sound of Music did right, went to stage veterans. Most notably sturdy veteran Norm Lewis giving a powerful performance as the corrupt priest Caiaphus, (receiving great counter tenor support to his über bass from Jin Ha as Annas) and Ben Daniels as a truly conflicted Pilate. But the real superstar of Superstar was Hamilton alum Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas. Dynamic and charismatic on every front, Dixon finally has a credit to overshadow his most well know performance to date as the Hamilton cast member who confronted Mike Pence. Dixon in 2 1/2 hours became one of the most marketable talents on Broadway, and a probable contender to land a new role in the Shonda Grimes series of his choice.
The only misfire of the show was the stuntcasting of Alice Cooper in the high profile cameo of King Herod. It wasn’t really Cooper though. It was the directorial blunder to completely blow the filming of his number. Yes this was a concert, but it was a concert that was ultimately staged for the camera. Herod has the one big, silly, fun production number of the show, the single breath of fresh air before the show locks into the deep and overwhelming last three days of Jesus on earth. It’s a splashy, silly, ragtime spectacle, musical theatre at its finest. Cooper was game, as was his cast of Cotton Club inspired cuties decked out in Josephine Baker feathered finery, but the entire number was staged OFF camera. It was all close-ups of Cooper. Cooper didn’t dance, the dancers didn’t dance with him, or even near him. I’m sure it played much better live, but it was a monumental disappointment to the home audience. Cooper and the rest of the well done show deserved better. I combine blame both the stage and TV directors for this one abysmal failure.
3) The tech was hands down the best yet. NBC invested smartly, hiring acclaimed British stage director David Leveaux to handle the stage aspect, and proven talent Alex Rudzinski (of Grease Live! and Hairspray Live!, undoubtedly the two best of the field) to camera direct for TV (save above). Sound issues were a minimum (except for…see #5 below). The three tiered set was a powerful but not overpowering visual. The rock concert lighting was amazing, and even played well to the home audience. There were some truly powerfully staged moments, especially the handling of the Crucifixion. This sequence, and Legend’s exit, was the best it’s ever been staged, and the most visually impacting ever save for the actual source material. Can we also give a special shout out to choreographer Camille Brown’s decision to bathe the temple in glitter for the revelers to writhe in? It warmed my heart because it was a truly Mark Briner touch to a show. #KnowYourAudience
4) The costumes were risky. I am personally not at all a fan of the new trend to always do this show in present day clothes. As a costumer, I will tell you the truth: The official word is “The show is so relevant to today, the themes still resonate, and Jesus went through the same scrutiny so many of our modern day celebrities do.”, and it sounds impressive. Let me translate that to you in costumer-speak. What that means is “we’re cheap and don’t want to spend any money on costumes, so just bring in some street clothes”. Personally, I do prefer the 70s hippie feel of the movie, but also admit that was just based on street clothes of the era. The difference is if you go that route, you must artfully decide how to stylize it to give it a not so common visual. This show, like the movie, accomplished that. High marks go to the cool Matrix meets the Star Trek priests frocks, Pilate’s Roman inspired gold lame dress shirt and purple suit, and the ensemble and roving musicians in general, but mostly to the amazing fusion of chain mail and rhinestones designed for Judas and his backup trio for the title number. Judas was a rock star indeed.
5) The criticism forever of this new genre has been, “it’s theatre, we need a live audience to give it the energy it needs.” Last night solidified how wrong that is. As far as TV versions of Broadway go, the gold standard is Bette Midler’s Gypsy (technically a movie as it was not live, but it kept the script, filmed in order of scenes, and smartly used stage stars in the key cameo roles), followed by Carol Burnett’s Once Upon a Mattress and Mary Martin’s classic Peter Pan (cheesy by today’s standards, but blame the source, not the execution). Last night’s massive audience gave it a lively feel, but at what a cost. If we didn’t know from a trip to the local cinema or even to New York now, where audiences not only talk and sing along, but also have broken out in fights, take cell phone calls, walk up onstage to plug in their phones to sockets on the set, and even commit the cardinal sin of photographing Patti LuPone in the middle of her number (three times!!). Last night solidified the fact that Americans are just as a whole horrible, selfish people who have no idea how to behave in a public audience. It has been said that they were coached before the show to treat it as a concert. But in the beginning they were too loud, too obnoxious, and too distracting to even be a more rowdy concert audience. So much of the early numbers were drowned out. And lastly, the CLAPPING! White people, white people everywhere, how many times do I have to say it before you get it? IF you absolutely must clap, CLAPPING ON “1” IS NOT A THING!! Just stop it. Just stop. Please. #We ClapOn2!
Overall, this was the best attempt to film a live musical so far, and there should be many lessons learned in how to successfully continue the genre. As I said, there’s a very good reason I was offline last night. Let’s see if the higher ups paid attention. Miss Lopez, if you’re ever ready for your close-up, the bar has been set in your absence.