Taking on one of the world’s greatest ever rock musicals is never going to be an easy task. The iconic 70’s ‘rock opera’ has been revamped & reimaged many times, and as a huge fan of the show & its timeless music, I was intrigued to see Platinum Entertainment’s version, which is being performed at the gorgeous Quarry Amphitheatre, City Beach. And they have pulled it off brilliantly with a stunning cast of local talent, incredibly simple but effective sets and a clever twist to the story.
We all know the basis of the tale but rather than being taken back to the time of the original story, we are brought forward to the modern day and transported to The Superstar Festival. Headline acts Jesus Christ (Tempest Rising lead singer Vin Trikeriotis), Judas (Sam Rabonne) & Simon Peter (Clay Darius) are all due to perform at The Festival. Jesus is starting to believe all the hype about how big he is becoming and how influential he is as an artist, while Judas, watching from the wings, doesn’t seem too pleased. From the opening notes of the Overture the steps from the back of the venue down to the stage are lined with bright and colourful ‘festival goers’ queueing up to enter The Festival. And it’s the simple things that make this so effective – the fantastic lighting effects, the use of mobile scaffolds to make this a fast paced visual spectacle, brilliant choreography and the clever use of the two video screens either side of the stage which flash up modern images of how Jesus is doing on ‘Faithbook’ and the like. I won’t ruin it for anyone able to go, but look around the stage and keep an eye on the screens for quirky little comments and visuals.
Head ‘groupie’ Mary Magdalene (Genevieve Wilson) tries to be the calming influence for Jesus backstage, when he can see things are getting strained. Another clever music association are the priests and scribes, now depicted as record producers at “Priest Records” (Andrew Miller, Ash Scofield, Dan Millgate, Luke Miller), who can see that Jesus is getting too big for his ‘superstar’ boots. They see this being a huge problem and noticing Judas’s disillusionment, they prey on his weakness & distain to help control the problem before it gets too far out of hand.
Once cornered & captured, Jesus is dragged along to see Festival Producer Pontius Pilate (Jamie Mercanti) to help censor Jesus’s views but feels this may not be in his power to do so, so sends him on to the unimpressed eccentric casting agent Herod (Paul Whitehead). Once again Jesus finds himself in front of Pilate, with Jesus’s fans full of hate and rejection for the failing star – the rest, they say, is history. The incredible & iconic title track ‘Superstar’, complete with Judas in his sparkly jacket and matching ‘angels’ doesn’t disappoint, before we a left to see a washed up Jesus slumped over the railings in an almost crucified fashion, as his Twitter and Faithbook followers diminish and disappear.
Too many highlights to mention them all but for me Trikeriotis’s Gethsemane was jaw dropping tonight, Rabonne’s Judas was outstanding throughout and Mercanti’s Pilate simply brilliant. From the fantastic live band, the dancers & festival goers, all the principles, through to the production and direction (Trevor & Katrina Patient), everything was top class. A 5-night sell out run has now led to 2 more additional nights being added (Friday 9th Nov & Saturday 10th Nov) so if you have a free evening I highly recommend getting down to see this before it finishes. (Tickets available from ticketmaster.com.au)