Southampton Mayflower – until 30th March 2024
Reviewed by Lucy Hitchcock
4****
Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s smash hit Jesus Christ Superstar hits Southampton during Holy Week-making it a great week to see this rock concert extravaganza.
We follow the final days of Jesus’ (Luke Street) life, through the eyes of Judas (Shem Omari James). A brilliant cross adorns the stage, almost cutting it directly in half, with the band stood either side-almost as if up in the gods! We witness the betrayal, crucifixion and rising of Jesus whilst being lashed with song after song-all sang fairly well. There were a few points where the integrity of the songs was lost, due to the use of handheld microphones, thus leaving me unsure of the words being sung. This however, did not detract from the ensemble who did a perfect job of additional vocals and all of these performers would be considered a triple threat in this industry! The stand out ensemble member, was Jordan Michael Todd as ‘Simon’. His vocals during ‘Simon Zealotes’ were superb and he was truly captivating. Street and James as Jesus and Judas also gave some great vocals and Street’s portrayal of the lashings and crucifixion was very well done. Adding some very much needed humour to this heavy piece, was Timo Tatzber as ‘Herod’. This was my favourite song during the performance and he lifted what was an extremely ominous mood. Hannah Richardson as ‘Mary Magdalene’ was good, but I found it hard to believe the performance at some points-her voice during the iconic ‘I don’t know how to love him’ was good, but I felt myself wanting more emotion during this from her. Jad Habachi as Caiaphas added a knee-trembling bass which was pitch perfect at every point!
Choreographed by Christopher Tendai, this was a mixture of ballet, contemporary and street dance. For me, the dancing became a little bit intrusive and busy, leaving me unsure as to what section I was to be focusing on. Head of Wardrobe Claire Tucker added a modern twist on the costumes, and I really enjoyed the choices that were made.
This is a good show, dealing with a hard hitting subject and it does so well. If you want to know what’s the buzz, head on down to the Mayflower