\n<\/p>\n
M<\/span>uch like its namesake, Jesus Christ Superstar comes with a storied history. There have been at least four Broadway productions and many revivals, tours and adaptations of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s 1971 biblical rock musical. Just last month, the UK saw a revival met with acclaim. In Los Angeles\u2019s version, not without \u201cbacklash\u201d, Cynthia Erivo is the Holy Messiah. Jesus, clad in white cloth and cool white boots, faces betrayal at the hands of Judas (played by a magnetic Adam Lambert).<\/p>\n In the first half of the show, as the apostles ask Jesus about his plans, and as lepers ask him to heal them, Erivo\u2019s Jesus is restrained and she doesn\u2019t quite make the role fully her own: Jesus is composed even in uncertainty, steady even when overwhelmed. But immediately into the second act, after Jesus realizes a disciple will betray him and as he pleads with God against the death that awaits him, Erivo lets despair take over in Gethsemane, stoking a tender touchpoint that makes Jesus feel human but commanding, helpless and then resolute. There is no doubt that you\u2019re in the presence of a mastery of art form, of unbridled talent as Erivo sinks to her knees and resigns to God\u2019s will \u2013 tears filling her eyes, the music simple and her crystalline voice carrying into the night. The outpour at first doesn\u2019t feel quite earned but, on true skill and discipline, becomes moving and stunning to witness, enthralling the audience into a minute-long standing ovation.<\/p>\n Judas, a juicier role that runs from rebellion to righteousness to sorrow, is a punk delight. Lambert is perfectly cast, harnessing a despair that\u2019s mightily accessible throughout: he splits the difference between someone you\u2019d meet at a bar who\u2019s got some regrets and someone who was born at the gates of hell. In Damned for All Time \/ Blood Money, as Judas wrestles with whether or not to betray Jesus and tell Pharisees and priests where he is so that they can capture him, Lambert is a wavering flag, a lilt of evil. After Jesus is taken and Judas realizes the pain he\u2019s wrought, Lambert offers in Judas\u2019 Death a window into a sorrow we\u2019ve all reached for before, a glimmer of hope that you\u2019re not as bad as what you\u2019ve just done.<\/p>\n Hamilton\u2019s Phillipa Soo, playing Mary Magdalene, brings a buttery voice and is a smart match to Erivo\u2019s, and governor of Judea Pontius Pilate (Ra\u00fal Esparza), a commanding presence. But perhaps because of these heavyweights, other moments are more forgettable: the choreography (especially the apostles\u2019) feels relatively simple and fades into the background, and the fanfare of King Herod (played by a last-minute John Stamos filling in for Josh Gad, who has Covid) in Herod\u2019s Song could have offered a thicker moment of fun and delight, but Stamos is too much bravado over jeer.<\/p>\n The set design for the most part leaves something to be desired, primarily a large screen hovering in the back; on it are graphics that aim to be camp but land more lazily \u2013 sometimes more literal camp with a mountain range of REI-type graphics, sometimes Vaporwave-like art you\u2019d find at a Miami DJ set.<\/p>\n But the holiness of the Hollywood Bowl venue is undeniable: as Jesus\u2019s followers fawn and plead or when the orchestra softens with a solo nigh, a sense of devastation seeps in, the sky above the outdoor amphitheater a deep, navy hue, God\u2019s Earth the stage. Despite the unevenness of Jesus\u2019s conviction and some rushed ensemble songs, this rendition captures the tragedy of devotion and the contradictions of betrayal. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to love him,\u201d sing Mary and Judas, in separate scenes \u2013 and still, you know they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Much like its namesake, Jesus Christ Superstar comes with a storied history. There have been at least four Broadway productions and many revivals, tours and adaptations of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s 1971 biblical rock musical. Just last month, the UK saw a revival met with acclaim. In Los Angeles\u2019s version, not without \u201cbacklash\u201d,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[7422,7420,7826,6641,4763,4037,1085,3067,7827,7423],"class_list":{"0":"post-14180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-christ","9":"tag-cynthia","10":"tag-erivo","11":"tag-jesus","12":"tag-leads","13":"tag-musicals","14":"tag-review","15":"tag-revival","16":"tag-rousing","17":"tag-superstar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}