Music by Andrew Lloyd
Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Directed by Stephen
Pike
Musical Direction by
Ian McLean AM CSC
Presented by Sneddon
Hall and Gallop and Peewee Productions
AIS Arena, 2 – 7 June
2015
Review by Len Power 2
June 2015
The big Pro-Am production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in
Canberra’s AIS Arena is colourful and tuneful with some great performances from
an enthusiastic cast. There have been a
number of productions of this perennial favourite in Canberra over the years
but rarely do we have the opportunity to see it on such a vast scale.
Detailing the last week of Jesus’ life, Stephen Pike’s big
picture direction works well giving audiences the spectacle they expect from an
arena show, especially in the memorable finale.
Performances by the two professionals are excellent. Luke Kennedy gives a nicely restrained performance
as Jesus, singing clearly and confidently and with great warmth. Michael Falzon as Judas has the more
spectacular songs and he delivers them strongly, commanding the stage at all
times.
Local performers also make their mark. Jenna Roberts sings one of the best Mary
Magdalenes you’ll ever hear and Max Gambale gave a beautifully sensitive
rendition of ‘Pilate’s Dream’. Will Huang
was in fine voice as Simon, hitting high notes apparently effortlessly. Nick Valois gave a nicely judged performance
as the apostle, Peter. His singing of ‘Could
We Start Again, Please?’ with Jenna Roberts was one of the many highlights of
the evening. Gordon Nicholson brought
the house down with ‘Herod’s Song’.
Musical Director, Ian McLean, and Vocal Coach, Sharon Tree,
have obtained an excellent, clear sound from the big cast and orchestra. Costumes by Anna Senior were nicely in period
and stylishly fun where required.
Choreography by Jordan Kelly was also pleasing and entertaining in the
comedy numbers.
Special mention must be made of the lighting design by Phil
Goodwin. It was spectacular and at times
breath-taking. The sound design by Chris
Neal was also excellent with a good balance between orchestra and singers. The set design by Brian Sudding and Phil Goodwin
had lots of good playing areas and levels, giving the director the opportunity for
constantly interesting staging of the show.
The only potential problem is the venue itself. Avoid sitting high up in the Arena. The action onstage is too remote to see much
facial detail from there and there is a sound echo, making it difficult to hear
the words of the songs. It was also very
cold up there. We moved down to some empty
seats at interval and it was a different show altogether. This review reflects the experience of seeing
the show from our post-interval position.
