Jesus Christ Superstar

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by Tim Rice

PeeWee Productions

AIS Arena

2 – 7 June 2015

Reviewed by Samara Purnell

Photograph by Samara Purnell

Everything’s alright, yes, everything’s fine:

Grand finalist from The Voice and one of the Ten Tenors to play Jesus – check

Michael Falzon in the role of Judas – check

Ginormous, neon, flashing Cross – check

Jesus suspended two storeys off the stage – check

Enough heating to silence even the grumbliest of cold Canberrans – check.

Staging a show at the AIS Arena, one may worry that the production will lack atmosphere or rich, full sound, or lighting and staging dramatic enough to fill the cavernous space, especially when not packed to the rafters. However, this production of Jesus Christ Superstar, produced by the newly formed PeeWee Productions, and with Stephen Pike directing, has managed to overcome these hurdles.  

Jesus is portrayed (blonde and youthfully clean-cut) by Luke Kennedy, who gives an understated and controlled performance. Pike’s direction has several of the leads perform solos with relatively little movement and drama, which firmly plants the attention on the singing and production elements.

In Kennedy’s case, this reaches a crescendo in 'Gethsemane', where his incredible vocal range and beautiful timbre is starkly on display. By the time he hits tenor top C the wow factor has definitely set in.

Opposite Kennedy’s Jesus, Michael Falzon gives an intense performance as Judas, tortured and unpredictable (to all but Jesus). Falzon’s singing was strong, assured and rich and his dramatic, slightly maniacal interpretation of the role built the suspense before his dramatic demise.

Jenna Roberts, a local performer becoming well established as a leading actress and singer, gives Mary Magdalene a clean-cut twist, delivering her solos with a pretty vibrato and bringing empathy and vulnerability to the role. Her duet ‘Could we start again please?’ was beautifully sung and staged, complimented by the smooth, warm voice of Nick Valois as the repentant Peter. It was quite poignant and one of the highlights of the evening.

Max Gambale’s ‘Pilate’s Dream’ was definitely another and startlingly beautiful. It took a glimpse at the programme to discover he’s a local with a job at Questacon and studying physics, not a full time singer!

Another stand-out was Will Huang, whose assured, albeit brief solos and stage presence in the role of Simon Zealotes, impressed.

There were a few minor pitch issues here and there in some solos and on occasion the timing between the singers and the orchestra at the end of numbers, was a fraction out. Not enough to detract significantly from the show.

‘Hosanna’ and ‘Heal me’ were highlight ensemble numbers, both vocally and choreographically - the latter staged to great effect.

The choreographic challenge is to take what was created as a rock opera, written in a psychedelic, hippie genre, performed primarily in Roman, biblical garb and make it cohesive, or to modernize it. Jordan Kelly’s energetic choreography succeeded in this, for the most part, utilizing the multi-level stage well. In patches though, the choreography was too sharp and precisely executed for the looser, hippie origins of Jesus Christ Superstar, so it came across as juxtaposed with the lyrics and genre.

The costumes had an impressive palette of both muted and regal colours. The High Priests looked like Intergalactic beings, imposing, with rubber smocks and blue mohawks. Jesus’ sneakers and Mary’s ballet flats seemed incongruous.

It was a strong ensemble performance all round both physically and vocally but toward the end of the show, the dramatic tension that had been building was broken by the ensemble’s change into stock-standard black pants and coloured t-shirts, and the choreography of the title song.

Musical Director Ian McLean, who was instrumental (pardon the pun) in getting the production staged, has updated the score considerably, to great effect, and when the first orchestral notes of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ fill the arena, it’s a goosebumps moment. Chris Neal has ensured good sound balance between the performers and the orchestra.

It’s an impressive light show by Phil Goodwin, notably so in the Garden of Gethsemane sequence, and culminating in the full kitsch, flashy crucifixion scene.

A really well rounded show and a very engrossing night at the arena!

So. That’s the buzz – that’s what’s a-happening…

HELEN MUSA OAM

Helen Musa OAM 

Congratulations to CANBERRA CRITICS CIRCLE founder and convenor, Helen Musa, who was awarded an O.A.M the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her "service to the performing and visual arts as a critic and magazine editor". 

Helen has been Arts Editor of CITY NEWS since 2009. She was Arts Editor of CAPITAL MAGAZINE from 2007 until 2009, THE CANBERRA TIMES from 1996 until 2007, and Editor of MUSE MAGAZINE from 1990 until 1996.

The Forbes Advocate has published an extensive report on Helen's OAM and career which you can read at:
http://www.forbesadvocate.com.au/story/3138409/oam-for-helen-musa/

MY FAIR LADY

Book and Lyrics by: Alan Jay Lerner

Music by: Frederick Lowe

Directed by: Janet Tweedie

Musical Direction by: Jenna Hinton

Choreographed by: Belinda Hassall

Presented by: Queanbeyan Players

The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre until 13th June 2015

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

Careful casting, a first class production team, and a clear vision of what she wanted to achieve, has allowed first time director, Janet Tweedie, to overcome relatively limited resources to achieve one of Queanbeyan Players best productions in recent years, and one which happily demonstrates why this beautifully crafted musical continues to enchant after nearly 60 years.

Tina Robinson and the male ensemble 

The story of the tussle between a penniless Covent Garden flower girl and a wealthy misogynist phoneticist, who wants to pass her off as a lady, still manages to weave its magic, due in no small part to the excellent performances of Gerard Ninnes as Henry Higgins, Peter Dark as his colleague, Colonel Pickering, and Tina Robinson as the flower girl, Eliza Doolittle. These three accomplished actor/singers inhabit their roles with flair, obviously relishing their opportunities to deliver carefully crafted performances which capture every nuance to reveal the brilliance of Lerner’s libretto.   



Tina Robinson with "My Fair Lady" ensemble 

Cast against type, Robert Grice is a spirited Alfred Doolittle, whether trying to inveigle Henry Higgins out of five quid, or leading the ensemble in the riotous “Get Me To The Church On Time”.  Micki Beckett charms as Mrs Higgins patiently accommodating her son’s outrageous excesses, and Charles Hudson, in fine voice as the gormless Freddy Eynsford Hill, ensures that “On the Street Where You Live” is the highlight it is meant to be. 

Gerard Ninnes ( Professor Higgins) Tina Robinson (Eliza Doolittle) 

 Excellent singing, supported by some very fine playing from the large, well-disciplined orchestra conducted by Jenna Hinton, is a feature of this production, with careful attention to the harmonies in the ensembles, particularly in “The Servants Chorus”.  The well-staged production numbers, with Belinda Hassall’s simple, appropriate choreography, are performed by the large ensemble with confidence and gusto. The “Ascot Gavotte” is particularly outstanding with lovely costumes, designed by Janetta McRae, and witty hats by Tina Robinson and Kerry Kemp.  

Peter Dark (Colonel Pickering) Tina Robinson (Eliza Doolittle)

As well as the brilliance of its songs and dialogue, “My Fair Lady” was also originally a visual spectacle. Thompson Quan Wing has devised a series of attractive set- pieces which cleverly hint at the spectacle, while serving  the storyline well. His study for Higgins is particularly effective.

But there are a lot of scene changes to be accomplished  in this show, and despite the herculean efforts of the back-stage crew, the first night running time of three hours and twenty minutes did test the stamina of the audience. However, judging from their response during the curtain-calls, not many would have missed a second of this truly impressive production.

 

Charles Hudson as Freddy Eynsford Hill 

                                                                   All photos by Rebecca Doyle

An edited version of this review was published in the Digital Edition of CITY NEWS on 6th June 2015

 

MY FAIR LADY

Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

Music by Frederick Loewe

Directed by Janet Tweedie

Queanbeyan Players

At the Q Theatre, Queanbeyan to 13 June

Review by Len Power 5 June 2015

For many years, ‘My Fair Lady’, based on Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’, was the longest running musical ever on Broadway until overtaken by shows such as ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Les Miserables’.  Queanbeyan Players have done a splendid job with their new production of the show.

Janet Tweedie, the director, has wisely kept the production simple.  Numerous scene changes are required, but set designer, Thompson Quan Wing, has cleverly produced scenery that suggests locations and lets our imaginations do the rest.  The choreography by Belinda Hassall suits the skill levels of the performers and the moves are just right for the lower class characters.  Janetta McRae has excelled with her designs for the eye-catching period costumes and milliners, Tina Robinson and Kerry Kemp, produced some great hats for the women.

The four main leads do extremely well.  Tina Robinson as Eliza Doolittle gives a great all-round performance as the rough-talking cockney flower girl who is transformed into a lady.  Her singing of ‘Just You Wait’ and ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ were highlights of the production.

Gerard Ninnes plays Henry Higgins with the right amount of amusing arrogance and self-delusion.  He sings very well but the decision to sing Higgins’ songs, rather than ‘talk-sing’ them as originally written, lessens their effect.  Sustaining the notes seems out of character with Higgins’ preciseness and drains some of the energy from his songs.

Peter Dark was superb as the elderly Colonel Pickering.  He captured the upper class manners of the period perfectly and his comic timing was excellent.  His song, ‘You Did It’, gave Peter the opportunity to display his fine singing voice.  Robert Grice gave one of his best performances as the crusty Alfred P. Doolittle.

There was excellent support from Charles Hudson as a nicely judged Freddy Eynsford Hill with his song, ‘On the Street Where You Live’ and Micki Beckett was delightfully amusing as Mrs. Higgins.  Amanda Stewart as the long-suffering housekeeper, Mrs Pearce, and Doreen Robinson as socialite matron, Mrs Eynsford-Hill, also gave strong performances.

It was good to see the use of body mikes on this show.  The sound was clear and well-balanced between singers and orchestra.  Emma White, the vocal director, has achieved a high quality with all of the singers and musical direction by Jenna Hinton and the playing of her orchestra was excellent.

Director, Janet Tweedie, has produced a polished and highly entertaining show.

Originally broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ showbiz program with Bill Stephens on Sunday 7 June 2015 from 5pm.

Jesus Christ Superstar - AIS Arena

Review by John Lombard

"Why don't I just stay here and ruin your ambition?"  So far, Judas has not acquitted himself well as a disciple.  He is highly strung, terrified of reprisals from the Romans, and while he loves his mentor (in a crazy stalker way) doesn't seem to agree with many of his teachings.  In short, Judas is an accident waiting to happen to someone, and it's hard to understand why Jesus keeps him around.  To top it off, Judas has recently agreed to betray Jesus to the authorities for a respectable finder's fee.  But in their final encounter, the wounded Judas makes one desperate threat: to just walk away and leave Jesus alone.  He senses that he is just an instrument in an elaborate suicide.  Jesus needs a Judas to betray him, and leaving Jesus alive might be a more vicious cruelty.

It's by no means pro-Judas, but the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice is interested in exploring Jesus' fatalism.  If you're the son of God and fated to die to save everyone, are the people who help you along that path really to blame?  Judas and Pilate are both very aware that Jesus is trying to die, and Pilate in his particular tries to stop Jesus' suicide by mob.  At the end, when Jesus is in his last moments on the cross, there is a sense that if he was not responsible for this outcome, at least he did not take any reasonable steps to prevent it.

The show is pitched as an "arena spectacular" in the cavernous Australian Institute of Sport Arena, and in practice this means that the show tilts more towards rock concert and lightshow than work of theatre.  Fortunately it's an excellent rock concert with amazing singing from Luke Kennedy (Jesus) and Michael Falzon (Judas) as the two leads.  Kennedy is a passive, ethereal and oddly clean-cut Jesus while Falzon's Judas is kinetic and sinister, and in their scenes together Judas looks like a fly buzzing around a lamp.  Kennedy's showcase is his phenomenal rendition of Gethsemane, while Falzon reaches a similar height in his tortured death scene, where he gives a deliberately grotesque reprise of "I don't know how to love him."

Jenna Roberts as semi-reformed hooker Mary Magdalene takes her cue from the music and gives her character gentle spirituality.  Rather than a potential lover for Jesus, she is his missing mother figure, even sharing the same name.  Judas reads her a love rival and becomes ferociously jealous of how close she is to Jesus, but this misses the point: Jesus is looking for comfort, not romance.  There were moments in the dancing where Roberts showed a wild and passionate sensuality and while I wanted to see more of this aspect of the character, the focus on her maternal qualities told us more about her relationship with Jesus.

There were many other stand-outs in the local cast.  Max Gamble's Pilate is wise and sonorous (and just a tiny bit petty), so regal it was easy to confuse him with the far less majestic Herod.  In the final act of the play he is Jesus' judge and also his defender, heroically facing down the mob before finally yielding because Jesus will not be an advocate in his own cause.  Two cameo roles stood out, Gordon Nicholson's Herod and Will Huang's Simon Zealotes.  Both performers captivated the audience with their all-too-brief appearances.  Nicholson's Herod is fey and macabrely joyful, the fun the performer is having with his gaudy number shining through.  Huang's Simon is frenzied by religious ecstasy and has phenomenal charismatic energy (I wondered whether he would walk away with some of Jesus' followers and start a militant splinter group).  The only place where the performing faltered was with the Pharisees.  In the first act the Pharisees were genuinely struggling to hit the painfully high and low notes the score demanded, sometimes starting to run out of air mid-lyric.  However their voices warmed up by the second act and this may have just been opening night jitters.

Overall this was an excellent, thrilling concert.  Two huge orchestra pits planted in the middle of the stage limited the movements of the chorus, restricting the possibilities of the dancing.  However Jordan Kelly's choreography is lively with a spirit of fun that was also reflected in the bright and colourful costumes by Anna Senior.  However, the sense that this was a concert rather than a full theatrical performance was created by some very clunky transitions between songs as well as incredibly static staging for some of the songs.  Often it was as though the action was stopping for a song rather than the songs being part of the action of the play.  Additionally, the script assumes a lot of prior knowledge of Jesus' story, and there were moments where I was wondering about the information that was not supplied.  Why exactly did the crowd switch so suddenly from loving Jesus to hating him?  And why does Judas bother using the subtle signal of a kiss to betray Jesus when all of the other disciples are unconscious in a drunken stupor?  The kiss became private and personal, a hint at frustrated sexual desire.

Director Stephen Pike has made the music his priority and he delivers an excellent performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's first great success.  Headliners Luke Kennedy and Michael Falzon are phenomenal and the local cast hold their own, showcasing the level of talent Canberra is developing.  Jesus Christ Superstar is nowhere near as controversial as it was when it first debuted, but there is still a lot to provoke thought and the music is still as powerful as ever.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Jenna Roberts - Luke Kennedy - Michael Falzon 

Music by: Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Lyrics by: Tim Rice

Directed by: Stephen Pike
Musical Direction by: Ian McLean
Choreographed by Jordan Kelly

Presented by:  Sneddon Hall and Gallop and Pee Wee Productions

AIS Arena until 7^th June 20115

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

 

 

The AIS Arena provided a surprisingly cosy environment for this spectacular production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s perennially popular musical. Director, Stephen Pike, has harnessed impressive resources to produce a production which is visually arresting, aurally satisfying and dramatically cohesive.

Heading a large cast, Luke Kennedy and Michael Falzon, as Jesus and Judas, are both exceptional singers capable of extraordinary vocalisations, as Kennedy demonstrates in his stunning performance of “Gethsemane”, and Falzon, in his tortured reprise of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. Both also possess dramatic gravitas, so that the complexities of the relationship between Jesus and Judas are also satisfyingly depicted. As the catalyst in this relationship, Jenna Roberts as Mary is a sympathetic and compelling presence.

Max Gambale as Pontious Pilate. 

The rest of the large cast provide strong, committed support with stand-out performances from Max Gambale, whose singing of “Pilate’s Dream” provides one of many highlights during the evening, Gordon Nicholson, campy, sinister and vocally assured confidently nailing “King Herod’s Song”, and Zack Drury whose deep, sonorous bass tones are used to thrilling effect as the High Priest Caiaphas.

 

Choreographer, Jordan Kelly, has taken full advantage of the huge multi-level setting for his spectacular ensemble routines, and apart from a couple of aberrations,  Anna Seniors earthy abstract costumes, are imaginative contributions to the spectacle created by Phil Goodwin’s  sensational lighting design.  Chris Neal’s sound design insures that not only are the all-important lyrics clearly audible, but also details of the superb musical arrangements from Ian Mclean’s impressive orchestra are able to be appreciated.

This extraordinarily assured and entertaining production is another persuasive demonstration of the depth and quality of Canberra’s musical theatre talent. Even though it’s a short season don’t miss it.

          This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 3rd June 2015

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

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.