PollyPrissyPants

Okay – here’s something you might not know about me (but will probably not surprise you) – I love musicals. Old, new, movie, stage, good, bad…love ‘em all. I memorize lyrics, sing along at unreasonably loud volumes…and when I was younger, I recreated the entire staging (with librettos) with my Barbie dolls. Yeah, I did…my Phantom of the Opera was quite elaborate (prop-wise) and super intense. It would’ve brought a tear to your eye…if you weren’t distracted by the historical inaccuracy of Malibu Ken’s frosted tips.

So when I had the chance to see Jesus Christ Superstar (one of the only favourites of mine I hadn’t seen on the stage) with the original Superstar himself, Ted Neeley, I jumped at the chance. I was a little leery seeing as it’s been 35 years since he starred in the part but I figured that the bonus of him being on stage is that I wouldn’t be able to tell that he was 30 years older than everyone else in the cast. I was also concerned he might have lost the ability to really hit those high notes. Well, no need to be concerned…that man sounded exactly as he did in the Norman Jewison film in 1973 (which incidentally has Jeff Hyslop – Jeff from Today’s Special – as one of the Apostles!). It was freakin’ amazing…he wailed on those high notes with such power, he got a standing ovation every time. It was quite amazing to see! The rest of the cast did a great job – all excellent singers well-suited to their roles. Definitely worth the money and I’m glad I decided to go. The show itself is certainly a product of it’s time (although all of the slang and anachronistic touches are intentional) and it still has a very 70′s feel (especially some of Tim Rice’s lyrical content), but has so much power in each number that it transcends the trap of outliving it’s importance/relevance. I mean how can you go wrong with lines like “What do you think about your friends at the top? Who do you think besides yourself is the pick of the crop? Was Buddha where it’s at? Is he where you are? Could Mohammad move a mountain or was that just PR?” or one of my favourites “Prove to me that you’re no fool…walk across my swimming pool.” Genius! The wit in this one is my favourite thing…although the power numbers come a close second…they are pure rock and very different from any of the musicals of the last 20 years.

Now there has been a lot of criticism about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals – for being unoriginal and catering to the lowest denominator (gasp…populist music in the theatre? I say!)…and I don’t necessarily disagree with all those arguments. The Phantom especially echoes so much of La Boheme that it’s pretty clear he was severely influenced; however, the guy picks really compelling (existing) stories on which to build his musical themes. I will agree that for originality’s sake, his earlier works better stand the test of time and the songs in those shows, frankly, are damn good while his later works smack of outside influence and of writing for the sake of writing a money maker (X-Men 3 anyone?). But I have to say that anything that gets people going to the theatre is a positive thing…and lord knows his shows accomplish that. And well, I just enjoy them…so there.

Random Fact to end with: Jack Black loves this musical so much – he often performs the opening number (sung by the character Judas, called Heaven on Their Minds) at Tenacious D concerts and has played the part of Herod in a couple of charity productions.