I'll hold back on NYC and Broadway though.
But still, this performance I attended tonight at the Highlands Lakeside Theater, oh excuse me, they spell it as "Theatre," seems like divine intervention.
The show was Jesus Christ Superstar. You know the deal, Andrew Lloyd Webber's early '70s rock opera depicting the last few days of Jesus on Earth as seen Through The Eyes of Judas.
And the setup was well taught to us by the director who came up on stage before the show and told the audience what to expect. A definite nod to the fact that we were certainly not in a big city, but in fact quite ensconced in the boonies of Trump Country, our director advised to not take what will be seen in her depiction as a replacement for Sunday School or church services. She stated that you should still go to those. I think a lot of the blue hairs around me were nodding in agreement.
Once the director was done with her spiel, out came a character known as "the guitarist" who simply existed to play a very simple bass riff that I think I could even learn, I mean it was only a couple chords, but of course it was the awesome riff we all know, which got fulfilled by the taped background music pouncing in afterwards as the foundation for "Heaven on Their Minds." Joshua McGhee as Judas belted this and all his other songs on-point!
I got to mention here too that for all the praise I have on the lead vocalists, much kudos have to go to The Ensemble. Whether they are playing the apostles, or the gathering of the Pharisees, the rabble of Pilate's Court, or the hilariously festooned sycophants surrounding Herod, they played it up superbly. The show would have been in tatters if it weren't for them, applause, applause.
Next lead vocalist in a major solo, Mary Magdalene played by Elise Chaisson Short. Her "Everything's Alright" was spot on, but her biggest solo, the one you would figure she practiced the most on, was just all right. Of course I'm talking about "I Don't Know How to Love Him." The foundation was good, it's just some of the notes she just couldn't reach, she didn't have the range. Elise is a bigger girl so maybe her ability to fill her lungs sufficiently to belt this tune especially out with all the power and emotion it should convey just wasn't there? Not sure. I get the feeling that she was getting a bit of jitters and it was making her crack on some of the notes. Understandable, this is only the second night, and it's a Sebring audience after all. What's a Sebring audience? Remember the blue hairs in Orlando? Multiply that by 10. I guess that any nearly hospice-ready audience with delayed or non-existent reactions including paltry applause since the effort to clap vigorously could bring on the fatal heart attack, could unnerve even the most jaded singer.
But here we go now with the Big Kahuna, that's right, good old JC himself played by Andrew Macbeth.. OMG!!
At first, I got to say, I was taken aback by his seemingly old school style of singing. Not sure how to exactly describe it. Very throaty and very full-bodied, but kind of theatrical. No casual singer would sing this way today, I think. Come to think of it his style was very reminiscent of the actor who played Jesus in the film version. Not sure if that's what his source inspiration was, but it was different from many of the other theatrical depictions I've seen on YouTube. So like JC in the movie, he was big on hitting those notes. And man, do I mean hitting those notes. And sustaining them. I'm talking Gethsemane's "why?!" held in an incredibly awesome high pitch for what seemed like a full minute and a half, I shit you not! Now his acting, I'm going to call that his "to do file." He got the vocals down right, but his visual portrayal, body language, etc was all too much from a place of smugness.
All right, all right, so I like this show here in our little humble town, making it seem like maybe I never have to go ahead and drive 100 miles to Orlando and pay four times the ticket price to see good theater. Wouldn't that be loverly?
But what about the usual gripe about set design, costuming, sound and lighting?
As far as set design and costuming goes, this show has the benefit of being set in contemporary times and was conceived to be portrayed on a minimalist set. So no scene changes, and no elaborate setting, just some rough hewn scaffolding. With a big old crucifix as the main focal point. Contemporary setting, so, my guess is many of the performers just wore what they already had in their closet. My secret little dream though was to have the supposed contemporary setting actually depicting the early 1970s, but no, they went for our actual contemporary times.
Sound was awesome. This really shouldn't be much of an achievement actually since this is a very small theater and since the singers were belting it out with every song I kind of think they could have done without the whole "flesh-colored mic's taped to their face" setup. Would have been cool to see them go full out Yul Brynner, The King and I, "my cancer riddled lungs will be able to project my voice" style of a bygone era, but well...
The lighting was totally awesome. Multicolored spotlights throughout the set, as well as rarely seen at this little theater, special features such as real candlelight, gas-fueled flames, cold sparklers, fog machine effects and even lasers!
They have another show a few months down the road called We Will Rock You. That's right, a Queen tribute show. If tonight's performance is any indication, I think I should get my $30 out right now and book a seat for that one.
I mean, they hit it out the ballpark for the King of Kings, it should still be quite a spectacle for them to do the Queen of Queens.