I took in a matinee of JCS today in Cleveland. Let me preface this e-mail by saying it�s NOT meant to be �bossy�, or to force my opinionsn anyone who may have enjoyed this show, or to say that they are right or wrong. But, for those who have yet to see the new show, I am posting this to let everyone know what they are in for, and what I experienced today. Yes, I, like everyone on this list, am a Ted/Carl �purist� when it comes to JCS, but I tried to be objective and view this show on its' own merits, for what it was. Now, as often happens with me, this e-mail will probably be very long. Usually I say skip around and read what you want to first. I hope, though, for this e-mail, that you will eventually read everything I write here. And I thank everyone for their patience with my long-windedness. That said, below are my thoughts on this production.

As you have probably seen, I posted Keith Joseph�s review on this show from our Free Times paper this week, and, while Keith can have a tendency to get ornery, in this case, I think he TRULY hit the nail on the head in a LOT of areas.

The BIGGEST objection I had with this show is that it seems COMPLETELY devoid of any TRUE emotion between any of the characters. The ONE thing I could ALWAYS say about Ted and Carl (and this was the case even in 1973 � when they�d only been doing JCS for 1 year) was that there was evidence of real AFFECTION and emotion between the characters they portrayed. (Yes, it was true offstage as well, but ANY good actor can do this � even if they hate the person they are performing with. � If any of you saw �An Officer And A Gentleman� � you would SWEAR that Debra Winger�s character TRULY loved Richard Gere�s character. She once said in an interview that she actually hated Gere. So she let that emotion overflow and used it to seem like love, when it actually was hate, so it IS done.). I did not honestly ONCE feel that Lawrence Clayton and Eric Kunze really cared for each other as Jesus and Judas. I did feel that Mary cared for Jesus. Natalie Toro, who played Mary, for me, was one of the few bright spots in the show. More on her later.

The other thing that I found odd is that Clayton looks twice the age of the other actors onstage. It was like watching the lone adult with all the children. Like seeing Jesus and his �Father�. Very odd. True, Carl would have looked older than Clayton too, but Carl, being the definitive Judas, probably did enough for the audience not to be so aware of this while he was still in the show. Clayton tries to suggest a similarity to Carl, but, at least for those of us who saw Carl, he doesn't really succeed, and his looking so old, made Kunze seem even younger. Granted, Christ was only 33 when this happened, but next to Clayton, Kunze looked almost like a teenager. He just seemed too young. Okay, Ted was 53 when he last did this role, and Carl was 51 the last time he and Ted were onstage together. Both chronologically were WAY past the �correct� ages, but we could buy it for 2 reasons: 1. Both were close to the same age, and were the major relationship in the show being concentrated on, so the age thing wasn�t so daunting; 2. Ted and Carl inhabited the roles, not just acted them, and this can give an actor and audience member a HUGE boost in acceptance. Without any of this, the look, age-wise, of Kunze and Clayton together just seems weird, and doesn�t help with anyone excepting the Judas/Jesus relationship, particularly when the actors themselves seem so devoid of the emotion for each other in their character portrayals. In �The Last Supper�, they actually almost sparred during the �who-will-betray-me� sequence. Shouldn't that be more about Judas not wanting to do it and Jesus saying do it, rather than the two of them looking like Ali and Frazier incarnate?

A second objection I have with this show is the pace. It is just TOO FAST. Part of the blame for the lack of general emotional connection could be the pace of this show. It was so fast that the show, which started at 1:40PM, was down by 3:30PM � and that INCLUDED a 20-minute intermission. WHAT time does THAT kind of pace leave for any moments to be taken at ALL? Scenes barely even ended before the next scene began. At the end of the Temple scene, Kunze threw everyone out, rolled over � and there was Torino singing the �Everything�s Alright� reprise already. How about a second to breathe for Mary to GET TO THE TEMPLE AND JESUS? Not in THIS show. How about giving Judas and Jesus two seconds' break in the betrayal scene at Gethsemane? Nope � the Priests are already grabbing Christ the minute he�s kissed. This pace DOES NOT ALLOW for any moment in the show to be completed, if it is ever BEGUN. I remember seeing a local production of West Side Story here a few summers ago, by one of the most respected directors we have in this area. This woman almost NEVER makes a mistake. The pace in this show was RIDICULOUSLY fast. By the time the actor playing Tony was singing the beginning of �Somewhere� � a tender ballad � like a bat-out-of-hell, I literally said out loud: �Can we PLEASE SLOW DOWN for a minute?!� People were heard walking out of this show saying: �I�m absolutely exhausted.� Now � while JCS wasn�t QUITE that fast, it was still too fast-paced to really take advantage of many subtle things and moments the actors COULD have had. Regardless, though, SOMETHING should come through if an actor is doing his/her job correctly, and, in the case of Kunze and Clayton, the absence of this was horribly disappointing to me, and, takes the whole base of the show away, which makes it virtually impossible to work on this level.

A third objection I have � and actually this made me angrier than anything else I saw today � is that, if I could, I would have SHOT the Musical Director. Really. There is a thing called a PHRASE*. I don�t honestly think any of the actors on that stage have the slightest idea what that word means � consistently. There is a HUGE difference between singing words and notes and singing lyrics and phrases. Lawson Skala (Caiaphas), particularly, should be faulted for this. For GODSSAKES � when you have a phrase like: �Ah, Gentlemen, you know why we are here. We�ve not much time, and quite a problem here.� You do not sing it like �AH � GEN � TLE � MEN � YOU KNOW � WHY � WE � ARE � HERE � WE�VE � NOT � MUCH � TIME � AND QUITE � A PROB � LEM � HERE.� (as if to make sure you hit EVERY SINGLE NOTE like, what we in theatre call your �money note� � which you hit and hold AS LONG AS YOU CAN �to make sure everyone hears it.). Skala not only hit 90% of his notes like a money note, he also dragged out tempos to hang onto these notes as long as he could. If the Music Director, Craig Barna, actually directed him to do that � then it is totally DEPLORABLE! If, he didn�t, and has not put a stop to it � it�s irresponsible. Either way, Barna should be shot. Skala is not the only actor in the show who does this constantly, but he sticks out most in my mind. Stephen Breithaupt (Pilate) was also guilty of this in the Pilate�s Dream sequence. Barry Dennen, in the film was much more subtle and under-spoken, but the famous acting phrase: �less is more� is COMPLETELY ignored in this show. Generally, the actors were so busy making sure EVERY SINGLE NOTE was sung, they missed the point on singing a phrase. Sometimes a word needs to be spoken, you know? I�ve never understood some of these Musical Directors who are so concerned that every note written has to be sung. The result suffers from it. But, maybe it�s just me. The other fault to this lies with the Director, Kevin Moriarty. If the Music Director doesn�t run herd over these kinds of shenanigans, then the Director should put a stop to them. Both Directors DEFINITELY dropped the ball on this issue. And the show suffers a lot because of it.

*(NOTE: I have since received some information from a very reliable source that the choices in phrasing and in some of the musical direction of this production may not have been choices that the Director and Musical Director were at liberty to make, but were, in fact, choices forced upon them by ALW.  What a surprise.  I guess it's not a surprise for me at all - and if I was incorrect about the people responsible for the way certain performances were done, this is my "retraction" for that.  On a further note, since I first wrote my responses to this production, I had the opportunity to work with Craig Barna as our Music Director for the JCS YTA Benefit 8/13/06, and he, in fact, is a very thorough director, who, while leaving room for some creativity by an actor, does not hesitate to correct an actor going in the "wrong" direction. Case in point: he told some "Leper" soloists countless times that the word was 'BE-lieve' - not 'BA-leave', so I don't see him being the reason so many of these choices were wrong.)

I am not sure I agree with some of the staging of certain key sequences. Two of the highlights from the Neeley/Anderson tour were Judas� hanging and Jesus� crucifixion. In this production, for the hanging sequence, a noose does come down, but there is no tree anywhere. This is followed by a blackout. You never see Judas hang. It is during the hanging that the actors are surrounding Kunze and putting him on the cross for the crucifixion scene. But it�s such a mess of people; I wasn�t sure what was going on. I think, during this, the noose did come down like someone had hung himself � but it was so dark onstage, it was impossible to tell definitively if that�s what actually happened.

The Crucifixion was also problematic. Kunze was tied to the cross inthe dark, and then the cast proceeded to LIFT THE CROSS UP and put it in some kind of holder. The thing was very long and big, and awkward, and they had a tough time getting the cross and Kunze in place. Also, because of the way it was placed, when Kunze actually died, he bounced back and hit the cross and the thing proceeded to act like it was swinging slightly. When Ted was crucified, the cross came up by itself with him on it. No awkwardness, no swinging. The Crucifixion is also done in total background silence. You don�t hear anyone crying, or moving, just Kunze talking. The concept album did a brilliant thing with this sequence that would have worked perfectly in a show that is, in some ways, incredibly avant-garde. For those who don�t know this, the album used background sounds as Christ�s bodily functions during his crucifixion. For example, they used the drum for his heartbeat, and things of this nature. When he died all the sounds stopped suddenly. The silence wasn�t horrible, just weird. And Kunze, though he is, in general, a good actor, without all the emotion and, as our local reviewer says: missing any shred of tenderness, vulnerability or pathos, does not really carry enough punch for anyone below him onstage to really be transported. It�s mostly about his struggling to breathe while dying. Very strange. Ted, also did the struggling breathing thing, but he did a lot of other things too. AND, here�s the big thing. Ted, as those of us who saw the show countless times know, floated off the cross during John 19:41. Kunze not only DOES NOT do this � but what transpires is very weird, indeed! During John 19:41, the company takes 3 ladders and leans them on the cross. They climb up, untie Kunze and one places him over his shoulder, then takes him down to the floor and puts him down � and Kunze just lies there with Mary sitting with him and Judas leaning on the cross behind them (JUDAS?!!! Gee � isn�t he ALREADY DEAD?). (I SWEAR, I half expected Torino to pull out a gun and start quoting Maria�s West Side Story lines when Tony dies and she�s sitting with his corpse: �Stay back! How do you fire this gun, Chino? Just by pulling this little trigger?�) Then everyone leaves except Mary, Jesus and Judas. No resurrection at all. You just see the lights go down, then the cast reappears in the dark (you see candles) and you hear �Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, who are you what have you sacrificed?� and then the lights come up and it�s curtain call time. A VERY WEIRD and UNFULFILLING ending to a bizarre production.

Generally, the voices of the actors were very good, particularlyNatalie Torino, as Mary. Kunze and Clayton have good voices as well. Clayton�s Superstar was very good. He does have an excellent range. Kunze also is a very accomplished singer, however, as Mark said to me once, singing certain notes just because they are written � such as the �SEE HOW I DIE� line in Gethsemane, just because EVERY OTHER JESUS sings that high, comes across, again, as an actor singing NOTES � not lyrics. There has to be a REASON you�re singing that phrase high. It has to COME from SOMEWHERE. We all know when Ted did this, it was a result of an emotion, NOT a note on a vocal book or score. Not with Kunze�s version. (Eric Kunze has a very impressive resume. It includes: �Les Miserables� (Marius), �Miss Saigon� (Chris), and �Pirates of Penzance�. To sing the lead roles in these shows, Kunze would HAVE to know this stuff. So, then, this has to be the fault of the Music Director and/or the Director. Or maybe all three of them. It should have never happened at all, if anyone was doing his job correctly.). Skala (Caiaphas) also has a very impressive voice, as does Stephen Breithaupt (Pilate). Incidentally, seeing Pilate as a Nazi Storm-Trooper did fit, but having the entire chorus take turns hitting Christ for the flogging was strange. Also strange was the casting choice for Annas (Jeffrey Polk). Skala is an extremely big and tall actor. Polk is very small. I am small, and I usually cheer using a small actor period, but Polk almost looks like a midget next to Skala. Every time I saw these two together onstage, I couldn�t help thinking of Mutt and Jeff, it almost made me laugh out loud, and that is not the desired effect anyone should have when looking at two of the most evilly-written actors in the script.

On a good note, seeing Barry Dennen onstage again was a highlight.While it was a little bizarre seeing the actor who originated the role of Pilate on both the concept and film albums, and portraying Pilate in the film, now playing the role of Herod, it was an interesting contrast. The Herod sequence was a nice break from the pace that would kill an army. Dennen may not have as powerful a voice as the rest of the leads did, but he DEFINITELY knew what a phase was, and how to sing and use one to his advantage. It�s too bad he couldn�t teach the �youngsters� about this aspect of performance.

There were some other staging choices that were odd, but did worksomewhat. The Temple scene was interesting. However, in 4BC, one would doubt the �Temple� would be a stock exchange, complete with a stock board that flashed things like VIAGRA +4%. When I saw that, I knew I�d seen just about EVERYTHING. The staging of Christ being beaten up in slow motion on the stage level while the rest of the cast sang �Could We Start Again, Please?� one floor above this was interesting, but that song should concentrate on Christ being missed and Mary and Peter, rather than a slow-motion beating, IMO. At least, though, it was watchable, and it was one of the few choices and moments that was actually played-out to completion during any sequence in this show. The Leper-healing sequence was well-staged, and the blue lighting used for the lepers was effective. However, when the same blue lighting was used on the priests, Caiaphas came off looking like a member of the Blue Man Group. I had to stifle a giggle there too. Also, the Hosanna and Herod sequences worked well, though the Herod sequence did border on a cross between Busby Berkeley and The Producers �I Wanna Be A Producer� sequence. And, as Keith Joseph (our local reviewer) did say, most of the choreography was reminiscent of a Gap commercial.

I suppose that for an audience member who has never seen Jesus ChristSuperstar in any other incarnation, including the recent Broadway revival, this production could be a good evening�s entertainment. But for anyone who was lucky enough to see Ted and Carl perform in the 5-year tour, or who saw the 1973 film, it will ultimately be a disappointment. The only thing that could have made it harder for me to enjoy this show would have been if Sebastian Bach had still been portraying Jesus and high-fiving everyone at the curtain call. The most mystifying thing for me is why Andrew Lloyd Webber thought this production was a good representation of what Jesus Christ Superstar is in the first place. Constantly, as I was watching this show, I found myself saying to myself � sometimes even aloud, �What WAS that man THINKING?� But then, the man who forced the closing-down of a 5-year successful tour packing audiences in from coast-to-coast, producing gross incomes approaching $100 MILLION DOLLARS,  and making sure his work was being seen and heard in order to open a slick, heartless, piece of showmanship, almost completely devoid of emotion, has got to have a screw loose SOMEWHERE. This production is less emotional than what I�ve seen of the recent Broadway revival and the 2000 video. So, obviously Lloyd Webber has now not only had a screw loose somewhere, I think the screw is either stripped or gone. It�s a real shame, because with the right direction, this cast has the potential to do a MUCH MORE credible and believable job than they exhibit in this show. That they don�t, is the biggest shame of all.