Theater Review: 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at Waterbury's Palace Theater

Review by Nancy Sasso Janis

The 50th Anniversary Tour of the “Jesus Christ Superstar” has taken to the magnificent stage of Waterbury’s Palace Theater and it is a stunning, heart pounding rendition of one of my all-time favorite shows. The look is modernized, but the sound is essentially the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice score, making for an overall exciting way to celebrate 50 years of “JCS.” It is a “Strange Thing, Mystifying” concept that this sung through musical has been around that long and never gets old.

This is the Regent Park Theatre London Production of “JCS” and has some memorable touches made by director Timothy Sheader. The musical numbers page in my printed program is filled with them, many of which I can’t read, but rest assured that the production is an exciting one to experience. There are some fabulous poses by the ensemble members, the famous “Last Supper” pose by the apostles and an interesting exchange between Jesus and Judas as the show ends.

New York-based actor/singer/musician Jack Hopewell brings all of his talent to the role of Jesus, a role he plays once again. Elvie Ellis is equally strong in the important role of Judas. I firmly believe that “Heaven On Their Minds” is the make or break number of this piece, and Ellis pulls it off beautifully. The actor played Adrian in “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” at Ivoryton Playhouse in Connecticut.

Jaden Dominique is a beautiful Mary in her national tour debut, with a stunning voice to sing “Everything’s Alright,” the iconic “I Don’t Know How to Love Him" and (the added) “Could We Start Again, Please.”

“California boy” Grant Hodges sings the role of high priest Caiaphas with a great bass singing voice and I loved everything about Alex Stone’s performance as Pilate. Stone was part of the national tour of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Mekhi Holloway, a New York-based actor from Lansing, MI, makes the most of his role as high priest Annas, Sherrod Brown (the first male NBA dancer and cheerleader for The Orlando Magic) plays the plumb role of the apostle Simon (“Simon Zealotes”) and Alec Diem rocks the massive silver cape as Herod in his national tour debut.

Ensemble members Thomas McFerran portrays the apostle Peter (“Peter’s Denial”) in his national tour debut and Reese Spencer, a commercial dance major at Pace University, plays the leader of the mob. John Zamborsky, Johann Santiago Santos and Jaylon Crump step up to play the three priests and Icis Xavia Hammond, Katrice Jackson, and Jeilani Rhone-Collins back Judas in white robes for “Superstar.” The ensemble is composed of a host of amazing dancers and singers that bring the modern choreography by Drew McOnie to vivid life. Haley Huelsman in the ensemble is a Madison, CT native living in NYC, returns to this show after performing in the second national tour.

The small onstage orchestra is a mighty group of outstanding musicians, including Music Director Ryan Edward Wise beautifully conducting from behind keyboard 1. I often watched him on his two monitors and enjoyed hearing him counting in his bandmates. Wise’s assistant music director Jeejay Maccariella plays keyboard II. Casimir Olko wails on electric bass and Jacob McCormick crushes guitar one in windows on the second level of the set. James Gabriel is on drums. There is some excellent electronic music design by Ethan Deppe of Midiomatic, LLC. I loved that the actors portraying Jesus and Peter accompanied themselves on guitar at times and the actor playing Annas played electric bass onstage, adding another level of musicianship to their performances.

My companion on opening night was director Bob Tansley and we agreed that the lighting design by Olivier Award nominee Lee Curran was often stunning. Mr. T found the hand-held microphones that went on and off various microphone stands to be distracting as they hid the faces of the singers. I liked some of the hand offs, as the mics almost became a prop, and in some cases actually appeared to be embedded into large crosses and the staffs carried by the priests. The red cord attached to Judas’ microphone plays a role in his hanging. Oh and lots of fog...

The hair, costume and original scenic design by Tom Scutt works so very well on so many levels, and the set involves two levels and a large cross at its center. The silver paint that coats Judas’ hands after he agrees to betray Jesus impressively becomes part of his black ensemble for “Superstar” and the entire ensemble changes into burgundy costumes for the “den of thieves” scene. The uncredited collection of props are always effective, with stiff palm fronds, Greek masks, many a crown on thorns, and variations on the crucifix.

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Be forewarned that this tour performance is presented without the typical intermission after “Damned for All Time/Blood Money” and runs a little over 90 minutes. Performances continue through April 4. https://bit.ly/3VMbhHJ

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the newspaper.

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