Hosanna, Hey-sanna. Angels herald the tale of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury, that is. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s sacred rock opera is resurrected through April 23.
This is one of several “Superstars” in Connecticut this Easter season. Ridgefield Playhouse presented it on March 25, and the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra will play it April 7 and 8 at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre. Those are concert versions — that is a common way of presenting this show, which began as a concept album in 1970 and was first presented in the U.S. as a live concert several months before its Broadway debut.
Seven Angels is taking the trickier route of staging the show fully. This requires a cast of nearly 30, dozens of robes and sandals, an offstage band and lead players who can rise to the acting challenge of portraying some of the most famous and infamous figures in world history.
As directed by Janine Molinari and Anthony Patellis, making this all work involves a lot of dancing. Molinari is the resident choreographer at Seven Angels and finds it easiest to manage all those bodies onstage if they’re in choreographed crowd scenes or even kick-lines. She goes all out for “Herod’s Song,” the music-hall routine from the show’s otherwise downbeat second half. A bare-bellied Paul Aguirre tap dances deliriously with an ensemble of servants and handmaidens.
This “JSC” omits a song that isn’t on the original album but is in most stage productions: “Could We Start Again, Please?” I never liked that song, which seems to fly in the face of a central theme of the musical: the pre-ordained inevitability of Jesus’ death. This production plays up the prophetic sense of the story, in which both Jesus and Judas express helplessness and bewilderment.
Christopher Faison is a glowering, agitated Judas. Aaron LaVigne is an involved, exasperated Jesus. (It’s nice when Jesuses eschew the leisurely, dull, holier-than-thou beatitudes of Ted Neeley, who toured in the role for decades.) Chelsey Alfredo gives Mary Magdalene warmth and heart, taking control of the stage for her two big numbers, “Everything’s Alright” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”
It’s never easy to stage this show. You need all those voices to make it rock, but outside of Jesus, Judas and Mary, there’s very little for the performers to do. Mostly they wave their arms and either grin (Palm Sunday) or glare (Good Friday) at each other. A lot of the big staging concepts happen in the second half: “King Herod’s Song,” Judas’ multisong breakdown and death, the 39 lashes, Judas in an Afro and white spangled jumpsuit for “Superstar” (backed by three “Soul Sisters”). Some fierce confrontations occur and the onstage drama finally matches the furor of Lloyd Webber’s score.
You know how this story ends, but getting there rocks.
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR runs through April 23 at Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Road, Waterbury. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., with added Thursday matinees on March 30 and April 6 at 2 p.m. There are no performances Easter weekend, April 13 to 16. Tickets are $42.50 to $57.50, only $25 for patrons under 25 years old. 203-757-4676, sevenangelstheatre.org.
