Jesus Christ Superstar

For everyone who acted in it, Jesus Christ Superstar was one of the best shows ever. The audience sizes backed this up: the show was sold out all three days of its run. Like all productions, however, there were good things and bad things about Superstar.

The Good

Jesse Darden, Pablo Vega, and Aly Light made a strong vocal triumvirate that was capable of pulling off Andrew Lloyd Weber's difficult musical score. These three voices set the vocal foundation for the rest of the cast, which was able in most cases to rise to the challenge.

In a completely different area, the scenic elements for Superstar were excellent. The set was a complex array of triangular platforms at different heights, and the lowest point of the stage projected into the orchestra pit. J.T.'s paint job was world-class, the set covered in swirls of color which responsed differently to each of countless styles of lighting. It was all covered in a medium gloss which made the stage positively glow.

As I've said, the show commanded the attention of audiences. Although it was one of the most expensive shows ever produced by Hanes Theatre, it was also one of the most lucrative. In theatre, the only important measure of success is the box office, which makes Jesus Christ Superstar the best show I have ever worked on.

The Bad

The instrumental accompaniment for Superstar comes from a full-out rock band and an orchestra. A voice is frail compared with a distortion amp. This was the problem that most of the vocalists had: they were unable to overpower horns, woodwinds, strings, and an electric bass, electric piano, and electric guitar. The solution: amplification. Each solo singer in the cast was issued a dedicated wireless microphone. These cost hundreds of dollars each, but even such a high price tag doesn't guarantee reliability. On the contrary, wireless microphones outside of a laboratory environment are among the most unreliable technologies available, especially when you strap them to a performer, hide them in hair and costume, and make the performer sing and dance. The microphones were the main source of problems for our production of Superstar, especially since four of them had to share frequencies with others. These problems were persistent and often impossible to solve, certainly impossible to solve without stopping the show.

David Sorrells is a very nice man. As a result, he feels guilty turning anyone away when he is casting a musical. If 170 people show up for a show with 30 spots, there will be more than 30 people in the cast. For Superstar, there were nearly 80 cast members. This many people makes for a cluttered stage look no matter what. Additionally, and this was what I saw as the stage right ASM, a large cast means a talkative cast. The exact reasons for this are unknown. However, everyone in this cast was best friends with everyone else, which is great for their sense of ensemble but not great when it comes time to get anything done. Although a few of them were willing to get down to business, most were content to talk as long as possible. This made headaches at each stage of the process, from learning the music all the way through to performance. Waiting for their entrance in the wings, they would talk, even through the performances. One of the paradoxes of the stage is that even when it takes serious amplification to overpower the orchestra with a singing voice, a whispering voice immediately cuts through all of it and distracts the audience. I was given a blue flashlight and instructed to shine it at anyone who was talking in order to silence them. Most of the actors thought I was a complete asshole, and the method was never completely successful.

The show gave me the opportunity to learn. From four until seven o'clock, for at least three weeks, I had nothing to do but to run the CD player as the performers ran through various parts of the show with the recorded accompaniment. This gave me time to learn (via users' manual) the workings of the sound and lighting equipment at Hanes Theatre. J.T. (the Hanes Theatre technical director) later told me that I knew more about the light board than he did, and the reason for that is Superstar. It was then that I learned the light board, then that I memorized the default lighting plot, then that I figured out the patch bay and the audio mixer and all of those things which to this day make me good at the things I do. I owe that legacy to Jesus Christ Superstar, and for me, that is the most important thing that came from the experience.

That, and seeing Jesse Darden crucified in a diaper.