Jesus Christ Superstar

The Alhambra

A SHOW doesn’t run for more than 40 years without being good, but I didn’t realise just how good Jesus Christ Superstar is.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera tells the story of the last week in the life of Jesus and uses a lively and powerful score which you will recognise and be singing for days after seeing the production.

It’s a musical I hadn’t seen before tonight, and one I’d not particularly considered going to watch - but I think it might just be my new favourite.

One minute you’re dancing in your seats, then the mood changes and you’re crying at the emotion of the performances of Tim Rogers (Judas Iscariot) and Glenn Carter (Jesus Christ), then weeping with laughter at the comic relief if the scene-stealing King Herod, played by Tom Gilling.

Although I was a stranger to the show, like most people I knew its most legendary hits - I Don't Know How to Love Him and, of course, Superstar - both of which were very good, but nothing compared to the powerful solo Gethsemane which closes act one.

The song is the only one Jesus performs alone and Carter saved all he had for it with a truly amazing performance. The emotion reduced me, and others, to tears.

Carter has played the title role in the West End, on Broadway and in the 2000 version of the film and his experience of, and passion for, the role shows. Later when he was being flogged, it was difficult not to shout for it to be stopped.

The show opens with Judas warning Jesus not to believe the hype around him being the son of God as he fears it will be his downfall. Judas is the world’s most well-known traitor, but in Jesus Christ Superstar, the anguish he suffers while making that decision is explored and Tim Rogers’ depiction of that internal wrangling was brilliant.

Another mention must go to Kristofer Harding who played Simon Zealotes and Neil Moors as Caiaphas.

The X Factor finalist Rachel Adedeji played Mary Magdalene and has a beautiful voice and looked the part, but wasn't quite as emotive as other performers.

The simple, versatile staging worked superbly and particularly when Judas’ suffering becomes so desperate that he takes his own life.

My own opinion of the show was concreted by one of the friends I saw the show with tonight. My limited knowledge of the production is more than made up for by her.

To say she is a super fan is an understatement of the biggest kind. She knows the musical inside out – every word, cough and splutter - has umpteen facts and stats about it at her fingertips and has seen one version of the film around 600 times.

The upshot is that if she likes it, then it can’t really be improved on and her verdict was that she loved it.

The show runs until Saturday, November 28.