A legend on stage comes to life

IN THE beginning, God created the heavens and earth''. Last Friday, man recreated God on stage. A very contemporary avatar of Jesus Christ.

The legendary rock opera of the seventies, `Jesus Christ Superstar' took centre-stage at Music Academy. Same story, same music (Andrew Lloyd Webber), same lyrics (Tim Rice) but new faces. Faces that Chennai has seen before in different roles.

The faces that have spent years in the background, waiting to see the light of their day.

It would be unfair to compare amateur effort with the Broadway original. But the musical produced by Board Walkers, still managed to strike a high degree of professionalism, rarely seen before.

The band: Keith Peters (bass), Jim Sathya and Sagar on Keyboards, Ranjith on drums, Christy on the lead and rhythm guitar, struck the right chord. The co-ordination extremely professional, the live music lending life to the musical.

Next comes the cast - a host of talented young performers, not just actors. The director Michael Muthu cuts a neat cameo himself as Pontius Pilate. Between Judas (Shudeep) and Jesus (David Pascall), the competition was intense, both of them vying for acting honours.

Difficult to say who won, but Jesus did have a tough time during the `crucifixion' climax, when he had to hold on the cross even as the foot-rest kept slipping.

Vinita Nayar as Mary, Caiaphus and Annas played by Saurab Ahuja and Freddie Koikaran, Arjun Thomas as Peter and Ashok Cherian as Herod fitted the bill, supporting the lead cast, scene to scene.

The choreography was innovative - a bunch of energetic and talented dancers led by Jeffery Vardon, did a neat job in building the drama - all done in a flash, elegantly.

Even the other artistes who formed a part of the mob, apostles, priests and guards chipped in with sincere and convincing performances.

With the space management and the sets meticulously done, `Jesus Christ Superstar' was sheer team-work standing out. And an opportunity for Chennai to ``witness briefly the glorious gardens of Gethsemane, almost 2000 years after the original performance''.

Sudhish Kamath

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Entertainment
Previous : Chords & Notes