Jesus Christ Superstar with an Emphasis on Star
One of the most impressive things about someone winning an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) is the incredible versatility it requires. To be skilled in creating for the stage, the small screen, the big screen, and to top it off with music requires incredible skill and an incredibly diverse array of skills. It is worth noting at this juncture that I am only four short steps away from an EGOT. This is one step closer than I am to organizing my life, completing everything on my bucket list, and being the most productive me, at least according to a quick Google search of “things that take 5 steps.”
The next thing that sticks out to me about EGOTs is the incredibly finite number of people who have accomplished the feat. There are currently 12 people who have received an EGOT. To put this in perspective, there have only ever been 12 people who walked on the surface of the Moon. Both are astronomical feats—though only one literally so. Research and common sense indicate that no one has both walked on the one and received an EGOT, but Mel Brooks created Space Balls and Buzz Aldrin had a guest spot on 30 Rock. We can only hope some future badass human finds a shockingly impressive spot in the coolest Venn diagram I can think of.
This only goes to show two things: (1) only a dozen people have ever set foot on a different celestial body and (2) it is really freaking hard to be so good in all these various forms of entertainment. Often actors are incredibly talented in their own field and arguably struggle in other avenues. People heavily criticized Russel Crowe’s performance in the 2012 film Les Miserables. This is the same man who played a gut wrenching performance in A Beautiful Mind and captivated audiences worldwide in Gladiator. The man is a damn good actor but maybe not meant for a musical. Another example that springs to mind happened to a young, innocent Clint Hannah in the early days of iTunes. I wanted to download the song “Common People” by Pulp. I accidentally and unknowingly downloaded a cover of the song by William Shatner. I offer absolutely no remarks on the quality of the song, but please listen to this and understand how phenomenally confusing this was to hear. Really, really confusing.
Because of this fact, I have always been apprehensive when I see a movie or television actor taking a major role in a theater production. Perhaps it is especially cynical, but if my first realization of this casting is through marketing materials, then my first assumption is that it is solely to sell tickets. There is nothing wrong with selling tickets. In fact, I would go on a crazy limb and suggest shows selling tickets and making money for the creatives is actually a good thing. Groundbreaking. That being said, there is some part of me that becomes suspect that the casting was possibly not the best artistic decision.
Of course, I don’t always feel this way. Sara Bareilles wrote all the music for Waitress. It would be absurd to be annoyed seeing her cast in the show. She’s awesome. Similarly, I am not annoyed when actors have one man or one woman shows. Being mad at a that would be a special kind of stupid—like a stand in the aisle while waiting to de-board a plane type of stupid. I’m also often proved wrong. The 2017 production of Sunday in the Park with George starred Jake Gyllenhaal. Yeah he’s a super good actor, phenomenal even in Brokeback Mountain, but he wasn’t for a musical. That is what I said before I saw the show. I was an idiot. Gyllenhaal was phenomenal.
It is with this admitted baggage that I was pretty unsure about Jesus Christ Superstar being the next live television musical. Every single advertisement I saw was “JOHN LEGEND IN JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR” or “JOHN LEGEND SUPERSTAR PLAYING JESUS” or “JOHN LEGEND IS LITERALLY JESUS CHRIST.” Obviously it was to attract viewers, but the subtlety of putting a play about Jesus on Easter was already doing substantial work. Sara Bareilles also got a good chunk of the marketing campaign, but it felt like John Legend was starring in the John Legend musical written by John Legend with special guest appearance by John Legend. The John Legend experience under a very thin veil of a musical. The musical felt an afterthought.
As a huge fan of theater, I am slightly ashamed to say I didn’t know much about the musical before the broadcast. I knew the titular song, of course, and growing up in Atlanta, GA makes it difficult to not be familiar with the story of Jesus so I knew the major plot points. In doing some research for this article, I first accidentally went to the Jesus Wikipedia page before the Jesus Christ Superstar Wikipedia Page. What did I learn? Well the Jesus Christ Wikipedia page has 3 more footnote references than the Tesla, Inc. page. It also has 11 less footnote references than the John Cena page. The Internet is weird.
I think it is important to note familiarity with the work because if you feel strongly about a piece, positive or negative, then you’re going to go in feeling certain ways. If you love a musical, you’re either going to automatically dislike a production of it because it isn’t “your” production. If your favorite musical is less well known, you might also be inclined to like any production so long as it lets you see “your” musical. If you dislike a piece, you won’t like what you see regardless of the production. Mark Zuckerberg could finance a production of the play I wrote in college and no matter who directed it, it would be a hot mess of frantic absurdity. Good production can’t fix terrible play.
Honestly, I really liked this production. I thought it was the most successful live television musical to date, and it comes down to one thing: this was a musical done on stage and filmed on stage. The staging felt appropriately large for a rock opera. Instead of trying to adapt a stage musical for the screen and make anything smaller, the production team filmed a stage musical. I’ll dive a little bit deeper into three areas: (i) the production, (ii) the wardrobe choices, and (iii) the performances.
Production
Using a live crowd really added some excitement to the performance. It felt early that the actors were feeding off the cheers. I’ve never had a group of people cheering for me so I can’t speak for how intense that inspiration is, but I pretended really hard once and it felt good. The emotion and passion of the actors was clearly evident, and the ensemble felt appropriately big yet also intimate depending on the scene.
The minimalist scenery also worked. Outside of scaffolding and the occasional table and chairs, there was rarely much put into the scenery. Again, I think this worked for the show. Not getting overly bogged down in making sure the backdrops fit the various scenes allowed the focus to remain on the performances. Mixing in some really close shots at powerful moments meant this show allowed for the intimacy to shine forth.
Only two spots stood out as not particularly working for me. While I like the crowd being there and the noise worked for me, there were a few odd up close shots of people in the audience. Seeing Jimmy Theaterfan screaming into the camera or looking a little uncomfortable took me just a tiny bit out of the story. Let me live in the show. The other up close shot that didn’t work for me was the extended shot on John Legend during a scene in which Jesus is whipped. I thought it was an interesting way to stage the whippings, but we lost the context of that with this close up. John Legend is a beautiful man, but I can Google images of him if I want to see his face. Mix in the wide shot.
Wardrobe
Rarely does a wardrobe completely make a performance, but a really bad wardrobe choice can detract a lot from a show. Merrily We Roll Along, Sondheim’s biggest flop, was criticized for everything but that included some really bizarre wardrobe choices. That isn’t to say that wardrobe choices need to be understated. Be loud, be bright, and be fun.
Jesus Christ Superstar’s wardrobe choices almost always worked. Did the entire ensemble appear to be wearing some line of the Yeezy brand? Yes, Kanye West was undoubtedly an inspiration. Though I think Jesus was probably an inspiration for the Yeezy brand. Time is a flat circle. Pontius Pilate and King Herod, played by Ben Daniels and Alice Cooper, wore the most color of the night. Bright orange for Cooper and a shiny, shiny magenta jacket for Daniels. They worked. They actively offset them from the neutral tones of the ensemble.
Also I want to make special note of Brandon Victor Dixon’s outfits. The play started with me telling my girlfriend I need some leather pants just like Judas. She appropriately rolled her eyes like one should in that situation. In the second act, I told her I don’t think I’d want leather pants—Mr. Dixon was sweating a lot and I realized leather pants would be my absolute worst nightmare following the Google search “how well does leather breathe.” I realized that leather pants were a thing of the past and purely unnecessary when Judas’s final outfit was a bright, metallic tank top with matching pants. I decided that was the outfit for me and anyone who appreciates high fashion. My girlfriend rolled her eyes a little more intensely.
Performances
There would be no good show without good performances. I will say my concern about John Legend was unfounded. In his role as Jesus, John Legend showed a real rock edge to his voice that I haven’t heard from him before. Though the show is all singing, and he wasn’t able to show acting chops in any spoken lines, I still felt he was strong in all of his parts. This isn’t to say I really doubted his acting chops overall. John Legend was really good in La La Land. He also had by far the best song in that whole movie. This isn’t even a hot take—it’s a cold fact.
Sara Bareilles was also really strong in her portrayal of Mary Magdalene, though the role was a little smaller than I thought it would be when I first saw the marketing for the show. She was good, emotional, and her duets worked with Legend. You can tell she is used to the stage, and she didn’t once shy away from the moment.
Ultimately, the show is named after Jesus, but this is a show for Judas. And Judas. Stole. The. Show. Brandon Victor Dixon stole every scene he was in with phenomenally strong singing, emotion, incredible range in his notes, and of course that sweet, sweet tank top. Perhaps it makes sense that the theatrical production was stolen not by the two musicians but by the guy who has seen the stage in both The Color Purple and Hamilton. I will not be the only one to say it, but Dixon absolutely made the show. I cannot write enough about his performance (or his tank top—I’m an XL and will give my address to anyone willing to buy me one.)
The overall take away? I think this was the best live television musical they’ve done in this new trend. It was well staged, the stars put in good performances, and the soundtrack is something I will listen to for some time. Perhaps most importantly, we can all rally around Brandon Victor Dixon becoming the 13th EGOT and man to walk on the moon. Brandon Victor Dixon for the spot in the Brandon Venn Diagram.