Jesus Christ Superstar gives voices to the 99 percent

by Drew Rowsome

"Anyone who rocks the boat, doesn't come out unscathed," says Luke Brown the director of Hart House's production of Jesus Christ Superstar. "I just don't think the world has changed that much in 2,000 years. We're not taking a religious tack, that's the least interesting aspect. When someone says, 'I'm here to change the world,' the first thing that would happen is they'd be locked away. Or worse. We saw it with JFK, Martin Luther King . . . It's a story we keep seeing."

Brown was already a fan of the score and the movie of Jesus Christ Superstar, "It's a contemporary setting, ripped jeans, t-shirts, we took inspiration from Zuccotti Park in New York. I wondered what would those people look like today? And I thought of the Occupy Movement. They had demands - food, shelter, being treated equally - but they didn't have a solid framework or goal. What if they did? What if there was someone to rally them? It was peaceful, exciting that they might actually change something, but they were met with so much hostility. People were so eager to shut it down. People in power still want to stay in power."

The parallels are obvious and Brown found the hook to distinguish this production. "Jesus Christ Superstar is really having a second coming. These things come in waves. It had been so popular for so long but there's been enough time that people want to take another look." Brown references the Stratford production that then went to Broadway, the arena tour (with a star found on a reality competition TV show as well as Johnny Lydon and a former Destiny's Child) that was a hit in the UK but collapsed before reaching North America, and the production currently running at the Lower Ossington Theatre. What was once controversial is now a beloved standard.

"Rock n' roll is no longer the devil's music," says Brown. "The story is all in the Bible and people have embraced it. Church groups put it on. Even a show as satirical and critical as The Book of Mormon, has the Mormon church taking out ads saying, 'You've experienced the play, now read the book.' Religious figures, Protestant and Catholic, now say 'Anything that brings attention to this story.'"

From devil's music to canonical score is a leap made easier by the ear-catching strength of the music and lyrics. "The auditions were tough," says Brown. "We were nervous, would we be able to find such high calibre singers? We could have cast the show two or three times over. We haven't even had to transpose anything. There were so many talented females that five of the apostles are female." 

The surplus also lead to another cross-gender casting. Brown politely suggests that King Herod is usually played as "campy" whereas the truth is more flamboyant and coded as gay (though whatever Johnny Lydon's spin would have been was sure to be unique). "Saphire Demitro [Little Shop of Horrors] came in, such a voice, where do we put her? So we re-though Herod as a kind of Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Valley girl snob, she's angry she's not getting what she wants. Saphire was the best person for the role, she has a kind of insane voice." 

Demitro's was not the only voice to startle Brown. "Aaron Williams came in and sang 'Blood Money' in this huge rock soul voice. We asked, 'Why aren't you fronting a band?' 'I don't know.' 'What brought you out?' 'I love the music.' He just naturally has something,  he feels the music and understands how to express it. He's totally raw and totally natural and his voice is a gift from God with incredible range." So Williams was cast in the vocally demanding role of Judas. "He's also very nice and very funny, it's a blessing. I've only had to pull him back. I remind them all that it's not about being note perfect but about puddles of sweat."

For the pivotal role of Jesus, Hart House lucked into the puddle of sweat-inducing David Michael Moote who rock-starred briefly but memorably in Next to Normal. "He's so sexy," enthuses Brown. "He has so much. Once he's taken prisoner, he doesn't say much but he expresses so much while getting whipped and beat, over and over." Moote carries the whole theme of the show on his broad shoulders. "It's such a downer ending," says Brown. "There's no resurrection, just him on the cross, lights down." Fortunately there is "so much passion in the music, in the show" that the climax climaxes. 

Part of that passion comes from the tension between Jesus and Judas. "The two are closer than brothers," says Brown. "They're like Lennon and McCartney: they love each other, they mean the world to each other, but they can't stay together."

The ensemble cast is large with 21 "phenomenal talents. We could have gone a lot bigger, there are so many people that pop on and off. There are 12 apostles, Jesus and Mary [Claire Hunter], that's 14 already. There's not a lot of wiggle room, people are doubling up." Some of the cast also double up as musicians to supplement the five-piece band who are "on stage for the duration. I like musicals. I like the scale of musicals. You get a lot of toys, you get to have fun," says Brown who has already ripped up the Hart House stage with The Wedding Singer. 

"The most phenomenal thing is the talent onstage and the voices that are in this city," says Brown. But the themes of  Jesus Christ Superstar seem to have wormed their way into Brown's psyche. "How is it relevant today? How do we view people participating in a protest? I've honked at and flipped off protesters, but I should have been listening."