Jesus Christo

Last night, we caught Jesus Christ Superstar over at MIT's Musical Theatre Guild. My roommate, Shawn Gelzleichter, directed this rocking and hard-hitting show.   We wanted to support him, and up to this point, I had not seen the movie or show, but Brashani had seen the movie. I was, however familiar with the music beforehand.  We wanted to check it out, see a friend or two, and help get some ideas for own production and marketing.

The show depicts the last days of Jesus Christ, from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, and the events leading up to the crucifixion.   This version, however is not set in its usual biblical time, since the show itself is a bit anachronistic, with the music numbers and a lot of the lyrics.  Shawn had decided to set it in Warsaw Ghetto/Prison Camp during the German occupation in Europe.  That in itself was a very strong choice.   Shawn had made very good choices depicting several scenes, specifically a scene where Jesus is bombarded by lepers, utilizing everyone in the cast to really give the feel numbers that needed Jesus' healing.

The set, designed by Luis Loya, another roommate of mine, was put together incredibly well. The use of the brick walls, chain link fences and levels really created a cramped and desolate environment, only have Jesus Christ being the light in this established world. In many ways, we want something similar for Chicago with the look and feel of the Insane Asylum.  We could see a lot similarities.

The show really focused on Judas and his struggles to maintain some level of peace in his eyes and his love for Jesus. The role was extremely well played by Rich Fulkerson, who nailed the high notes and the rock, while still creating the inter turmoil of this misunderstood character.

Brad Smith played Pilate, a man who has his own demons to deal with, must do what he has to do, while showing us that in turn, he just as human as the rest of us.  His singing was spot on, especially through his darkness moments.

All in all the show was very solid and it highlighted the emotional moments depicted in the story. The musical had a lot of depth, with the music and scenes.  With Chicago, there is a lot of opportunities to bring forth the emotion of some of the characters so we are able to create real people.  When we are diagnosing the characters, we want to avoid fake depictions and really dive deep into their psychoses.

At one point, the cast came out during the show into the house and handed out brochures that talked about Jesus and to spread the word.  This viral approach created a connection to the audience, another aspect we hope to bring into Chicago. With our skyline flats, we hope to do the same.  Also, the brochures sparked an idea of having something similar in our media kits, maybe letters of admission to the insane asylum for Roxie and Velma.

After the show, we talked more about marketing ideas with Shawn over dinner.  His direction gave us a lot of good ideas as well as sparking some as a result.  We should have some cool stuff out soon.


Stay tuned for more updates!



Photo
Jesus Christ Superstar show logo
Copyright MIT Musical Theatre Guild 2010