Tonight I wen to see the opening night of Jesus Christ Superstar in Anchorage.
Let me start off by saying that the show was great. The house was packed. Ted was, of course, Amazing. It has been 15 years since I have seen Ted in JCS in Boston with Carl Anderson as Judas. Naysayers be damned. I have heard plenty of snarky comments about Ted being too old to be playing this role anymore, what with him being twice the age of Jesus. Yet even in his 60's, Ted's performance tonight was every bit as good as it was back then. Gethsemane was breathtaking with the high notes that we all wait to hear. His performance was what I expected, Ted giving it his all.
I guess the tour originally started out with Corey Glover, from Living Colour, as Judas. By the time they got up here Glover had been replaced by James Delisco. Originally I was disappointed when I found out about this but Delisco was brilliant. His voice was fabulous and he was a great Judas. I got to meet him after the show and when he asked me where I was from he seemed sincerely amazed that I had flown 550 miles from northwest Alaska down to Anchorage to see the show.
Cristina Sass was a lovely Mary. Her voice is sweet yet strong and she was a pleasure to listen to.
All that being said I do have one complaint. The sound system. I realize that this was opening night at a new venue, but they really need to get the sound levels straightened out. The music was excellent, but it often seriously overpowered Ted, Delisco and the others. The lyrics tell the story and they were often drowned out.
I waited for a while after the show to see if Ted would come out. The place was almost empty when I gave up and headed back to my car. That's ok, I don't mind. I met him once before, on his birthday in 1993 at JCS in Durham, NH. I don't know what I would say to him anyway except maybe "Thanks for the awesome show".
3 comments:
Dude! How about Fiddler?
I mentioned Fiddler in an earlier post. I didn't get into a big review of it because I didn't want to hurt anbody's feelings...BUT..... Let me start out by saying that I know this was youth theatre. I have seen a lot of youth theatre and been involved in youth theatre, but I was disappointed by Alaska Theatre of Youth's Fiddler.
I think I expected more from them. Much of the acting was weak, so when there was a good actor they overpowered the weaker ones. The singing was pretty good by some of the people. Really I am much more tolerant of weak singing than weak acting. A few of the main characters did not have very good projection or enunciation which made them difficult to hear even though the stage was mic'ed.
I don't think the blame lies entirely with the kids. I think some of these problems could have been worked out by some good old fashioned directing from their Director.
I was ready to leave halfway through the first act but I didn't want to be rude. I left during the intermission. I just couldn't sit through the second act. First play I have ever walked out of. I was bummed.
i went to jesus christ superstar last evening and it seems they got the bugs worked out. it was an amazing show and my first. btw, my husband went to UNH, living in durham in the late 80's. its a small world, isnt it?
i enjoy your blog.
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