Word: actions
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When Jim Augustine '01, as Herod, takes to the stage for "Herod's Song" during the second act of Jesus Christ Superstar, audience members look and listen. Emerging from the mostly overwhelming and often confusing action of the first act, "Herod's Song" is the most engaging musical number to demonstrate that there may be hope for this production. Unlike most of the preceding two hours, there is evidence of characterization, dynamic choreography and a sudden, long-awaited connection between performers and observers...
...material solely on its own terms, allowing the script (or rather the songs) to drive the show rather than maintaining control over the theatrical experience. This approach results in two things: a pervasive sense of confusion and a profound lack of connection between the audience and much of the action on stage. The palpable anticipation of what is arguably this season's major theatrical event was met with, and disappointed by, the repeated failure of the principals' body microphones, confounding the vocal efforts of the cast, and troubling the audience's ability to immerse in the musical...
Despite the familiarity of the story of Jesus Christ, countless audience members were overheard during intermission asking their companions concrete questions about the action of the play ("Who's that guy who keeps coming out and yelling?" "I think that's Judas..."). Whether or not the audience's competence at following the plot should be a consideration for the director, the fact is that many in attendance were reduced to a state of bewilderment...
...excessive cast: the chorus is referred to in the script as "The 50,000," and Berwick seems to have taken this a bit too literally, casting a truly overwhelming number of actors. Although a large cast, directed so as to focus rather than diffuse the audience on the central action, can work to a show's, this production's overabundance of actors only bolsters the audience's already confused state. Is the crowd happy with Jesus? Angry at him? Leprous? Is their back-slapping friendly, or is it violent? Although the level of dissonance in the musical accompaniment provides some...
Overall, though, even a pall of serious confusion is surmountable if a production manages to create some connection between the audience and the action on stage. However, in this rendition the audience is offered no character with whom to identify. As it is written,Superstar can be performed either as a story of Judas or one of Jesus. In the case of the former, the director must allow the audience to recognize the character of Judas as a narrator. He sings the expositional opening number and the flashy closing number; between these two, if he is visible and relevant...