After hours of rehearsals off the University of Oklahoma’s campus, the Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre is set to open “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Oklahoma City Myriad Botanical Gardens.
Jesus Christ Superstar tells the story of the final weeks of Jesus’ life and features rock opera performances and the humanization of disciples.
The show debuted in 1970 as a concept album before it hit Broadway in 1971. The album’s success led to its Broadway production as a result of the lyricism and musicality of its writers, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
After Jesus Christ Superstar, the pair created “Evita” together in 1978 before Rice and Webber split ways in the 1980s. Webber composed more musicals, such as “Cats” (1981) and “Phantom of the Opera” (1986). Rice signed with Disney and co-wrote “A Whole New World” from Aladdin (1992) and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the Lion King (1994) as well as other tracks unrelated to Disney.
Over 50 years since Jesus Christ Superstar’s debut, the musical has been performed across the world and for Broadway revivals in 1977, 2000 and 2012. For Tim Espinosa, OU assistant professor of musical theatre performance, keeping the musical appealing to younger audiences proved a challenge.
Espinosa is a first-year professor at OU and said that he hopes he brings a “new energy” to OU. Espinosa incorporated a new vision into the musical through casting traditionally male roles to female-identifying students.
“My passion for diversity, equity and inclusion, and specifically, dismantling oppressive systems in musical theater, is something that I’m very passionate about and try to find its way into my directorial processes,” Espinosa said. “We have casted an incredible group of principles that are female identifying. It’s been done before in past concept recordings, but it’s never fully manifested on stage. This may be the first time that an audience can see a host of characters that traditionally, roles were not written for.”
The cast explored their characters’ identities and how to incorporate those identities into their performances.
“What I feel like this is doing is opening the doors for students to see themselves reflected in new kinds of ways that they haven’t before,” Espinosa said. “I hope this is something that continues on a greater scale in the whole fine arts system.”
Jesus Christ Superstar is told through the eyes of Judas, played by musical theatre performance junior Keely Anders.
Jesus Christ Superstar poster provided by the Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre.
“Judas’ story is very intricate,” Anders said. “They’re misunderstood. Their journey and their story throughout the show is them trying to get Jesus to listen. They never had ill intentions. Judas really loves and cares for Jesus.”
Anders described her role as Judas as a new experience, tying back to Espinosa’s hope of incorporating fresh ideas into OU fine arts.
“It’s a character I’ve never played before,” Anders said. “It’s stereotypically portrayed by a man. Being a woman and having my own turn on (the character) is really fun to get to experiment with my side of it. Building the character has been really, really exciting for me, and working with Lydia and Sydni has been a great process.”
Musical theatre performance junior Sydni Moon plays Mary, the only traditionally female main character.
“Mary is this iconic woman in Jesus’s life,” Moon said. “We’ve looked at it in a new way. The story that’s been told is that she was living a life as a sex worker and was brought into Jesus’s group and saved. (The directors) have been doing a really good job at bringing more sides to her than what’s usually shown.”
Moon explained that the directors and cast looked into Jesus and Mary’s relationship where the pair are consistently confiding in one another. As one of three female leads in the show, Moon said that a large focus has been further understanding the love between them.
“We have a lot of different perspectives in the room,” Moon said. “We’ve broken down gender identity, sexuality and other religions. We’ve examined the relationships between people.”
Alongside looking into the relationship between characters, the cast placed an emphasis on examining the individual nature of their characters. Musical theatre performance junior Lydia Campbell plays Jesus, who Campbell said grapples with mental health prior to their crucifixion.
“We’re focusing on the human emotions and how each of us affect each other,” Campbell said. “It hit me that while Jesus knew how long he had to touch people before his crucifixion, we don’t know how long we have with other people on this Earth. We have no time to take for granted, and that’s what I really take away from the show; to be grateful for the time you have with people and to not take it lightly.”
Like Moon, Campbell credited the directors with creating an open space for different ideas.
“It’s a big deal with the casting being prominently female that these emotions don’t have to be felt just in the traditional ways we see them in traditional roles,” Campbell said. “(The directors) created an environment that’s allowed us to be ourselves authentically for these characters, which is a boost the show needs. Getting to bring my own authenticity in this role has been a really cool collaboration.”
As the only OU Musical Theatre production put on off OU’s campus, Jesus Christ Superstar stands out among other shows being performed this semester. Espinosa elaborated on other characteristics of the show that make it stand out.
“It’s going to feel like a rock concert married to a dance concert,” Espinosa said. “The show is very nonlinear so I want it to feel that way. You’re going to see actors with hand-held mics singing like they’re in a rock concert with an amazing cast of dancers behind them doing some really amazing choreography.”
Jesus Christ Superstar opens at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 30 at the Myriad Gardens Water Stage and Plaza at the Oklahoma City Myriad Botanical Gardens. Additional performances will take place March 31, April 1 and 2, with adult tickets priced $25 and student tickets priced $15.
This story was edited by Silas Bales and Emma Blakley. Nikkie Aisha and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
