Jesus Christ Superstar

I went to see the MLT's production of Jesus Christ Superstar on Friday night (just gone) and was blown away by the talent in the cast. Well done to Karen Francis for taking on such a massive play and leaving me with a lasting impression. I was moved from beginning to end and was amazed that this was an amateur show!! All the leads were incredible and the dancing extremely eye catching!! Thank you for a great night out and thank you to all the cast and crew. Everyone involved did an exceptional job!!! :)

Theatreperson, I can't help noticing that your real name is Alison Hill. Funny, the character of Mary Magdalene in the show was played by a young lady by the name of Alison Hill... Are you in fact the very same person - in which case, you did well to watch your own show! Of course, it is not outside the realms of possibility that there are two people in Perth/Mandurah with this name, in which case I beg your forgiveness for casting aspertions upon your personage. But at this stage of the game it all looks a little dodge to me... That being said, I didn't mind the show. There were some really good elements to it. I think many of the cast members must have been sick though, because quite a few people were struggling with the top end of their register, which was disappointing. I get that you can't help being sick and I'm really not trying to have a go at the performers here, but I WAS disappointed with some of the singing. I really liked the projections - especially the more artistic/abstract imagery. And the gunshot effect was very specky! Overall I thought that the set was visually interesting and in most cases well used. Please, please, please stop having the cast on-stage as the audience enters to take their seats. I saw this in Grease, We Will Rock You and now JCS - the effect really puts me off (a sentiment I heard echoed by a number of audience members) and I feel it impinges upon the structural integrity of the art. Now that's just my opinion - listen or don't, I don't really care. I'm sorry to say, I HATED the King Herrod scene. I know I am in the minority here, as this scene got the biggest audience reaction when I saw it, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't like it. I thought Herrod looked like a muppet and that the actor presented the character as gay. I agree that King Herrod should be presented as effeminate and camp, but not gay - and for me there is a difference. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs, but it ruined the scene for me. I also didn't liek the flip with the drag queen's wig falling off - couldn't see the point. Likewise, I couldn't see the point of Herrod taking his coat off at the end of the number - it just didn't make sense. Anyways, this is the most poorly worded review, so I suggest the cast and crew ignore it and enjoy the fact that you had a financially successful show that the bulk of your audiences loved. Peace Out *mwah*

We loved Jesus Christ Superstar( by MLT ) so much that we attended two shows. The first in Kwinana, and the second in Mandurah. What an amazing show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These young people are so talented and have huge futures in front of them. Not only were they amazing on stage, but the cast were truly gracious and humble when approached by my eleven year old daughter for autographs. We really liked the Herod scene, and found it gave some light relief from the more emotionally gruelling scenes that followed. The production has stayed with us , moved us, and given my daughter a whole new set of idols to aspire to. Stand out performances by Jason Arrow as Judas and Ali Hill as Mary Magdalene. Thank you Karen Francis for opening up our world to the wonder that Jesus Christ Superstar was and is. Our group that attended varied in age from eleven to ninety two, and each came away inspired and impressed. I am not a reviewer ( or a cast member0 , just a Mum, an audience member, and a true fan of each and every one of you involved in this production. Congratulations and Thank you

It was indeed me that started this thread *blush* I do apologise and wasn't trying to pump up our show, but they never review Mandurah anymore due to all the fighting that went on ages ago over a few shows and it turned nasty and someone got reported. So they stopped reviewing them. I didn't get into specifics, just tried to write it from a convincing audience persepctive to get the ball rolling. So I do apologise if it appears dodgy, but we just wanted to hear some feedback based on the viewers... and of course, I did think my fellow cast mates all did a fantastic job. It was 5 months of hard rehearsals... and I swear the cast all got knocked out with swine flu. Jesus and Judas were very sick in the Mandurah shows... poor buggers. But they soldiered on. But it's good to hear some feedback about what you thought. so thank you! xx

and ps... just kidding about swine flu.. it was just regular flu... but we all got hit hard!

Well, Ali, seeing as you are asking..... I saw the Saturday matinée with my wife, on what was a very busy Saturday, as I had to be back in Perth to be onstage myself that evening. All in all, I had a very enjoyable afternoon. I've seen a couple of versions of this fantastic musical, and I guess the problem is, it's difficult to measure up to the well listened to professional version. A agree with a lot of Walter Plunkett's review. As I said, I enjoyed the show overall. My highlights... I thought you were great Ali, though my wife thought your voice to be too strong for the role of Mary. Jason did a commendable job as Judas, and coped well through his illness. It's a tough role that needs a big rock voice which I thought Jason delivered in spades. The third of the lead trio let the team down a bit though. He had a fantastic falsetto and hit those top notes beautifully, but really struggled at the top of his regular register. I guess some of this (or all of it?) can be put down to his illness. There were quite a few bum notes that had me wincing in my seat, and I wish I could have seen the show when the cast were all fit and healthy. Drue (Godwin?) - I'm going from memory here - as Simon also had a very nice voice, but struggled similarly on the high notes. Pilate carried his role off beautifully. Strong voice well suited to the role. That brings me to the use of the video screen. There were times, such as Pilate's dream, where the AV really worked well. But less is more in my opinion. The dripping water during Everything's Alright was downright annoying. It added nothing to the piece, and was just a distraction. It's a peeve of mine in any show - use the video if it adds to the story, otherwise turn it off. I really enjoyed the director's imagining of the high priests - gangsta style :) Caiaphas was great, and the actors seemed to enjoy tackling the role of "bad guy". Disclaimer - my brother played one of the priests. (Hope he's still talking to me) Herod didn't work for me. He seemed to speak-sing his way through the song. This is the comic relief in what is otherwise a very intense show, and I thought it was way over the top. As Plunkett said, most seemed to really enjoy it, so I guess I'm in the minority. Another pet peeve of mine is mics. Most of them worked most of the time, but they all were clipping on the big notes. This is purely a tech issue, and I don't know anything about using mics, or setting them up, just that those big notes distorted horribly, which is most unkind to the actors. Having said that, the mics were a big improvement over my last trip south - "Paris". Congratulations to Karen and her cast and crew for providing and enjoyable afternoon's entertainment. This group does a huge amount of work to present their show at three different venues, and I truly admire the effort that they all put in. I look forward to your next production. Can I make a donation towards a haircut for Jason? www.meltheco.org.au

I always struggle to find review pages for Mandurah shows so nearly missed out on leaving one for this production, and then spotted this thread by chance. Ali Hill had a lovely stage presence, and performed her numbers well. Each one was clear, well controlled, and sang with ease. Paul Spencer did a good job on the night considering he was very ill. Not an easy role to pull off when one is not at full force. It was only Paul's head voice that I was not too fond of, which may have been again due to him being poorly. However, I had the pleasure of seeing Paul in his previous production of 'The Producers' which he was fantastic in and my favourite of that show. I'm sure he would have performed this role just as well if on form. Lewis Scott too played his character well. How the lighting shadowed on him at certain angles making his face appear more chiseled and evil worked very well in his favor. Jason Arrow. Now this guy is ridiculously good. I have been a big fan of Jason's voice for a while now, and have told him to get some polish on his voice, and push himself further as he has more than the tools needed to be something special. As expected, and without offending the rest of the cast as that is not my intention, it was in my eyes, the Jason show. When Jason is in his vocal zone, he cannot be touched. He sets the bar, and then breaks the bar. Incredible vocal range. Great first song, amazing death scene / number which was the highlight of the show undoubtedly. Drue Goodwin appeared to be onto something good in his number until he slipped UP the stairs (the doofus ;) ) and dropped his microphone. An easy accident when caught in the moment by the looks of it. Fortunately I had seen Drue perform this number during one of their rehearsals so knew this number/performance was one of the highlights of the show. Ben Hewson had some nice lines in his dancing and it would have been nice to have seen him dance more. Lucy Green was also another dancer who had the edge. The only downside that I will mention of the show which has to be said, is the poor sound quality. There is nothing worse than witnessing a lovely scene being ruined by feedback, distortion, etc. It really reminds you that you are watching an amateur show which is a great great shame. At one point I said to myself "Jesus Christ, just nail me to a cross now if this is going to continue!!" Luckily, I do not recall it happening in the 2nd Act so was able to enjoy the effort put into the show by the cast. Christian Dalton "Appreciate your stage, and your stage will appreciate you. Lose yourself!"

Wow... It is interesting that MLT needs to pose as an audience members to get reviews... strange... I saw the show in bunbury and mandurah and was very disapointed with all the hype of this show... I agree alot with Walter Plunkett and their review. as stated by Walter there were some really good elements to the show. I think many of the cast members must have been sick though, because quite a few people were struggling with singing, which was disappointing. I really liked the projections - especially the more artistic/abstract imagery. And the gunshot effect was very specky! I cant agree more with Walter - Please, please, please, please, please, please stop having the cast on-stage as the audience enters to take their seats. It becomes very tacky! and i feel like im watching the cast thru their windows seeing them play in their lounge room with friends.... I also saw this in Grease, We Will Rock You and now JCS. I also HATED the King Herrod scene. I thought Herrod looked like a muppet in his costume and that the actor presented the character as gay. I agree that King Herrod should be presented as camp, but not gay - and for me there is a difference. Also were the drag queens needed??? i feel its a kind of trend with MLT shows to make it overly camp and queeny with the drags but please think twice before adding in transgender roles for the sake of it... Kudos go to Sean Read for me he was a real stand out and really showed great character... Other stand outs were ali hill and jason arrow... Unfortantly i did not like the performance of jesus cant remember the name of the actor as we forgot to get a program, I understand the cast were sick but if thats the case maybe think about understudys or swings... This brings me to the fact of illness and the fact that i heard from a number of people involved in the show that the cast were in fact infected with some kind of flu be it swine or not, and that people were told to keep quite around staff at mpac because the if staff found out they would pull the show... i think MLT needs to be honest and asking cast to keep hush hush is not very good practice... the fact is it is very dangrous considering how many people attended the next day for auditions... Once again this is just my opinons and food for thought. - George Plunkett

Hi there - Not writing a review as I was crew on this show. I just wanted to clear up a few facts. Not jumping down anyones throats just giving the facts on the points that I have knowledge of. Starting on Stage. This was not done in We Will Rock You (I cannot comment on Grease - i didn't see it). However in We Will Rock you, the band was on stage - yes. Cast - no. The show started in black out with the character Pop coming on from running through the audience. Man I hope I'm right otherwise Im going to look like a right dork. Mics proving it was an amateur show. The sound desk was run by a professional sound tech of MPAC. Cast illness and understudies. This is something I do agree with you on. However it is a practise of MLT no to use understudies as they believe understudies put in as much work as a lead and then don't get the reward. However there usually a cast member able to pull off the role if need be - ONLY to be used in a real emergency. I don't think a couple of bum notes is an emergency. Using a swing would not have been possible for this show as not enough men auditioned. Surprise Surprise. Keeping illness a secret. As for having to keep sickness a secret, I was one of the sick people (in Bunbury and I stayed away - well enough however by Mandurah). I was never told to keep my sickness a secret. Trust me the amount of coughing and tiger balm backstage...it was no secret everyone was sick. King Herod - Drag queen wig. The wig in King Herod was no meant to fall off. However covering up with a convincing 'Oopsie' by the dancers was the alternative to 'OH NO THAT WASN'T MEANT TO HAPPEN!!!!!' *tears* *runs off stage* Ok thats the bits and pieces I know about. Other artistic direction ie Drag in Herods, Amount of projection - i cannot comment on as I do not have those facts. And as for Ali fibbing and pretending she was a reviewer - I'll be sure to give her a big smack when I next see her. - Sky

I too was working as crew on the show so I am not reviewing I am simply wanting to make comment on reviews, not to start an argument or anything. I was the av designer and it was interesting that it got mentioned cause it was my first show that I had done AV for but Im a believer that any feedback is good feedback :) I was hoping to go with the less is more approach also and to be honest the AV in the show was more than I would have liked but when a director likes something it gets used! In regards to everythings arlight, good to know that it was seen as distracting. Any other comments/criticism would be greatly appreciated! I just want to take the opportunity to thank all of the cast and crew for the amazing experience that was this show, it certainly was full of great memories and i look forward to working with all of you again sometime! Ben Caunt

Well done to all the cast and crew on a great show! I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar twice - once at Kwinana and then at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. As I know certain members in the cast I won't evaluate each individual but I thought it was an amazing show - some of the leads blew me away! I particularly loved Judas's death scene, it was such a powerful scene - Jason Arrow did an amazing job with the role. Also the crucifixion had me in tears (my bf too, but he won't admit it) :'( I agree with the posts re the sound, that coud have been improved - the band was sometimes drowning out the singing :( Sean Read as Pontius Pilate gave me chills - a brilliant performer. His song about having the dream about being blamed for Jesus's death was just beautifully performed and the projection behind him really added to it - well done to whoever thought up the projection idea!!! Oh - and I thought Herrod's was hilarious! Patrick Cole (the guy playing Herrod) came down into the audience and hit on the guy in front of me and the guy just lost it. A nice bit of humour to bring the mood up before Judas's tragic death scene. Also talking about the wig, the nite I went it actually came off and flipped back on! I was raving about that all day until I found out it was an accident :P. Thanks again all, brilliant job

Hi, Thanks to those that provided feedback on MLT's production of JCS. It's always good to get a handful of different views on the show. Bad, bad Ali for posing as a reviewer in the first post! That's kinda ... err ... unethical. I will join Sky and administer another smack to your wrist when i see you next. Regards, Scott Hansen (High Priest #2)

Hey guys, Just wanted to say, Mandurah was a really unfortunate thing for me, getting really sick. Just getting through the shows was a big deal. This is only my 1st year into theater, 4th show and 3rd lead role, so I did my best, but unfortunately playing along side such HUGE talent, there's always going to be someone who reflects not as good as others. I did my best so I'm happy, but if you didn't like my performance, that's a shame. As long as you don't hold it against me for next time, that's all that matters. Cheers, Paul Spencer

It's a bitch when you get sick. "The show must go on". We'll get up on stage, even though we wouldn't go to work. You have to, else you're letting down all those in the cast and production team, and then there's the audience. I saw some really good stuff from you Paul, and fully accept that your illness prevented you from giving your best performance. I guess as an amateur reviewer, it's so easy to pick out the bits you didn't like, and ignore those you did. Having said that, I saw one performance, so that's all I've got to go on. I hope I shall see you again on the stage, and this time you'll be in full flight. Jeff www.meltheco.org.au