Jesus Christ Superstar starring Sam Ryder – review round-up

Jesus Christ Superstar – a radical retelling

Initially released as a concept album in 1970, then staged for the first time amid controversy the following year, Jesus Christ Superstar is a radical retelling of the Passion that pitches Jesus as a troubled celebrity preacher and Judas as a desperate and disillusioned friend and follower.

Some critics think the show seems silly today, with Sam Marlowe (The Stage, ★★★) labelling it “conspicuously dated” and “occasionally downright daft”, Nick Curtis (Standard, ★★★★) complaining over “little narrative” and Dominic Maxwell (Times, ★★★) finding that it “lacks emotion”.

Most, though, think the musical has stood the test of time. It is “one of Lloyd Webber and Rice’s most durable and brilliant musicals”, reckons Sarah Crompton (WhatsOnStage, ★★★★★), while Dominic Cavendish (Telegraph, ★★★★★) calls it a “searing masterpiece” and Marianka Swain (London Theatre, ★★★★★) labels it “divinely brilliant”. Perhaps "it isn’t great drama", reflects Maxwell, but "maybe it doesn’t need to be" with "one of the great modern scores".

“It remains a tremendous musical,” assesses Andrzej Lukowski (Time Out, ★★★). “The Webber-Rice partnership was not long-lived at all, but the dizzying musical turns and lyrics that veer between outright bonkers and piercingly insightful are unlike anything else in the canon.”

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Jesus Christ Superstar – a stark, spectacular staging

Prior to his current position as artistic director of London’s Donmar Warehouse, Timothy Sheader ran Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre for 17 years. His tenure there included plenty of hit revivals, including 2009’s Hello, Dolly!, 2010’s Into The Woods, and 2011’s Crazy For You, but none bigger than Jesus Christ Superstar in 2016. Does his staging still stun a decade later?

Again, a few reviewers find fault, with Marlowe describing the production as “visually monotonous” and Arifa Akbar (Guardian, ★★★) declaring that “the focus is squarely on spectacle and sound” rather than story. But the majority of critics are captivated. Sheader’s staging is a “thrilling, high-octane, concert-style production” for Curtis and a “pulse-racing, soul-stirring” and “thrillingly visceral experience” for Swain. It is “bigger and more sophisticated” compared with its original iteration a decade ago, adds Crompton, but it still unfolds “intensely and intelligently”.

Designer Tom Scutt’s set is similar to that first seen in Regent’s Park in 2016 – it is still dominated by “a huge, toppled crucifix in black perforated metal” that is “initially a catwalk and a runway” then “slowly rises during Jesus’ scourging like a bomber taking off”, describes Curtis. There are also towers of scaffolding, above which sit a live band and underneath which, in an innovation new for the West End run, a handful of ticket-holders stand on stage.

“It’s the most genteel of mosh pits but adds to the concert-like sense of event,” writes Maxwell, while Lukowski likes how it converts the crowd into a “teeming Judean throng". Overall, he adds, this is “a good production that slots into the Jamie Lloyd era of Sexy Lloyd Webber very nicely”.

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Jesus Christ Superstar – sublime singing, underwhelming acting

Sam Ryder shot to fame four years ago when he bucked the trend of terrible performances by British entries into Eurovision to finish second in the song competition with his falsetto ballad Space Man. Here, he makes his theatrical debut in the role of Jesus.

The critics are impressed with his singing, which is “sensational” for Maxwell and “sublime” for Cavendish, but less so with his acting, which Maxwell finds “wooden”, Akbar calls “woolly” and Lukowski labels as “not horrible”, but “not really lead-actor-at-the-Palladium stuff either”. According to Curtis, he looks the part “with his extensive tattoos, wafty linens, beard and gathered topknot”, but cuts “an oddly passive, disgruntled central figure”.

“No such issues for Huntley as Judas,” adds Marlowe. “His portrayal of this most notorious of traitors is rivetingly full-throttle – pained, impassioned, perplexed, furious, guilt-stricken and distraught by turns. And his voice is a marvel, endlessly elastic yet impeccably controlled.” Agreed, writes Swain. Huntley is “utterly electrifying” as the “ferociously disillusioned” Judas.

Elsewhere, there is plenty of praise for Desmonda Cathabel’s performance as Mary Magdalene, which is “sensual, wonder-struck and beautifully sung” according to Marlowe, and for guest star Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s cameo as Herod, which is “gleefully psychotic” according to Swain.

Jesus Christ Superstar – the verdict

More than 50 years on from its first production, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s religious rock opera remains gripping, and a decade on from its Regent’s Park premiere, Timothy Sheader’s starkly spectacular staging still strikes a chord with the critics. A few complain about the material being dated and the production lacking passion, but the biggest problem for the press is Sam Ryder’s vocally thrilling, but dramatically disappointing central performance as Jesus.

The show gets five stars from the Telegraph’s Cavendish, WhatsOnStage’s Crompton and London Theatre’s Swain, and a mix of three-star and four-star write-ups elsewhere, suggesting that, while some audiences will find it only OK, others will think it’s utterly heavenly.