Jesus enters in a gray hoodie like a refugee Kanye West in best “Yeezus” mode. Mary does a subtle update to “Could We Start Again Please?” – a song that could almost be about contemporary politics. Judas still sings his heart out.In short, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” in its time one of the most successful musicals ever on the West End stage, has been impressively resurrected at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, with a few time shifts from the 1970s.A sign on the way to the theater warns the audience about flares in the performance: certainly not flared jeans, though there should be a warning about Herod’s skintight gold panties that would make Kylie Minogue proud.While other Rice-Lloyd Webber musicals have played for decades, this one is ripe for a revival. Those of us who saw the original production at the Palace Theatre remember it fondly. “Jesus Christ Superstar” developed into a slick but moving show, with radio microphones tossed from singer to singer and spectacular effects. The Regent’s Park theater’s Artistic Director Timothy Sheader chooses to go with retro free-standing microphones, which the cast have endless fun with, using them as swords, walking sticks, and more.Tyrone Huntley is an impressive Judas with a wonderfully powerful voice, while Cavin Cornwall as head priest Caiaphas has the deepest bass: “For the sake of the nation, this Jesus must die.” Declan Bennett as Jesus aims for the falsetto at times, and wins warm applause for “Gethsemane,” though it is a little difficult to see why he arouses such passionate enthusiasm among his disciples and supporters. He is portrayed as a quiet, downbeat guy in a baseball cap rather than a charismatic visionary leader. The company of performers whizz around him making strange contortions, while he sits and stares into space with his acoustic guitar.This is a musical without any of the clunky spoken dialogue that binds together many shows. The campness reaches its height with “King Herod’s Song,” when Peter Caulfield disrobes from an enormous silver dress while delivering the lines “Prove to me that you’re no fool, walk across my swimming pool” and “Feed my household with this bread, you can do it on your head.” Herod uses a loaf of bread as a hat at this point – a nice directorial touch.The simple set designed by Tom Scutt is imaginatively used, with a large cross walkway being transformed into a Last Supper table, a catwalk, and finally, the setting for the crucifixion scene. While this finale doesn’t have the strobe effect used all those years ago, it is still specular, with a powerful rendition of “Superstar” and the final “John 19:41” as the coda.Hopefully the production is now past technical problems suffered in previews (power cut, show canceled) and before the start of the press night (faulty keyboard, delays), so “Everything’s Alright” seems an apt refrain.Even for the non-religious, “Jesus Christ Superstar” is something of a miracle, and deserves a permanent home on the London stage. In the meantime, there can be few better ways of spending a warm summer evening than seeing this show – you may even come out humming “What’s the Buzz.”“Jesus Christ Superstar” runs through August 27 at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
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