8 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 3, 1995 Ted Neeley's Jesus Christ remains a 'Superstar' By Mark Carlson Daily Arts Writer "Jesus Christ Superstar" is a rock opera. Sometimes (as with the 20th Anniversary recording of the show) people forget this fact and turn the show into a boring and.cheesy piece of straight musical theater. Wednesday night's performance by the "Superstar" national touring company at the Michigan Theater stayed on track for most of the show, only a few times diving into the murky depths of soullessness exemplified by many recent versions of the show. The touring company bases its show mainly on the 1973 movie ver- sion, bringing that film's star, the now 50-year old Ted Neeley, along with it, reprising his role as Jesus Christ. Though it would make sense that Neeley's guttural wailings which made him famous in the '70s would have an ill-effect on his singing over 20 years, his performance Wednes- day night was better than ever. Neeley's stage presence was un- wavering and his voice sounded much more powerful than it did in the movie. Though there are serious questions as to whether or not a 50-year old is completely believable as Jesus Christ, there is no doubt that he can still put on quite a show. While the legendary Carl Ander- son (also from the movie) recently departed from the company, the role of Judas was played well by Gary Rowland. The part of Judas is incred- ibly important to the show, and Rowland did a fine job singing the part of everyone's least favorite apostle. Unfortunately, while his sing- ing was done well and his acting was perfect for the part, he did not com- mand much stage presence. His ex- pressions were wonderfully acted, but his movements often looked uncom- fortable. He did not sing and scream with the gruffness of Anderson and original Judas, Murray Hedd. He did have soul, though, and this came shin- ing through on huge numbers such as "Damned For All Time" and "Super- star." The rest of the cast did well, with a few exceptions. The part of Caiaphas, the evil high priest, was performed incredibly by Christopher b RVEW Jesus Christ Superstar Michigan Theater March 29, 1995 P. Carey. With his super low-pitch vocals and scary looks, Carey easily convinced the crowd of his character's foul nature. His cohorts, Annas and the rest of the priests, were equally nasty, and the crew of priests nearly stole the show with rockin' versions of "This Jesus Must Die" and "Blood Money." Another pleasant surprise came from the extremely young Jason Rayze, who commanded the part of Pontius Pilate with power and grace. Although Raize is only 19, he had more presence than almost anyone on stage. He was extremely convincing from his first scene in "Pilate's Dream" to his final burst of rage in "Trial Before Pilate." Not so convincing were the roles of Mary Magdalene, played by Chris- tine Rea, and the Apostles. Rea had a fine singing voice, but it seemed more suited to modern pop music than the smooth soul of "Everything's Alright" and "I Don't Know How To Love, Him." The main apostles, Simon and Peter, were played rather blandly by Anthony DiBenedetto and David Burnham, respectively. Simon's num- ber is usually an uplifting high point of the show, but DiBenedetto was quite mediocre and didn't contribute much to the part. By far the low point of the evening, the usually hilarious "Herod's Song" was completely destroyed by some moron who de- cided that Herod would be cute if portrayed as an Elvis impersonator. Not only was this a stupid idea that has been used too much already (an Elvis impersonator plays a large part in Andrew Lloyd Weber's other biblical musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"), but it wasn't in the least bit funny or entertaining. This was due prob- ably to the fact that Herod actor P.J. Terranova is a horribly cheesy per- former to begin with, let alone what happens when you get him to do Elvis impersonations. The touring company put on a I M E N S H E A L T H E N T ~o~rw~ .Ad decent staging of the show, and the incredible music shone through any flaws with the cast. Although there were moments that weren't so great, there were a lot of wonderful things going on. Soh 12-1 TOWN MEETING ' Commieelon for Women Rackham Auditorium 1-1:30 MIWH ORGANIZATiONAL MEETING Hussey Room, Michigan League 1:30-3:45 FAMILIES & HEALTH ACROSS A WOMAN'S LIFE SPAN Hussey Room, Michigan League 4-5 THE WOMAN'S HEALTH MOVEMENT Judy Norelgian 5oston Women's Health Dook Collective Rackham Amphitheater Reception to Follow 730-9:30 THEY CALL ME OR. GREEK An original production performed by Barbara Tarbuck and based on Austra- lian feminist Germaine Greer's writings on women's health and aging. A light reception and discusslon with Me. Tarbuck will follow the performance. Saturday, April 8, 1995 - 8:00 pm Hill Auditorium Tickets: $10, 8, 5 Students $3 Available at the MUTO or the Hill Box Office 764-8350 Credit card orders call 763-TKTS Sponsored by the MIchigan Initiative for Women'e Health (MI WH), the Women'e Studlee Program, the Theater Depart- ment, and the Commleelon for Women. For more Information, please call the MIWH Frogram Office at 747-0472. 6) Also appearinq, 7h1 FRIARS . I