Jesus Christ Superstar The Concert @ Regents Park Open Air Theatre - Review

Theatre was allowed to happen outdoors this summer, so Regents Park did the unthinkable and managed to stage a full musical, socially distanced, and make it more hard-hitting than it's original outing
 

It's not something that gets taken for granted at the moment - the experience of live theatre. Nobody could have predicted the situation we have found ourselves in this year, and with little to no end in sight, it's going to be a long road yet to recovery.
However, we were told, back in July, that theatre could happen outdoors, socially distanced (by both audience and actors) and so the Open Air Theatre team jumped into gear and have welcomed us back into the world that we love in the best possible way.

It's a strange, yet incredibly uplifting experience arriving at the theatre in the heart of Regent's Park. The team are working exceptionally hard to make the audience's time as comfortable but safe as possible. On a socially distanced capacity, the audience goes down from over 1,000 to 390, so it feels a little strange. Temperature checks are done before entrance to the site, and all patrons are required to wear a face mask throughout their visit. However, you soon forget any of this is 'not the norm' and settle in for an evening of musical theatre.

Drew McOnie has perfectly reconstructed his choreography from the previous incarnation of the production, and adapted it to fit the slightly different staging that is in use here. Rather than the original set, Sheader has repurposed the steps staging from last year's Evita to make keeping to the guidelines easier.
Nothing is lost, in fact everything is gained.
There's something so hypnotising about people standing in formation on levels going up, and dancing with their whole bodies. McOnie's movement is not what you would instantly imagine it to be, but the way he was manoeuvred his cast is mesmerising. 

The team have made the sensible decision to largely bring back familiar faces in order to stage this in a pretty short space of time. Director Timothy Sheader has cleverly double-cast the leading roles of Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene in order to cover themselves against illness and to give themselves maximum flexibility with no set schedule.
What that does mean, however, is that fans are playing a bit of a lottery trying to see specific cast members. A few weeks into the run, people seem to have spotted a pattern, but with reduced capacity, a  lot of tickets had already gone. Not a criticism, just an observation!

On this particular afternoon, I was lucky enough to see Pepe Nufrio as Jesus, Ricardo Afonso as Judas, and Maimuna Memon as Mary Magdalene - and I really mean lucky!

This score is no easy ride for either man in terms of vocal load, but Pepe Nufrio really flies high with his performance as Jesus. The first moment we see him - when the entire cast pull down their face coverings (such a brilliantly thought-through piece of direction by Sheader) - you see Jesus full of hope and full of love for his followers. His character arc certainly builds throughout the show, until he stops the show with his unbelievable performance of the legendary Gethsemene.
It truly is the definition of a showstopper - watching a man in pain and anger ask the question he will never receive an answer to: "why?"
Nufrio is wonderfully supported Maimuna Memon as Mary, who is gives such a round performance. With a beautiful rendition of "I Don't Know How To Love Him", Memon manages to perfectly capture the confusion Mary finds herself in.

But for me, the show belongs to the sensational Ricardo Afonso, who's portrayal of Judas is one of the best male musical theatre performances I've seen in the last couple of years.
The vocal load of Judas is one thing, but to see the emotional horror that Afonso goes through is magnificent. He gives mind, body and soul to that performance and it's utterly breath-taking to watch. 
Opening the show with an almighty rendition of Heaven On Their Minds, his performance builds and builds to the 11 o'clock showstopper - Superstar. Afonso deservedly has the audience on it's feet. The crowd have missed being able to cheer at spectacular performances, and this is one that deserves the recognition.

It's not just the three leads of this production that need mentioning. 
It is ridiculous the ensemble of people they have bought together, even in smaller parts. Seeing Cedric Neal as Simon singing for his life is sensational, as are Ivan De Freitas Nathan Amzi as Caiaphas and Annas. Shaq Taylor brilliantly plays Herod in a way I had never seen before (head to toe in gold!) and the stellar David Thaxton blows the metaphorical roof off the Open Air Theatre as Pilate. Thaxton truly comes on and storms the stage and it's fantastic to hear a voice like that.

The shows is currently in it's final week, and has been sold out for pretty much it's entire run. So much so, that an option to sit out on the lawn and watch it on a screen was added. 

It's been really exciting to see theatre quickly adapt to our new surroundings and constraints, and still be able to come together to show our appreciation for the thing that we love: theatre.

I will never take for granted again just how lucky we are to have theatre, and just how important it is. If the Government could cotton on to the fact that it's a  'viable' business sometime soon, that'd be super great.

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