<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><span><p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>Their Cup Runneth Over</b></p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">By Tom Wachunas </p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><b><span> </span>“Wipe your face, you just swallowed my
soul.”<span> </span></b>- Hugh Prather</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>The Players Guild
Theatre continues to wreck my heart in a most wondrous way. With its production
of the musical, <i>Jesus Christ Superstar,</i>
opening night left me not only gobsmacked<span>
</span>(as its English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice might
put it), but God-smacked as well. And once again, director Jonathan Tisevich
has brought to the stage his uncanny prowess at not only assembling
astonishingly gifted performers, but also inspiring their impassioned immersion
in the spiritual and emotional essence of the story. </p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>Every element of
this production works successfully to maximize<span>
</span>electrifying drama, including the set designed by Joshua Erichsen, with
its towering, cavernous Romanesque architecture encased in scaffolding; the
infectious tribal energy of the choreography by Molly Weidig; the rugged,
streetwise modernity of costumes by Stephen Ostertag; the fiery textures and
relentless rhythms from the superb live orchestra conducted by Steve Parsons.</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>Here is a briskly
paced, implacably humanist perspective on Jesus Christ. We watch him struggle
mightily to reconcile his humanity with his divinity. While he intimately knows
the what and the how of dying, he also questions the why of it. Nowhere is this
tension more heartrending than in the second-act song, “Gethsemane,” when Jesus
is praying alone in the garden, his apostles fallen asleep around him. As
Jesus, Justin Woody is an enthralling and luminous theatrical force. The
expressive sonority and amazing range of his singing voice is breathtaking in
the way it makes both gentleness and anger a tangible presence.</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>This sublime
emotive potency is all the more enhanced and amplified when seen in tandem with
the volatile performance by Sean Fleming as the conflicted Judas, the
unbelieving apostle we love to hate. With a singing voice every bit as
compelling as that of Justin Woody’s, Fleming’s haunting rants and wails are
truly frightening.</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>Speaking of
‘conflicted,’ <span> </span>it’s Desiree Hargrave, in
her role of Mary, who most tenderly embodies the sociocultural angst that
surrounded the misunderstood Jesus. When she sings the powerful anthem, “I
Don’t Know How to Love Him,” time seems to stop altogether. The sheer pathos of
the moment sears our hearts as she tearfully voices her urgent spiritual
dilemma in achingly sweet and soaring tones. Later, she sings the equally sweet
“Could We Start Again, Please?” <span> </span>It’s a
brief but very moving duet with Daryl Robinson, who plays Peter. Their piercing
harmonies are a brilliant articulation of real sorrow and supplication.</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>In “King Herod’s
Song,” Micah Harvey delivers one of the evening’s rowdiest and most salacious
interludes – as hilarious as it is chilling. Accompanied by high-kicking
showgirls, he brings down the house with his bawdy portrayal of a viciously
strutting monarch hurling sardonic taunts at a passive Jesus.</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>Not so overtly
raucous are the stern-faced demeanors and throaty intonations of Christopher
Gales as high-priest Caiaphas, and Mark Dillard as Roman governor Pontius
Pilate. Both are remarkably solemn if not downright <span> </span>scary in how they wield their dark authority
over the fate of Jesus. <span> </span></p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><span> </span>Finally, there’s
the otherworldly lighting, designed by Scott Sutton. It creates a consistently
charged atmosphere of ethereality that culminates in a mesmerizing flash of
white at the conclusion of the production - like bolts of frozen lightning
delineating the suspended body of the crucified Christ. But this startling
image doesn’t depict the devastating end of a life. It is indeed the profoundly
contemplative and glorious vision of a life beginning.<b style="text-align: center;"> </b></p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal"><b><span> </span><i>Jesus
Christ Superstar</i> /<span> </span>Through April 14,
2019</b> / Performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday / at
Players Guild Theatre Mainstage, Cultural Center for the Arts, 1001 Market Ave.
N, Canton / TICKETS: $32 for adults, $25 for 17 and younger, $29 for seniors.
Order at 330-453-7617 and <a href="http://www.playersguildtheatre.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.PlayersGuildTheatre.com</a>
</p>
<p class="ydp393db501MsoNormal">For other commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and
visual arts in the greater Canton area, please visit his blog, ARTWACH, at <a href="http://www.artwach.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.artwach.blogspot.com</a> </p></span><br><br></div></body></html>