As Trinity Musical Theatre (TMT) prepares to returns to the stage this week for its annual production – complete with a cast the size of a small village and Jesus Christ himself – TMT director Lainey O’Sullivan sits down with The University Times to chat about all things Superstar.
Originally a 1970 rock opera album with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar follows Jesus and his disciples in the week leading up to his crucifixion. Superstar debuted on Broadway in 1971, with subsequent film adaptations in 1973 and 1999.
Despite the subject matter of the show initially prompting criticism, it has an undeniably global appeal and has been praised in countries ranging from New York to Mexico, Russia to Brazil. Its popularity hasn’t waned over the years either – just two years ago, American network NBC broadcast a live concert performance of an adaptation starring John Legend and Sara Bareilles.
TMT director Lainey O’Sullivan, together with Laura Ryan, the head of design, has chosen to set the musical in the not-so-distant-future, where they depict a society in turmoil as a result of the climate crisis. “We’ve taken the idea of the environment breaking down and pushed that a little bit further. Jesus and his disciples have no access to resources because they’re being hoarded by the people higher in power”, says O’Sullivan.
We’ve taken the idea of the environment breaking down and pushed that a little bit further
“There’s a clear difference between the people who have the power and the people who don’t.” This is reflected in the cast’s wardrobe – powerful members of society are dressed in pristine black and white, while Ryan has scavenged items from thrift shoes to create outfits for the disciples.
Another key difference between TMT’s production and the original Jesus Christ Superstar is O’Sullivan’s choice to modernise the cast by cross-gender casting several major roles.
Barring these aesthetic changes, though, the musical is true to the original. “I think the most prevalent feeling for me is blind devotion to one person and the power that the crowd can have. If you have enough people thinking the same thing, whether that thing is right or wrong, that’s probably the thing that’s going to carry through”, says O’Sullivan, alluding to the show’s contemporary relevance.
TMT’s cast of 57 lends itself well to capturing a mob mentality, accentuating the dangerous power of this fickle collective. “Even when it’s overwhelming it’s supposed to be overwhelming”, says O’Sullivan. However, the strength of the mob lies in united energy, which O’Sullivan and stage manager Abby Fry worked hard to harness.
Sitting in on a rehearsal, I watched the cast enthusiastically launch into the Macarena dance. They were warming up for a later scene in which the enraged crowd demands Jesus’ death. “Crucify him!” the cast thunders in unison – the fun energy of the Macarena is quickly replaced with bloodthirsty calls for execution.
We make it about the man himself and leave it to the audience as to whether they want to follow along
Notably, while Jesus Christ Superstar shows Jesus’s death by crucifixion, it doesn’t include a resurrection scene – a choice some critics have taken as a negation of Jesus’s divinity. O’Sullivan says that she doesn’t have a religious agenda and accepts that audience members can interpret the musical in different ways. “There is a certain duty of care when religion is involved, but I think the way we tackle that is to approach it quite objectively.”
She says she wants to present Jesus not as a religious symbol, but simply as a man. “All of the religious connotations and the beliefs came from the people around him and the legacy that he left afterwards, so I don’t think it’s our job to make it about that.”
“We make it about the man himself and leave it to the audience as to whether they want to follow along with this or think actually these were all crazy people”.
Despite her religious reservations, O’Sullivan finds a transcendent power in the musical: “I’m not a particularly religious person, but I think there are moments in the show where the breath is taken out of you, and I think that that’s the effect religion has on some people.”
Trinity Musical Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar runs from March 11th–14th at the O’Reilly Theatre. Tickets, at €15/18.50, can be purchased on TMT’s website.
