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“Jesus Christ Superstar,” Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera about the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, started as a 1970 concept album, became a Broadway musical and a feature film and still holds a special place in the hearts of many fans. Over the years, it has continued to be performed and reimagined, including in a live television version starring John Legend and a concert at the Hollywood Bowl last summer starring Cynthia Erivo. Locally, Woodside Musical Theatre is producing “Jesus Christ Superstar” in concert April 10-12, with a preview April 9.
The term “passion project” refers to something embarked on out of enthusiasm and devotion, and the word “passion” when used in a Christian context can also refer to the period of time encompassing Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. For the cast and crew of Woodside Musical Theatre’s production, “Jesus Christ Superstar” is clearly a passion project in both senses.
‘A big responsibility’
“I love this show. I grew up watching this show,” said Sarah Szeibel, who plays Jesus. “I was raised Catholic and always loved the music, always loved the story.” Going into auditions, “I didn’t expect anything. I was ready to do any role in it. I was ready to play in the pit in the orchestra if I wasn’t cast in the show because I really do love it that much,” she said.
Playing Jesus is an experience Szeibel is finding both overwhelming and gratifying.
“It feels like a really big responsibility because of how important this story is to so many people. And on top of that, you know, the difficulty of the actual material as well … ‘Gethsemane’ (Jesus’ tour-de-force solo number) really is just a beast of a song,” she said. She recalled that director Joe Murphy discussed with her the idea that “Jesus is in all of us,” and “if he’s in everyone, and we believe that, then why wouldn’t a woman be able to tell this story as well?”
Szeibel has been contemplating the character, “trying to find similarities in myself to that, which is kind of a nice, almost like a healing process, while it’s being so challenging,” she reflected.
An accomplished musician, she has always admired the score, which will be performed by an on-stage orchestra in Woodside Musical Theatre’s production, hence the show’s billing as “in concert.”
A throwback to the original
“We’re pulling 40 people together to do the original score, basically, which is never done,” Murphy, who is also serving as music director, said, noting that most productions use a much more scaled-down instrumentation. The orchestra will take up much of the stage space, but this “Jesus Christ Superstar” will still involve costumes and choreography, while going minimalist on props and sets, and will lean into the ’70s throwback aesthetic, he said.
Murphy also has been a fan of “Jesus Christ Superstar” from a young age, falling in love with the original album, which his mom shared with him. In fact, he even got a tattoo of the album cover when he turned 18.
“It connected at a point in my life where I was also kind of exploring my faith,” he said, “listening to that music and being able to tie a story that I’d always heard in church to music, which I love … I’m a professional musician and teacher by trade, so to be able to tie my religion to my deep love for music was really cool. I think it really got me to a certain place in my faith.”
Murphy said he is thrilled by the opportunity to work with Szeibel again and Sofia Costantini, who plays Mary Magdalene, for the first time, having admired her talent in the past.
‘Jesus’ right-hand man’
Costantini, too, joined the project as a “Jesus Christ Superstar” fan. While she was actively involved in musical theater growing up in Redwood City, the Woodside High School alumnus said she hasn’t done any theater for the past half decade, concentrating instead on her country music career.
“It was going to take a very special show to kind of bring me back in this space, and, when this show popped up, and it was at Woodside, my old high school, and in my hometown with such a great team, it was kind of a no-brainer,” she said.
She aims to “do justice” to the role of Mary Magdalene.
“I think that a lot of times, her character gets misunderstood or confused with her having a sort of more intimate love for Jesus, but I think what I want to portray is that she’s really Jesus’ right-hand man,” she said.
“She understands his mission on a much deeper level, and has that kind of emotional friendship and connection with him, and then also that underlying emotional conflict that she has also needs to come to the forefront, especially during “I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ (the character’s well-known solo song).”
A ‘Superstar’ guest
Woodside Musical Theatre has something very special for fans on its preview night, April 9. Ted Neeley, who portrayed Jesus in the 1973 film and in many productions in the more than 50 years since, will be appearing to discuss the show’s legacy on stage with the cast and Murphy. (“He played Jesus longer than Jesus played Jesus,” Murphy joked.)
Vocal director Sara Rangel-Murphy, who is also Murphy’s wife, had the idea to see if Neeley would be available, and Murphy was able to secure funding from a supportive patron to bring him to Woodside. The Wednesday night before the preview performance, Neeley will also have dinner with the cast and share his experience and connection with the role.
This special event – and the production in general – is part of Woodside Musical Theatre’s plan to become more visible in the community as it fights, like many arts organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, to survive and thrive in the wake of challenges such as the implementation of California Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which classifies more independent contractors as employees; changes in habits since the COVID-19 pandemic; and economic uncertainty.
Looking to the future
Woodside Musical Theatre is a largely volunteer community theater organization, board member Nancy Fitzgerald said, which has traditionally offered just one production a year. Staging this concert-style “Jesus Christ Superstar” “gave us the opportunity to do two shows instead of one, and keep our name in people’s minds,” she said. “Our board is tasked with finding financial support, but also really building the name and the brand of the company and getting more shows on stage so more people can see us and be involved.” The organization also aims to introduce more theater training opportunities for children in the future, in addition to continuing to offer high-quality productions.
The cast of “Jesus Christ Superstar” gets just a few weeks of rehearsal before performing, a testament (no pun intended) to the team’s enthusiasm for it.
“The reason we are able to pull this extremely difficult material off in such a short rehearsal process is because everyone already knows the show by heart,” Szeibel wrote in a post-interview email, in which she praised Murphy for his insights as a director. “The people in this production know the show, they love the show, they believe in the show.”
“Jesus Christ Superstar” in concert, preview with Ted Neeley April 9 at 7:30 p.m., April 10-11 at 8 p.m., April 12 at 2 p.m., Woodside High School Performing Arts Center, 199 Churchill Ave., Woodside; $25-$55 April 9, $40-$55 April 10-12; woodsidetheatre.com.
