{"id":33555,"date":"2023-05-01T09:19:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T13:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=33555"},"modified":"2023-05-01T09:19:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T13:19:10","slug":"on-stage-plus-jesus-christ-superstar-comes-to-kimmel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=33555","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Plus: Jesus Christ Superstar comes to Kimmel"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jack Hopewell as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar<\/p><\/div>\n

Hershey High School is a four-year high school in Dauphin County \u2013 a public school that is consistently ranked as one of the top public schools in the state of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

The school also has the distinction of being the alma mater of two highly regarded young talents in the world of sports and entertainment \u2013 Kodiak Thompson and Christian Pulisic.<\/p>\n

Pulisic, a soccer player on the United States National Team, has established himself as one of the key young American players in Europe. He currently plies his trade in the Premiership with London-based Chelsea F.C.<\/p>\n

He and Thompson are a year apart in age.<\/p>\n

Thompson, who earned a BFA in Musical Theater at Temple University, is one of the rising stars in the American theater world. He is currently one of the main characters in the National Tour of \u201cJesus Christ Superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d will visit Philadelphia for a six-day run at the Miller Theater (250 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, www.kimmelculturalcampus<\/a>) as part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus current Broadway season. The show will open on May 2 and run through May 7 at the venerable Center City theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d\u00a0is a\u00a0sung-through\u00a0rock opera\u00a0with music by\u00a0Andrew Lloyd Webber\u00a0and lyrics by\u00a0Tim Rice. Loosely based on the\u00a0gospel\u2019s accounts\u00a0of\u00a0the Passion of Christ, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centered on Judas, who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples.<\/p>\n

Contemporary attitudes, sensibilities and slang pervade the rock opera\u2019s lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional\u00a0anachronisms.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kodiak Thompson<\/p><\/div>\n

Initially unable to get backing for a stage production, the composers released it as a\u00a0concept album<\/a>, the success of which led to the show\u2019s\u00a0Broadway<\/a>\u00a0on-stage debut in 1971. In 1973, \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d was one of the year\u2019s most popular movies. By 1980, the musical had grossed more than\u00a0$237 million\u00a0worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d\u00a0is an iconic musical phenomenon with a world-wide fan base.\u00a0In celebration of\u00a0its 50th\u00a0Anniversary, a new mesmerizing production comes to North America.<\/p>\n

Originally staged by London\u2019s Regent\u2019s Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director\u202fTimothy Sheader\u00a0(Crazy for You,\u00a0Into the Woods)\u202fand award-winning choreographer\u202fDrew McOnie\u00a0(King Kong,\u00a0Strictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades.<\/p>\n

Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.<\/p>\n

The show is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes \u201cI Don\u2019t Know How to Love Him,\u201d \u201cGethsemane\u201d and \u201cSuperstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

This production is the debut National Tour for Thompson, who has been singing and dancing since he was very young.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a lot of energy as a kid and sports wasn\u2019t the answer,\u201d said Thompson, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Worcester, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\u201cCory Wilkerson was instrumental in getting me started in theater. She\u2019s a theater educator \u2013 and an actor herself. Through her, I got the role of Tiny Tim in \u2018A Christmas Carol\u2019 at the Whitaker Theater in Harrisburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did six seasons of the show at the theater in Harrisburg. It weas my first professional gig. I got paid for acting when I was six.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was enchanting \u2013 the whole community of theater and being able to express myself onstage. I auditioned for more regional shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got into opera as a child and played Amahl in\u00a0\u2018The Night Visitors.\u2019 I did voice lessons and then dance lessons when I was eight. When I finished high school, I decided to pursue a BFA in Musical Theater at Temple University. I\u2019ve been working professionally ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came \u201cJesus Christ Superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never seen the show when I first auditioned,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cThere were seven rounds of auditions \u2013 so many callbacks. A lot of us were picked for the exact role we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started researching by watching old movies \u2013 all the way back to Ted Neely and Yvonne Elliman. I thought the music was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson plays the role of Annas. It is a villainous role.<\/p>\n

Annas appears in the\u00a0gospels\u00a0and\u00a0passion plays\u00a0as a high priest before whom\u00a0Jesus\u00a0is brought for judgment, prior to being brought before\u00a0Pontius Pilate.<\/p>\n

A review of Annas\u2019 four main songs shows the darkness \u2013 \u201cThis Jesus Must Die,\u201d \u201cDamned for All Time \/ Blood Money,\u201d \u201cThe Arrest,\u201d and \u201cJudas\u2019 Death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that I get to advance the plot onstage,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cJudas and I are portrayed as antagonists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d — https:\/\/youtu.be\/MjjqhRmjs-Q<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d will run from May 2-7 at the Miller Theater. Ticket prices start at $40.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Hershey High School is a four-year high school in Dauphin County \u2013 a public school that is consistently ranked as one of the top public schools in the state of Pennsylvania. The school also has the distinction of being the alma mater of two highly regarded young talents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3912,11971,11969,11970],"class_list":["post-33555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-featured","tag-jesus-christ-superstar","tag-kimmel","tag-kodiak-thompson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33556,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33555\/revisions\/33556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}