Highlights From "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival

[chm24601]

why didn't paul nolan sing?

[RosesNightengales]

Ohmigod. Josh Young.... he's a hot Judas XD

[thebuists]

@wafflewaffle90 I agree Josh young is soooooo cute! I went to see the play with my class and after it was done Josh young was signing books and tickets,best day of my life and it still is. The play was amazing if I got a chance to see it again I would!! Josh young everyone is sooo cute,and if u don't no who he is than go to google and search him up and go images.if ur a girl when u see him try not to scream,and if ur a boy don't show ur girlfriend him cause she will love him and then you'll ge

[leebearlondonlee]

Wow this looks like an awful production, see the version with Steve Balsamo from the West End to know how it should be done

[ruggerdgmail]

Dude you have no idea what you are talking about.

[wafflewaffle90]

oh my god.

Josh Young is SO ATTRACTIVE. *falls over*

[captainetteblackbear]

Original cast recording please!

[stratfordfestival]

We're so proud of Des and the entire JCS cast & crew! The original runs until Nov 6 in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

[RosesNightengales]

Jesus is pretty cute. I really like the guy whose playing him. However, I just wish that we can hear him sing Gethsemane.

[leftyliz140]

First time I saw this musical- it's now one of my favorites! Outstanding!

[july1962]

Why don't they ever cast Jesus like he looks like he's from the middle east instead of the middle America?

[bigsyke2]

@july1962 Jesus is propably a fiction character anyway, so what does it matter?

[july1962]

@bigsyke2 Because even fictional characters have certain truths. It would be awfully strange to cast a woman to play the lead in "Superman."

[couchington]

@july1962 ...Except Stratford just cast a woman as King Richard. So much for "truths".

[aMiserableReviewer]

@bigsyke2 You know, Jesus was real, wether you believe he is the son of God or not is your decision, but you have to acknowledge the fact that he was as real as Julius Caesar

[bigsyke2]

@aMiserableReviewer your deluded!

[Camalot777]

@july1962 My thoughts exactly! This blonde haired blue eyed clean shaven actor almost makes it look like they're parodying Jesus.

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 they cast on skill, not just looks. To be honest, though, they really don't have that mnay minority actors in the festivl company, which is kinda sad, but hey, be happy that this Jesus is still an epic performer

[july1962]

@MadameChristie No one said they cast just on looks! But come on....this is an obvious choice to make him look like the stereotypical "Jesus." I can't believe there weren't ANY dark-haired, darker skin performers with skill, who could have done the part!

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 Trust me, I attend the festival regularly, and there VERY few minority performers in major roles. The only one I've seen in a musical was the Asian understudy for Mordred in Camelot.  This year's Mariah in Twelfth Night was Black and of course Aaron the Moor in Titus, but that's about as much as I can remember. Oh, Juan Chorian is Latino and he alternates between musical theatre and Shakespeare, but really, there aren't many, unless somene can help me out here :P

[july1962]

@MadameChristie I just went to their website. The guy they cast as Peter, Mike

Nadajewski, looks more like Jesus should look! So does Josh Young, who is playing Judas.

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 Josh Yound adn Mike Nadajewski are just as Caucasian as Nolan. Yeah, they may be darker then him, but Nolan honestly seems better suited to Jesus vocally than the other two.

For the record, I do think to would be epic to have a Black or other minority Jesus, but I'm just as happy with Nolan, even if he's probably too anglo-saxon. I just don't mind it as much I guess XD

[july1962]

@MadameChristie What does "just as Caucasian" mean?! LOL It's not about what their true ethnicity is, it's about what they can portray. They clearly are MORE middle-eastern looking than the guy they cast!

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 I just don't think that either of them look more Middle- Eastern than Nolan just becasue of darker hair or whatever. Maybe just superficially becasue they're not fair haired or blue-eyed like Nolan, but it's hardly enough to make a difference to me. However, that's just my opinion. You know, a German actor of Turkish decent named Serkan Kaya, did a really good rendition of Judas, but he LOOKS like a super-historical Jesus. He's on here. Just search Serkan Kaya Heaven on their Minds

[july1962]

@MadameChristie Dude....we're talking about casting them in a show, not working for the CIA and pretending to be middle eastern! It's all about appearance! Middle eastern denotes darker hair, darker skin. I didn't say they were ideal, I said they were more right than the person they cast! I can't believe that no other darker skinned/haired people auditioned for this show! That just seems ludicrous! I think it's just that they wanted that stereotypical look.

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 Really, it just seems so small a thing to me that I don't think they were even thinking about it at all when casting the roles. I don't see why it's such a big deal to ask a darker skinned guy or a lighter skinned guy. We don;t really even know if Jesus was real *shrug*. I was just voicing my opinion. I get what you're saying, but I just dont think it's as major a thing as you make it out to be. *shrug* dunno

[july1962]

@MadameChristie If they didn't consider it, then they aren't doing their jobs. Casting is a lot more than just who can sing and act. Imagine if they decided to do a "white" version of Dreamgirls. Would you think it was a big deal then?

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 That's totalyl different. That's show where the race of the characters is stated front and centre. In JCS there's no such demand. There's nothing that implies that the characters should one race or another, since we don't know what those people atually looked like, if they existed. True we can assume race based on location, but it's not a part of the story, the way it is for Dreamgirls or Hairspray, or even Hair, where race informs the characters or the parts of the plot.

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 That's why you have productions of JCS all over the world (Japan, Korea, France, etc.), but not so much with Hairspray or hair or other shows that DEMAND black actors. In JCS, the race of the actos has nothing to do with the plot, hell, the plot isn't even grounded in any kind of reality, but in the ideas the theories thrown out by the composers (Webber mentions the love triangle between Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdakene), hence the many anochrinistic productions.

[july1962]

@MadameChristie EXACTLY! So why cast a stereotypical looking Jesus?!

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 Becasue he's a talented actor and more than capable fo carrying the role? Seriously, It's my belief they didn;t really think about how stereotypical or not he looked. If they did that, they'd have a very limmited pool of actors to choose from. I just don't think it was their first priority. And really, I've seen more anglo-saxon Jesuses than Nolan. He's hardly the worst offender.

[july1962]

@MadameChristie You've said that twice now, how would you know? Do you work for them? I've worked in casting musicals for 30 years, what is your expertise in the matter? Christina Aguilera is capable of playing Effie in Dreamgirls, do you think it would be responsible to cast her in that role? Why would they have a limited pool of actors to choose from?! There are THOUSANDS of actors that would give their eye teeth to come there an play that role, many right there in Toronto!

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 They're limited to the festival company and whatever "big" names choose to join them. I'm not trying to get you mad or anything, I just believe it's not that big a deal.  I mean, how many white Maria's have there been is West Side?

[july1962]

@MadameChristie Big names? There was only one big name I even recognized! It may not be a big deal to you, but I'll bet it were if you were more right for a part and they gave it to someone else instead because they stereotypically looked like the part!

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 The Vtertans of the stage - soem have done leads on Broadway

[july1962]

@MadameChristie Well, "veterans" ≠ "big names" necessarily.

[july1962]

@MadameChristie Well, veterans ≠ big names necessarily.

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 Sorry, I didn't have time fully state my argument. Anyway, what I really wanted to say is that I really don't think the directors were going "we want a blue-eyed blond stereotypical jesus" when casting the show. True, they were probably influened by the show's history (Ted Neeley anyone?) but I don't think casting directors look for specific eye or hair colours, when wigs and what-not are there. You're the director here. Is casting done on such minute details? (no sarcasm intended)

[july1962]

@MadameChristie If you don't know for sure what they did, what is the point in speculating? MOST productions of this show are cast with the stereotypical looking Jesus, so why WOULDN'T they say that?! And you're wrong, casting directors most assuredly look for hair color, etc. It costs money to provide wigs and if they can cast it with a person that has the correct color to start with, so much the better.

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 okay, that's all I was wondering. To be fair, Paul Nolan actually has quite dark hair, and curly too. The wig he wears is much lighter in colour...dunno. I suppose if Ted Nelley adn whoever is your starting point, your Jesus is bound to look like DaVinci's...so I guess you win this one :)

[HunnerFoster]

@july1962 Everything you said has proven you to be so ignorant of this production and this company, and by extension, Canadian theater. You clearly HAVE NOT seen the show, as the direction they took required a Jesus caucasian in appearance. And idiot could see that they took a FUTURISTIC approach to the show. They played a lot off of 2012 conspiracy theories. Also, have you noticed that the cast is caucasian!? Why would they cast a Jesus as middle Eastern if the Herod is not?

[july1962]

@HunnerFoster The direction they took REQUIRED a Caucasian?! LOL How so? Why not cast the entire show so they look middle eastern....since they were!?

[HunnerFoster]

@july1962 Everyone can see you're trying to come across as extremely intelligent, but you're not. Theater is up to interpretation and that is their interpretation of Jesus. I saw the show. I had problems with the show. None of these had to do with ethnicity. In fact, I thought one of the shows strongest aspects was its direction. Included with direction is casting in terms of appearance. Des McAnuff created an extremely cohesive setting. You're clearly not involved with casting directors either.

[july1962]

@HunnerFoster EVERYONE can see? You've taken a poll? How do YOU know it's their interpretation? Were you in on their casting process or are you making a layman's assumption? Just because YOU didn't have problems with the show doesn't mean no one else will or should.

I've worked in musical theatre production since 1980, and my partner is a conductor who has worked on Broadway. I think I know a little about casting! LOL

From an audience perspective, it's ALL about appearance!

[HunnerFoster]

@july1962 Because if you WERE involved in casting you would know that there is more to it than appearance. A lot more. And if you had ANY knowledge of theater outside of Broadway you would know that Stratford is not exactly a low budget production company, nor is this exactly a lot budget production. An extra wig would not have been an issue. Finally, I would like to point out that when I can see you stage a show half as good as this, I'll consider your opinions. However, you're clearly jealous.

[july1962]

@HunnerFoster It has NOTHING to do with budget or the director or his staging!

[MadameChristie]

@july1962 There's no kind of historical basis for JCS, outside of the bible characters and story used. It's more about probing the characters than anything else. Race shouldn't really matter. If Nolan was the best choice for them, it shouldn't matter what colour his eyes and hair are. It's like saying a black actor can't do any Shakespeare roll except Othello or Aaron the Moor becasue, as characters written by a white Englishman about generally white countries, they would be white as well.

[Paint]

Love this show! Thank you!