Today was Broadway Day, as in the original cast recording--Ben Vereen as Judas (um, not my favorite), Jeff Fenholt as Jesus (oh my gosh Jesus is the toughest role ever, so mad props to anyone who takes it on). Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen back for an encore.
You know, Greg's not gonna be happy to read this, but I am not a Broadway person. But I'll wager that a cast recording is not the optimal way to appreciate a Broadway performance, and I'll admit that I have never seen a performance on Broadway, so any criticism I could offer has precious little weight. Knowing that, I won't waste any time telling you what I didn't go for here.
Instead, let me tell you what blindsided me. Minding my own business, not thinking I would have much to write about...and then "Trial Before Pilate." It was fierce. It's a fierce number to begin with, right? Pilate, the face of the Empire, confronting a prisoner whose motives he cannot understand. Here, there's no subtlety--Pilate is screaming at Jesus, but instead of it being over-the-top, it's genuinely frightening. You can hear an awful malice as the crowd reacts to the thirty-nine lashes.
Extraordinary.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment