Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar opened at the Lyceum Theatre, London in November 1996. It has now closed there and recently toured the UK. It is a great 'rock opera' and I was very impressed with it. It tells the story of the last days of Jesus of Nazareth. The show includes many great songs such as "Gethsemane", "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and "Superstar".

The original cast included Steve Balsamo as "Jesus" and Zubin Varla as "Judas". I never saw this cast but from the CD they sound great.

A video of the musical will soon be released in the UK. It is expected in the Autumn 2000. Glenn Carter will be starring as "Jesus" and Rik Mayall as "King Herod".

The cast I saw were absolutely fantastic! Glenn Carter was "Jesus" and Ramon Tikaram (Ferdy in This Life) was "Judas". Both gave outstanding performances, but I myself prefer the singing voice of the original "Judas". Glenn was fantastic as "Jesus" and is now on Broadway playing the same role.

Glenn Carter (Jesus) Ramon Tikaram (Judas) Joanna Ampil (Mary Magdalene)

The costumes were fabulous, the scenery was brilliant, everything about this production was fantastic.

All in all Jesus Christ Superstar was well worth seeing. I saw the show again whilst on tour and was disappointed to find they had updated/modernised the costumes and scenery, which for me ruined the show. I will always remember the show from when I saw it in London.

Glenn Carter (Simon Zealotes) in the original cast

The Bread and the Wine!

Steve Balsamo (Jesus) and Joanna Ampil (Mary Magdalene) in the original cast.

Production Photographs by Michael Le Poer Trench (Taken from the Jesus Christ Superstar Souvenir Brochure published September 1997)