Jesus Christ Superstar- Her Majesty's Theatre, Gilbert and Sullivan Society of SA

The G and S society should be immensely proud of this achievement. Director David Lampard has created a thought-provoking and challenging production that will polarise people- and he'd LOVE it!

The decision to cast professionals Luke Kennedy and Danny Lopresto in roles of Jesus and Judas respectively caused a few grumbles and ripples but their performance totally justified the expense. Kennedy is an absolute revelation in the role. Vocally he nailed every note and his stage presence was second to none. This is a role that he will just get better and better at for sure. His performance of "Gesthemane" left the audience breathless. Lopresto certainly has the vocal ability and physicality to bring off Judas but lacked a certain amount of emotional connection to the role- certainly as the show went on this improved. Sarah Lloyde as Mary is another wonderful addition to the cast. Her characteristation of the role was pretty much bang on the money (although why MD Ross Curtis let her Mariah Carey-ise the vocal line in "I Don't Know To Love Him" thus killing the mood and meaning of the song entirely is beyond me).

The three principals are backed by the brilliant G and S chorus- all expertly drilled in their music and singing- and a host of wonderful little cameos throughout- including Kent Green as Herod (one of the show's highlights), Fahad Faroque as Simon, Beau-Daniel Loumeau as Peter and Joel Valenti as Pilate (quite possibly one of the finest interpretations of the role I've ever seen).

Lampard's curious decision to cast female priests just didn't work for me. As talented as all the ladies are the range of the roles was clearly too much for both Louise Messenger (as Caiaphas) and Vanessa Shirley (as Annas). The masculinity of the lyrics also seemed to be lost on Lampard and it didn't really gel for me- not too mention them appearing as the backing singers for Judas in "Superstar".

The sound design by Matt Curtis was flawless and lighting by Nathan Luscombe was outstanding. Costumes were generally good (although the priests looked a little like a cross between an ice cream scoop and a pez dispenser). Ross Curtis led a tight and well-drilled band.

Despite some reservations about some of the directing in the first act, these are relatively minor points. The enthusiasm of the crowd after the moving final 15 minutes of this production proved that "Superstar" in the right hands has the power to make people think. And at the end of the end of the day, that's all any director could wish for.