DETROIT — “Jesus Christ Superstar” with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice is making a heavenly appearance at the Detroit Opera House from February 4 – 9, 2020. This latest revival of the 1971 rock musical is about the last days of the life of Jesus.
The modern-day musical opens with the characters running through the aisles, past the audience and toward the stage. They gathered on stage and sang a musical number.
Throughout the performance, it made you feel like you were at a rock concert. What surprised me was that it was totally music. The music was edgy, modern and intoxicating. Some of the musical score includes “What’s the Buzz”, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and of course, “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Jesus was played by Aaron LaVigne who surprisingly wore a man bun.
The choreography was superb. I would describe the performance as high energy. There was a lot of fog during the entire performance. The musical ran 90 minutes with no intermission.
Jesus Christ Superstar performance times at the Detroit Opera House, located at 1526 Broadway St., in Detroit are: Tuesday-Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m., Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m., Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets start at $34 (includes facility fee) and are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased online at broadwayindetroit.com or ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 800-982-2787. Tickets can also be purchased at the Detroit Opera House and Fisher Theatre box offices.
I was disappointed. I was seated in row N and could not understand any of the lyrics except for”I don’t know how to love him” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” so it took away a lot from my experience of the play. The others that I went with agreed. I don’t know if it was the acoustics of DOH. I do agree that the choreography was excellent.