In the photo: Jack Hopewell (center) and Cast Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

A young Lloyd Webber composed an out and out rock score for Jesus Christ Superstar, building on the precedent Hair had set opening on Broadway in 1968. Both Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar sounded like the rock music of their moments. The current production sounds, looks, and feels like a product of our cultural moment. It consolidates the show's original two acts into a ninety-minute performance without intermission that sprints breathlessly from start to finish. Timothy Sheader's strident direction, Lee Curran's stunning lighting design, Mark Binn's ripping music direction and tight orchestra, and Drew McOnie's feverish choreography give the show the stamp of 2025.

Sheader was the artistic director of the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London when this production originated there in 2017. It received the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical and traveled to Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2018. This staging at the Ordway, brought to us by Work Light Productions, is its only North American production this year. While this production goes on to tour Asia in the new year, Work Light will bring another production back to London at a West End theater next summer. Last year, Sheader passed the title of artistic director on to choreographer Drew McOnie.

Lloyd Weber and Rice's telling of Jesus' last week leans heavily into the relationship between Jesus and Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrays him. As we are witness to Jesus' dedication to his mission, we are also given to understand the growing doubts harbored by Judas ("Heaven on Their Minds"). This leads to Judas' decision to ally himself with the Pharisees in betraying Jesus, an action Judas believes has become necessary not for personal gain, but for the greater good–and which he later profoundly regrets. The show also brings light to Mary Magdalene's devotion to and confusion about Jesus, as she provides comfort ("Everything's Alright") and weighs her choices ("I Don't Know How to Love Him").

Jesus Christ Superstar is completely sung through, without a word of spoken dialogue, though all in discrete songs without the connecting recitative used in operas and more recent sung-through musicals. The songs are powerfully delivered, whether sung by actors alone, in groups, or by the large ensemble. Keith Caggiano's sound design, in the context of the Ordway's newly upgraded sound system, is vibrant and crystalline. Nonetheless, it is in the nature of rock music that lyrics can be difficult to discern, and I found that to be true here at times. Since I knew the course of the story and the relationships among the characters, I had no difficulty grasping the message of each song, even when a considerable portion of their lyrics escaped me. The expressive vocals, strong acting, and demonstrative staging contributed to my confidence that I was not missing any of the narrative.

Jack Hopewell has the challenging role of Jesus–challenging because everyone will have their own notion of how Jesus should look, move, and behave. Hopewell shines, establishing a distinct character, a brooding man who can call out hypocrisy and deceit ("The Temple") while able to live with his human flaws. Hopewell conveys Jesus' conflicted feelings as he comes to grasp the more vaulted mission that he must endure, as given heartfelt and beautiful voice in "Gethsemane." Elvie Ellis is a powerhouse as Judas, constantly on edge as he keenly observes and judges the words and deeds of his charismatic leader. Where Hopewell's voice conveys a softness and yearning in Jesus' heart, Ellis gives Judas' voice the edge of a ripsaw, sharp and imbued with risk. Together, Hopewell and Ellis are a pair of powerhouses that fully convey the contrasting nature of these two men.

Faith Jones, as Mary, has a phenomenal voice, clear, expressive, and wrought with emotion. Her delivery of the show's best-known song, "I Don't Know How to Love Him," is breathtaking. She, Hopewell, and Ellis join together with great synergy in "What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying," and she is moving in a tender moment with Peter (well played by Tommy McDowell) and the other apostles in "Could We Start Again, Please."

The show's one comic highlight is "King Herod's Song." Herod is performed by Erich W. Schleck with a giddy voice and amazing dance moves, totally winning over the audience. Ethan Hardy Benson plays Pilate, a far more somber adversary than Herod, generating dramatic and literal sparks paired off with Hopewell's Jesus in "Pilate and Christ." Isaac Ryckeghem as the high priest Caiaphas who sees Jesus as a threat to the established order, fills the capacious Ordway with his expressive bass.

The remainder of the cast all express their characters well, sing beautifully, and move with indefatigable energy and grace. McOnie's choreography demands absolute precision from the ensemble, deploying ritualized gestures while exerting constant athleticism and grace; this company never misses a beat. The imagery formed by the dance provides the palpable social context of ancient Jerusalem before which the story's drama unfolds.

Tom Scutt designed the costumes, which meld together the garb of contemporary youth on the streets with the cut and fabric of antiquity. Scutt also designed the original (Regent's Park) set, which has been reproduced for this production. The set is dominated by a large cross laid on the stage floor, with the top pointing, at an angle, to the audience. While this carries obvious symbolic meaning, it is used as a runway, a platform, a place to hide behind, and last supper banquet table. It ingeniously combines the sacred and the practical.

Even with the drawback of missing out on many of the lyrics, I was mesmerized from start to finish by this Jesus Christ Superstar. The muscular, streamlined production conveys a sense of urgency and significance. It is beautiful to the eye, stimulating to the ear, and compelling to the heart and mind as it prompts us to consider the consequence of the astounding events of that fraught week in Jerusalem.

Jesus Christ Superstar runs through December 28, 2025, at at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington Street, Saint Paul MN. For tickets and information, please call 6510224-4222 or visit www.ordway.org.

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: Tim Rice; Direction: Timothy Sheader; Choreography: Drew McOnie; Original Set Designs: Tom Scutt; Hair and Costume Design: Tom Scutt; Lighting Design: Lee Curran; Sound Design: Keith Cagggiano; Original Music Supervision: Tom Deering; Associate Music Supervision, Music Director, and Conductor: Mark Binns; Fight Directors: Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly Sordelet; Associate Director and Choreographer: Ashley Andrews; Associate Lighting Designer: Ryan O'Gara; Production Stage Manager: Matthew Brooks.

Cast: Courtney Arango (swing), Wesley J. Barnes (ensemble), Ethan Hardy Benson (Pilate), Joshua Bess (First Priest/ensemble), Kalei Cotecson (ensemble), Jaylon C. Crump (Third Priest/ensemble), Lydia Ruth Dawson (swing), Elvie Ellis (Judas), Savannah Fisher (Soul Singer/ensemble), Icis Hammond (Soul Singer/ ensemble), Jack Hopewell (Jesus), Domanick Anton Hubbard (ensemble), Haley Huelsman (ensemble), Faith Jones (Mary), Josh Jordan (Second Priest/ensemble), Cameron Kuhn (ensemble), Tommy McDowell (Peter/ensemble), Hosea Mundi (Simon/ensemble), Caroline Perry (ensemble), Darren James Robinson (swing), Isaac Ryckeghem (Caiaphas), Sandy Redd (Soul Singer/ensemble), Erich W. Schleck (Herod/ensemble), Kodiak Thompson (Annas).