In a revived Jesus Christ Superstar ‘arena spectacular’,  “Jesus” is played by a reality TV star, Judas has dreadlocks and Mary Magdalene is a Spice Girl.

If that sentence didn’t get your attention, the new musical tour, recorded live from the UK for special cinema release, certainly will. It’s loud. Really loud. And, as ever, still carries the potential to offend the more biblically-minded. Jesus Christ Superstar will be a talking point for the rest of 2012 and most of 2013 as the new cinema release is followed up by a live stage show touring Australia.

The casting of Jesus is surely one of the most difficult on the musical scene. Not only does the rock opera part require a stellar vocal range, it’s also, you know – Jesus. But a televised UK talent search, ITV Superstar, saw the public decide on their favourite ‘Jesus’, bringing newbie Ben Forster to the arena stage.

Ben Forster, Melanie C and Tim Minchin in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton

Melanie C (who’s shaken off her Sporty Spice persona for all but this ‘90s diehard), plays Mary Magdalene, while Aussie comedian and self-pronounced atheist Tim Minchin plays Judas Iscariot. And with a relative unknown playing the title-role and a part equally (if not even more) challenging, it’s Judas who gets top billing.

It has always been difficult to identify the true protagonist in Jesus Christ Superstar – is it Jesus or Judas? But in this rendition, Minchin’s performance as Judas so overshadows Forster as Jesus that there’s an added tension for a faith audience that makes for uncomfortable viewing. Human-Jesus (through Judas’ eyes) is portrayed much more convincingly than Jesus as divine.

The musical, heralded as one of the best from composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, takes the form of a passion play, depicting the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, and his suffering and death on the cross. Webber and Rice take more than liberties with the Biblical storyline: Mary Magdalene falls in love with Jesus and there’s a bitter power struggle between Jesus and Judas. And, like most passion plays, this ‘resurrected’ musical does not feature a resurrected Jesus.

Photo credit: Tristram Kenton

Director Laurence Connor couldn’t resist flooding the arena show with modern politics: Jesus is the leader of a political insurrection akin to the international ‘Occupy’ movement; set graffiti encourages you to follow #thetwelve [apostles] on Twitter; newspaper headlines splashed across arena screens after Jesus is imprisoned are reminiscent of Julian Assange-style ‘high treason’ headlines seen in the US after the Wikileaks scandal; and the imprisoned Jesus wears an orange jumpsuit straight out of Guantanamo Bay.

This is not a musical for the fainthearted. Nor is it one for those easily offended by a lack of adherence to Biblical truths. But it’s not one you’ll easily get away from. The arena show will screen in Australian cinemas this November, and the musical is set for a theatre revival on the Aussie stage in 2013. So Jesus Christ Superstar will be making headlines once again – perhaps it’s worth a look so you know what you’re talking about. And talk about it you inevitably will.

Featured image photo credit: Tristram Kenton