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Ariel
Company Theatre
Production
of
Jesus Christ Superstar
The Hawth, 1st – 5th June 2010
As flaming June takes
hold, aficionados of good local theatre willingly submit to a growing
enthusiasm, knowing that this time of year heralds another show from the
renowned Ariel Company Theatre troupe. Here is a group that prides itself in
its young membership, and selects productions that display this to full
effect.
Last year, we were
treated to a truly superb production of Jonathan Larsson’s edgy musical
“Rent”. This year, Ariel chose to revisit their massively successful 2004
Chequer Mead production of Lloyd Webber and Rice’s epic “Jesus Christ
Superstar”, availing themselves of the larger stage at Crawley’s Hawth
theatre.
“JCS” marks its fortieth
anniversary this year, and for those of us who can recall the impact it had
back in the hazy days of the 1970s, this show will always be part of the
soundtrack to our lives. I cannot recall an unacceptable version of “I don’t
know how to love him”, and “Superstar” itself always resonates as a classic.
The story is timeless;
it defines our lives and who we are. We feel the pain of Judas, chosen to
betray and the most potent symbol of human frailty and fallibility. Then
there is Mary, loyal and imploring, striving vainly to give voice to a love
that defies definition. The “band of brothers”, the disciples following
their leader with the adulation reserved today for rock stars rather than
philosophers or politicians, seek in their mission to give meaning to lives
previously no more than humdrum, whilst the Pharisees and the Romans
suppress by any means possible whatever is considered a threat to their
powerbase (relax, Gordon’s gone...).
The show itself has
inevitably moved on. Where it shocked in the early 1970s, in its original
incarnation it now seems tame, and Ariel’s production rightly strips away
the early elements of glitz and kitsch to reveal the dark underbelly of the
story, the fragility of hope in a world where darkness seeks to take a firm
hold.
This production is a
heart wrenching bold and powerful version, allowing a new cast to stamp
individual interpretations upon the roles. Especially in the portrayals of
Pontius Pilate and King Herod for example, the production achieved its
highest standards.
Commendations must of
course go to Duncan Virgo and David Goodall for tackling the pivotal roles
of Christ and Judas with gusto, adapting their vocals to get round that
triathlon of a score. Lin Fever was a winning Mary, a woman who cannot
fathom or control the events unfolding around her. In the smaller roles lay
the highlights. Chris Brown’s Simon was played and sung with relish, and
Patrick Barrett’s portrayal of Pilate was remarkable and quite unique. With
a voice emanating from the far side of Hades, he was both terrifying and
vulnerable, and quite, quite other worldly.
Chris Wilkinson brought
much new, clever and witty to Herod’s showcase number, and deserves applause
for that. Following his triumph in “Rent” last year, diminutive Alex Brown
gave a performance as Peter far, far larger than the role itself, and could
readily have met the demands of a much larger role in this production. The
iconic often can and does come in small packages.
Appreciation must go as
always to Neil Hopson for his intense direction, Nicci Hopson for her
dramatic styling, Mark Heppell’s musical direction, Beverley Locke for the
precise choreography and the gifted production team at Ariel who never fail
to provide strength and depth in their productions, and a night in the
theatre guaranteed to provide dramatic food for thought.
D A
5th June 2010
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Thought It was INCREDIBLE, big well dones to all involved xxx
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That was intense!! Fantasic and I cried... Lots. You put on such a great
production, with a standing ovation on opening night. Aaaand! I overheard
some
women at the end saying, "was that really an amatuer production? It was west
end
quality!"
You Were all Amazing.
-----------
Opening night could not have gone any better. WHAT A SHOW!!!
--------
My wife thinks you guys are the bees knees. She was blown away by the
performance.
Nice one!!!!!
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JCS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
------------
Neil....Thank you for JCS, amazing, the whole JCS cast is amazing. There was
an
incredible atmosphere in that audience tonight... you had to be there to
feel
it...Fantastic show, cant wait to see it all agian Saturday xx
-----------
WOW that was an opening night and atmosphere I will never forget! Well done
cast
and crew... And thank you for a super show! x x
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Now that was what I call an opening night!!!! It JUST doesn't get any better
than
that. To all involved in JCS, thank you. What a night to remember.
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Fantastic. Really loved it. You guys have a fantastic week ahead of you!
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JCS WAS AMAZING I LOVE IT AND I AM WATCHING IT TONIGHT AGAIN AND I HAVE TO
SAY
EVERY ONE IN THE CAST AND CREW IS AMAZING LOVE U GUYS :)
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E D would like to confirm that Ariel ROCK!
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Such an amazing week, thank you so much Neil and Ariel Company Theatre for
JESUS
CHRIST SUPERSTAR....
-------
L H
Congratulations on a wonderful production of JCS. I have recently seen
another
production of this, but was sadly unemotional at the end. I found last
nights
performance very moving and was blown away by Judas and Jesus in particular.
The
lighting effects were amazing and there were so many special moments.
Fabulous, Fabulous and look forward to seeing your next production.
------------
Hey well done in JCS it was fantastic and you were all very evil and creepy.
Had
us all in tears in the end :) x
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Contact from the web site
I just wanted to write and say how much I enjoyed JCS last night. Admittedly
I am
not a fan of the show but came to support friends and I was so surprised by
what I
saw. The production was fantastic!! The set and lighting were superb –
particularly during Jesus’ crucifixion. The cast were also great, notably
Alex
Brown and Dave Goodall but particularly Lin Fever who was outstanding as
Mary
Magdelene, her voice is truly beautiful. Another show to be very proud of.
Well
done everyone!
---------------------------
I am writing to congratulate you all on the opening night of Jesus Christ
Superstar.
I first saw this show in Brighton at the Theatre Royal about 4 years ago
with Glen
Carter playing the role of Jesus. I came away from that show completely
'blown
away' with the incredible lyrics, staging and music. I was keen to see how
Ariel
would perform the same show - and I was not disappointed - infact I think it
was
even better!! The scene with Jesus in the Temple with the lepers was
incredible.
My daughteris back from university today, and I am really looking forward to
seeing the show again with her. I know she will love it.
Congratulations, once again, to eveyone who was involved in this wonderful
show.
--------------
I Saw JCS at the Hawth last night it was Immense all should go and see it!
Especially for the Priests Matt Roberts and Simon Fellingham WOW!
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Well done to all cast and crew of JCS at the Hawth for a fantastic show.
Looking
forward to bringing family and friends again on Saturday night. See you
there!
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Hi,
Three of us visited the Hawth at Crawley on Thursday 3 June to see your
matinee
production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
What a wonderful show - thank you!
Two of us had seen the production at Chequer Mead in 2004 but were unaware
until
we looked at the programme that it was the same Company.
I just wish I had the time to come and see the show again before you close
on
Saturday.
Well done to all the players - it was just wonderful and extremely powerful
- also
this 40th Anniversary took me back to my (much) younger days with lots of
memories
of that time - we all loved it!
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I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and thought it was better than some
West End
shows that we have seen - extremely professional.
Although there were a plethoraof great voices/performers (Mary, Pilate &
Jesus), I
particularly enjoyed that of 'Judas'. Terrific presentation.
---------------
Had an amazing time at JCS, yet again another fab performance by cast and
crew xxx
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Super show truely enjoyed it.Priest were incredible for me stole the show
which
was hard to do as David Goodall and Pontius were outstanding to, oooh and
Mary.........lets just say it was all super!
im so glad i saw it......loved, loved, loved it so!!!
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Katie McBride has had an amazing week with some amazing people! Still time
to
catch us in Jesus Christ SuperStar TODAY at The Hawth, Crawley! Last chance
to see
this spectacular show...
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Thought JCS was wicked and well done josh!
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Thought JCS was awesome tonight! Well done everyone involved
------------------
Gives a HUGE thumbs up to everyone involved with Ariel Company Theatre
present
'Jesus Christ SuperStar'. Such a great show and such a great gang of people.
----------------
S K - Bicester
What a fantastic performance of JCS last night. Saw both the matinee and
evening
performances.
So good I have only the higest praise for everyone involved: Singers,
dancers,
musician's, set builders, lighting, etc etc.
I loved every minute.
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome
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'Jesus Christ SuperStar': And the Lord spake unto the Son of Hop and didst
decree
that he should gather to him his family, friends and the finest talent of
the
South and shouldst tell unto the World the story of Jesus Christ SuperStar,
for a
whole week, in the sixth month of the tenth year of the second millennium.
He did
this thing and those people who came were amazed and thrilled by it. And the
Lord
saw it and knew that it was good. (Stephen 6:6)
---------------
Cast: has had the best week EVER with the best people EVER!!! Thank you so
much
everyone involved with JCS - its been a blast!!! Can't believe its over....
-------------
Muso: had a wonderful week with all at Ariel Company Theatre - well done
everybody
and thanks to family and friends who came to support us all! Champion Week!!
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JCS was amazing and what a laugh the guy next to me was balling his eyes out
when
he has been in it twice and seen it 5 times bloody fantastic though well
done to
all
--------------
What a wonderful evening you all gave us last night Neil ... Quite nostalgic
for
me as I recalled our little shot at JCS back in Henfield in - was it 1987 ?
Met Gordon in the foyer ... clearly such a proud fan of yours and dear Ida
would
have loved the evening so much too. Thank you all!
-----
Here, Here, to that, you directed it so well, with a fantastically strong
cast,
thank you so much Neil. Also a big thank you to all the people behind the
scenes,
who all had their part to play in a very sucessful week.
On a personal note, as I saw it 4 times, does that entitle me to be An Ariel
Groupie? xx YES it Does! (Neil)
--------------
Hi Neil, I have to congratulate you. It was absolutely amazing! Such a
fantastic
cast and great staging! Well done mate! Me and my whole party loved it! I
really
do think Ariel rock!
Cheers
--------------
CAST: Wants to be back on that stage!!! :( :( well done again to the cast
and crew
of JCS, thank you for a great few months rehearsal and an absolutely AWESOME
show
week!!!!!!
------------------------
Cast: is feeling so weird already, had an awesome week and met some really
nice
people. One incredible show guys, going to miss it so much.
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Just felt I had to send you a message of congratulations on your excellent
performance last night. I have recently seen another production of JCS and
sadly
was unmoved at the end. Lighting and music play a big part I know but your
interpretation was spot on. Good luck with the rest of the show.
----------------
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....just had to look you up on here to say that the performance this
afternoon was
amazing!!! x
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
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Sorry, can i just ask, as it was the last night in crawley last evening,
where are
you off to next!? A friend of mine is upset to have missed it??! Thanks for
your
reply x
--------------------
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
Is this not a touring show? So thats it! It was a 1 week run! too good to be
only
one week. I hope there will obviously be other productions by Ariel of JCS.
SOON
PLEASE. . I'll keep an eye out for other productions..... Least I was lucky
enough
to see JCS....
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Congratulations for a fabulous performance on Saturday night!
Out of the blue my mother insisted we go to the theatre on the weekend so we
choose the Hawth!
We absolutely loved it. My mum insisted the lead singers had to be
professionals
(couldn't possibly be amateurs!). We thought Judas was the best.
A friend of mine saw it on the opening night so it was already highly
recommended.
Kind Regards,
T - Ashdown Forest Living
------------------
Well done to all in Jesus Christ Superstar. Thomas, Kate and I came to watch
and
were very impressed by all the cast. I remember seeing it in London many
years
ago!!
It was fantastic when we watched on Weds evening. Congratulations.
Best wishes.
J A
----------------------
V F: Just wanted to tell you what a fantastic show last night. A very
talented
bunch . You all so deserved the standing ovation at the end. Please pass on
to
David Goodall that I thought it was his best perfomance to date.
"Outstanding". Oh
and please when you do your next show can Simon have a decent head of hair!
he he
lots love Fellinghams.XXX
-------------------------
Absolutely brilliant performance on Friday night !!! Congratulations to all
involved !!
My wife and I were so impressed by the talent on show, it moved her to tears
at
the end.
Can't wait for Les Miz at Chequer Mead !!
Dave
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N D
Congratulations Ariel you've gone and done it again! Caught JCS on both
Tuesday &
Friday performances. Performance, music, set, lighting, sound, make-up &
effects
all fantastic. Everyone involved should be very proud (very, very proud) of
what
they achieved.
Can't wait for 'Our House'!
----------------
Just wanted to say again how much we enjoyed JCS last week. Carl had never
seen it
before and didn’t know the music at all, but he thought it was brilliant.
Well done to you all
-----------------------
I know I probably say this every time, but I really do think that THIS one
was the
best show ever!!! Probably helped by the fact that it is my all time
favourite
show anyway, but you really did cast this one perfectly - people are
literally
raving about it!
Congratulations on your direction Neil - you should be very proud of
yourself!
--------------------------
L C
Went to see JCS last Saturday at the Hawth in Crawley. What an exceptional
performance, everybody involved in this outstanding piece of theatre should
be
very proud of themselves.
As good as any West End performance. Well done!!!
------------
please pass our congratulations to Nicci and Neil and the whole of the team
involved in Jesus Christ Superstar. We went to watch the matinee last
Saturday and
were totally awestruck ! The whole production was so professional and
incredibly
powerful. The stage set, the lighting effects and costumes were used
brilliantly.
The boys loved spotting their 'tutors' and others they knew from Ariel and
have
been totally inspired. This was the first Ariel production that we have
managed to
get to see and can't wait for the next one!
Best Wishes
T Gankerseer
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