SUPERSTAR COMING TO HARTFORD’S BUSHNELL

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was never one to take

 the road more traveled. Even as a teenager, when he was testing out his literary pen, he chose a topic less mainstream and more creative: he wrote a musical about a boy in the Bible who receives an  unusual gift from his father. That became the world famous rock musical “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

In the years to come, Lloyd Webber continued his unorthodox choice of subject matter by composing musicals about a gang of backyard felines (CATS), a poor woman who rises to become a powerful figurehead in her country (Evita), teams of train engines who race on roller skates (Starlight Express) and a disfigured young man hiding in the bowels of a Paris opera house (The Phantom of the Opera). 

Now you have the opportunity to experience another record breaking musical about another boy in the Bible: “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” playing at the  Bushnell Center  for the Performing  Arts in Hartford from Tuesday, February 25 to Sunday, March 1. Composed by Lloyd Webber with Tim Rice, this almost fifty old musical of the last week in the life of Jesus Christ is itself undergoing a metamorphosis. This is urban streets meet punk rock, a modern day retelling of a savior who wants to cleanse the world of corruption and sin. This last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ, who is portrayed by a memorable Aaron LaVigne, is told through the eyes of his betrayer, one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, played with all his anger and confusion evident by James Delisco Beeks.

Tender moments are underscored by Jenna Ruball’s Mary Magdalene as she confesses of Jesus “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” while the passion and suffering are momentarily alleviated by the antics of a song and dance Vaudeville routine by King Herod, Paul Louis Lessard. This spectacular rock musical is directed by Timothy Sheader and choreographed by Drew McOnie.

For tickets ($31 and up) call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Enter the emotional whirlwind as Jesus Christ realizes that those closest to him are determined to witness his destruction.