 
It's Gary Cherone Superstar
God-complexes, hilarious hoots, and... the Illinois stalkers? In
April, Extremists once again travelled the ends of the earth, beating a path to
Boston’s Lansdowne Street Playhouse to see Gary play Jesus for the second time, in
the Boston Rock Opera’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Tracey Tom (Canada) and Amy Keefer
(US) have the story. Hosanna, heysanna...
Tracey's
Report | Amy's
Review | Facts from Al Badger
Tracey's Canadian
Quartet
by Tracey Tom
On Friday 5 April 1996, my sister
Cheryl and I drove 6 hours from our home in Montreal to Boston for the weekend. The main
purpose of this was to see none other than Gary Cherone in Jesus Christ Superstar.
After much sightseeing (let the
records show we never got lost, we were just unable to locate where we were on the
map...), shopping, and hitting Cheryl as she was about to step on Extreme’s star in
front of Tower Records - sacrilege! - (no offence to any New Kids fans, but I let her step
on NKOTB’s star), we made it to Aerosmith’s club, ‘Mama Kin’, where JCS
was playing in the Lansdowne Street Playhouse. We waited outside with Christina Wootton
and Carol Osbourne (half of the "Buffalo Extreme Show ‘95 Quartet") and
fellow Canadians. There were fans from all over the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan, etc, who
were there that day and other days.
Finally let into the theatre, I
realised that some guy in the front row looked really familiar - Mike?! I went up to talk
to him and he was so nice, so down-to-earth, just like the rest of Extreme (I had met Gary
in Montreal on a promo tour, and spoken to him again - as well as Nuno, Pat and Mike -
after their concert here in March ‘95). I showed Mike the jean-jacket I was wearing -
Cheryl had drawn and machine-embroidered a patch of each of the guys and sewn them on the
back. Since this was done before Mike joined, Paul is on the back; so I showed Mike his
patch (which his sister and other family members liked very much!). Mike spoke to
Christina, Carol, Cheryl, and all the other fans who approached him. In fact, he seemed to
be having the time of his life! What a great guy!
Finally, the show began and we all
watched closely as Gary was yanked by the hair, flogged 39 times, thrown down the ramp on
the stage face first, and crucified (it broke my heart to see this, although I can’t
say I didn’t see it coming - it was very hard for me to stay in my seat!). Gary did
an excellent job in this production, and fits the part so well - his beautiful, sad eyes
alone make the part perfect for him!
But, alas, all good things must come
to an end, and so it did after a standing ovation from a packed theatre, for Gary, Kay
Hanley (of the band Letters To Cleo), who did a great job as Mary Magdalene, and Doug
Thoms (whose strong-voiced Judas pulled at so many different emotions and who was thrilled
that a group of Canadians had travelled to see the show)... Mike walked out with his
family, and although we waited and tried to meet Gary, we were nudged out.
Just being able to see the
production, let alone meeting Mike and seeing Boston (which is such a "nice place to
visit"), made the trip of extreme worthiness! (Even the 9-hour drive back in traffic
and a New York-Massachussetts snowstorm in a car with no snow tyres - it was snowy all the
way from outside of Boston right up to the border and snowless in Canada - I thought the
border was an imaginary line!). A huge thanks to Mike, his family, Gary and cast,
Christina, Carol, and Cheryl, who made the trip possible!
Everything's Alright With Amy
by Amy Keefer
My friend Tracy Weller and I left
her hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan, on 2 April. We were headed to Boston to see Gary
perform in Jesus Christ Superstar.
We arrived at the venue around two
o’clock, and there was a small group of people waiting at the door. I quickly spotted
my friends from Illinois (affectionately termed the "Illinois Stalkers" by the
show’s booking agent) at the front of the line. Shortly after that, I saw Kelly
Bowman and Willie Walter of the Punchline fanzine. I hadn’t seen any of them
since my last Extreme show in St Louis, Missouri.After waiting for almost five hours, the
doors finally opened. Tracy and I still couldn’t believe that we were in Boston. We
were able to get front row seats, but it was a small place, so there really wasn’t a
bad seat anywhere.
Finally the lights went down and the music began. After what seemed
like an eternity, Jesus made his entrance. From that moment, my attention never left the
stage. Gary’s performance was captivating! I have never been so moved. The band and
the rest of the cast also did a wonderful job! Even though they had a small stage and few
props, they easily topped any performance. The scene that really affected me was when
Jesus was beaten and crucified. Gary was so into the performance, it was like he
wasn’t acting. It was a very eerie experience. I really can’t explain it, but
now when I listen to the music from that scene, I get a weird feeling.
After the show we waited, wondering if Gary would come out. I saw
some people walk up by the stage and then I saw Gary talking to them. I immediately ran up
there hoping for a chance to talk to him. He said that he wasn’t supposed to be
talking because his voice was strained. He did say hello to us (thanks Gary), and I was
able to tell him what a wonderful performance it was. I mentioned that we would be back
the next night, and he assured me that he would be too.
The next night was even better. Not only did Gary give another
awesome performance, but I got to meet someone that I’ve wanted to meet for a long
time. While standing in line we started talking to a girl who said she was friends with
Gary. She pointed to a man standing in line and informed me that he was Greg Cherone. A
number of years ago, I got a personal letter from Greg when he was in the band Atunga. I
decided that if I ever met him I would have to thank him for that, because it really meant
a lot to me. He was extremely nice and thanked me for remembering him. Later on during the
intermission, he introduced me to his new music partner, John Bettencourt (who is also
very nice). I can’t believe that I finally got to meet Greg.
Finally, on the third night, we got lucky again. We saw some empty
seats on the side, and Tracy asked the guy who was sitting there if anyone was sitting in
them, and he said no. Suddenly, I realised it was Mike Mangini. He came with his sister. A
couple of my other friends came over, and he gave us the scoop on Extreme. He told us a
really funny story. Out of all the things that have ever happened to Extreme, there are
only two stories that have made it around the world. The first one is when Mike was drunk
and stripped at the hotel and went swimming, and the second was when he hit Gary’s
grandma in the head with a drumstick. He explained that he was trying to get it to his
sister and missed. It’s a shame that Gary’s grandma got hurt, but it’s
funny that both of the stories involve Mike.
After my friends left, he turned around and waved, calling out to
someone named Sam. I wondered if it was Gary’s dad, so I asked and he said yes. Sam
came over to talk to Mike, and I sort of got included in the conversation. Gary’s
brother Mike was also there, but I didn’t talk to him.
We did have a little bad luck, but the good definitely outweighed
the bad. Hopefully, Gary will do the play again next year, because I would love to go
back. It was an incredible performance that no one should miss.
Other Superstar news
Contributed by Al Badger
- All Extreme members attended the show on various nights.
- Pat went with his father Al one night, along with some of
Al’s friends and Extreme manager Steve Hoffman. They all thought the show was great,
and they hung out with Gary and Kay afterwards.
- Pat went again the next night with friends, including the
woman who plays the blind girl on US soap As The World Turns.
- Some fans were upset at not getting to meet Gary afterwards.
However, I can tell you that he’d just had an operation on some nodules on his vocal
chords, and had been told to rest his voice if it was sore or even hoarse (often, he
didn’t even come out to talk to friends and family). He would’ve come out to
meet everyone if it had been possible.
- Paul Geary was there on 20 April.
- Suze was there with Nuno.
- Videos should be made available soon through a Boston company
called Working Media.
- It took several weeks for the holes in Gary’s hands and
feet to heal! (Thanks to Al for that joke...)
Jesus Christ Pose: JCS
Videos |
