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It ain’t
Soundgarden, but you guessed it - it’s Gary Time, 1994: The Good News  And
it came to pass that the most talented man in Boston was chosen. His voice carried the
power of all Heaven, his strength and agility far outweighed that of mere amateur
performers; his heart was pure, his eyes serene, and his soul was of nothing but the
Truth. A man of profound beauty and kindness, and with the Lord on his side, his name was
Gary Cherone. "Joy to the world," cried Extreme fans, "the Superstar has
come!"
Yep, watching Gary
in his first time as Jesus is a true religious experience. For me, the best part of this
video is the first glimpse of GC: the excitement of first seeing him appear at the edge of
the screen, making his way through the audience - at ease in his character, greeting and
talking to audience members. Wearing long, baggy clothes, slightly unshaven and with wavy
shoulder-length hair, he looks every bit the living Messiah. Jesus the man, out among his
people - not often portrayed in Western culture. I can’t say it enough - with
Gary’s look, beliefs and personality, he is perfect for this part! When you first see
him on the video, it’s exciting. To see him out of the Extreme context, cruising
around, and filmed on a normal video camera, it brings home the reality of Gary as a
person (instead of Gary the Famous Rock Star). My first reaction was to be totally envious
of the audience members!
Although he’s
not a professional actor, he had the part down. His facial expression was serene, and his
body language, gentle. Yet his voice is sheer power, bringing the right amount of emotion
to every song. He blended and worked with the cast so well, yet stood out as the lead
character. He worked as a great contrast to Judas, played by Doug Thoms. Doug is also a
good choice for the production, as his voice has a strong, dramatic quality; in a way, he
does steal the show - as Gary has said, it’s Judas who gets all the great songs. But
Gary was able to use this to his advantage; through gesture he showed emotion throughout
Judas’ songs, and together, the tension between Judas and Jesus was obvious. Gary was
also not adverse to a bit of humour - awesome to see.
CLASSIC MOMENT:
‘Everything’s Alright’, as performed by Jodi Sussman. Jesus takes the
advice to relax, literally - he gets a deckchair, sits centrestage, and looking
like a biblical MiB, puts on his Raybans. "Relax, think of nothing tonight"...
Something that
impressed me apart from GC himself, was the use of space in this production. Being at the
Middle East cafe performance space, in Cambridge, MA, the stage looked to be reasonably
small. This however, added to the production: instead of being confined to a conventional
theatre stage, characters moved around places such as the audience floor space at the
front, and along the side by a rail. The whole show moved, in a sense, in and out of the
audience (who were very close). It also had a very ‘improvised’ feel about it
(especially when Judas hung himself with the microphone cord).
This show,
done in 1994, was thoroughly enjoyable. Fun and camp, but serious when it had to be;
brilliant music and performances from all the cast, and a feeling of pride for Gary - that
he can put his talents to something else apart from Extreme. Jesus Christ Superstar
1994 is an experience for Gary fans, and that’s just the video. Imagine being
there.
1996: The Second Coming Hmm, murmured the disciples. Can he really come back, and do it again? This was the thing that would seperate the believers from the doubting Thomases. Only those with the strongest faith, whose hearts belonged to Gary, knew that he would be back! Both together and alone, those believers spread the word all over the land; in schools, friendly gatherings, in the streets, and in town squares they passed out flyers and voiced what they knew. Labelled Manic Street Preachers by some (but hey, James Dean Bradfield was not there, okay?), they braved all the elements, with no regard to sustinence but figs, leaves and bark - and when they could afford it, the occasional Burger King (one burger... no drink). All over the world, they spread their belief, around the clock, to rockers, ravers, drunks, everyone. Gary Cherone, son of Sam, indeed a naked and blameless Adam - yes, the saviour of BRO - would return! CAN I GET A WITNESS!!! And praise the Lord, in 1996 it happened. Fuzzy both in beard and in hairstyle, Gary returned for a repeat performance of Jesus Christ Superstar.  Seriously though - even with Gary in the lead, and
with Doug Thoms reprising his role as Judas, along with Kay Hanley as Mary Magdalene, I
didn’t enjoy this video as much as the first. Far from being Gary’s fault, it
seems to be a combination of several factors. First, and I really noticed this, the show
was in a larger venue; the stage was accordingly larger, and further removed from the
audience. I felt that the cast was relatively constrained by this, and by the stage
boundaries. It did look professional, but I preferred the looser, more amateur vibe
of the ‘94 show.
Jesus looked
stressed for most of the show; frustrated, and on a bit of a downer. Gary portrayed this
very well - like ‘94, he was completely in character - but there was less humour
throughout the show. It was riveting to watch and hear the tensions going on, and I could
feel every emotion he showed. And this time it was very FREAKY to watch him suffer and
die; his pain was so real, and watching it is an ordeal in itself. An upsetting few
minutes there, especially for a Gary lover. You have to tell yourself, "It’s
just a show, he’s okay..." Keep Van Halen in mind when you watch it.
 Kay Hanley kind of sucked. Her singing style didn't
suit the role, and by comparison to Jodi Sussman, she appeared very stiff. In Letters To
Cleo, she’s fine - I’m a fan of the Aurora Gory Alice songs - but in this
case, she should have stayed at home. She whined, and it was obvious that she tried to
give her part an alternative edge. It didn’t work. But that's just my opinion!
So, even though
there were things about JCS ‘96 that I didn’t like, this has to be said:
Gary was incredible. He was tortured, complex, resigned, and realistic. He put his heart
and soul into the part of Jesus, and stretched himself to the utmost. And by critical
standards, that can only be a compliment.
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