It was bright, it was loud, it was colourful!

It was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar performed with passion and energy by Cheltenham Operatic and Dramatic Society.

From the moment they stepped on stage to the rousing finale, the cast sang and danced their hearts out providing an evening of great entertainment for the capacity crowd.

Different

The "story" of course is well-known but the approach is so different from any other that you can't help feeling moved and involved as things progress.

The colour and exuberance of the performance is what stays in my mind (in fact being almost blinded by the lights on a giant starry cross is a memory few will forget!) and the energy with which each person played their role is a credit to all involved.

There were some notable individual performances - a great High Priest, a lovely Mary Magdalen and a wonderful good guy/bad guy relationship between Jesus and Judas.

"Colour and exuberance" (picture by Andrew Storm)

Comedy

An amusing cabaret-style Herod provided some moments of light entertainment before the final (but not entirely unexpected!) crucifixion scenes.

The Everyman theatre proved an excellent venue and the stage setting was simple but effective.

This is definitely worth getting along to see though based on last night's full house, I would think that tickets are few and far between now. I look forward to the society's next production.

Review by Sarah Ryan

................................................