Jesus Christ Superstar. A journey down memory lane ……. Reminiscing the Lankan theatre scene of the 70’s – By Aubrey Joachim
It would not come as a surprise that most baby boomer Sri Lankan diaspora in Sydney went along to the Capitol theatre in Sydney in the last few weeks to watch one of the most viewed stage plays of all time – Jesus Christ Superstar.
The double album emerged in 1970 with the music score put together by the famed Andrew Lloyd Webber and the lyric writer Tim Rice. It was rock music at its best with the soundtrack being one of the greatest progressive rock albums of all time which achieved platinum status. It portrayed the seven days in the life of Jesus Christ between Palm Sunday and Good Friday as perceived by the main characters during that historic period – Judas, Mary Magdalene, King Herod, Pilate, St. Peter and others.
The first version of the rock opera opened in October 1971 on Broadway and had a successful run of 700 performances. Less than a year later – in August 1972 it opened at the Palace theatre in London and ran for a staggering 3,358 performances over 8 years! Since then various productions of the play have been performed in many countries worldwide. The current Australian production is the latest having been staged in Australia in 1974 as well.
The 70’s were the halcyon days of baby boomer Sri Lanka. Colombo was the happening place with Radio Ceylon being the most progressive radio station in the southern hemisphere, always being the first to air the latest western music. It was no different when Jesus Christ Superstar emerged. Those of us of that era will remember and reminisce all the songs on the album as it was belted out on Radio Ceylon. Most knew the words by heart. It would have all come back to mind at the Capitol theatre.
The movie version first hit the big screen in 1973 and it was a few years later that it reached Sri Lanka with screenings at the Liberty Cinema. Most would remember with whom they were when they watched the movie. In fact some may have been to it multiple times but not really watched the movie …..
The 70’s were also the heyday of the acting and theatre scene in Sri Lanka and in a sense were ahead of its time. Those ‘Colombo-siders’ will remember wearing peace badges, bandanas, bell bottoms and the like. Those were the days when the 18 to 30 age group youth were at their element and demonstrating a rebellious streak. Jesus Christ Superstar which was initially viewed by conservative Christians as somewhat demeaning of their most revered aspects of doctrine became the catalyst for otherwise docile youth to get energised.
Even before the movie reached Sri Lanka a young Old Josephian, and American Field Service (AFS) scholar, Nimal Gunawardena had brought back the JCSS Album on his return from the US. Nimal reminisces that the then visionary rector of St. Joseph’s College Fr. Don Peter got the senior boys to listen to the album. So much for negative connotations by conservative Christians.
Soon after his school days Nimal Gunawardena and co-director Seneka de Silva saw the opportunity to turn the album into a theatre production. The rest as they say is history. After a few months of preparation, rehearsing, costume production, casting etc. the show opened at the Navarangahala on September 6th, 1975. Tickets were priced at a Rs. 15, 7.50 and 5.
It was a totally home-grown production featuring the then most popular music band in the country ‘Amazing Grace’ with Reza Deane of the group as Jesus and fuzzy haired Tony de Silva as Judas. Newspaper headlines screamed ‘Muslim plays the role of Jesus Christ’ almost as if it was blasphemous. Some would even remember Catholic nuns protesting outside the venue. Other familiar names in the cast were Radha Fernando – later de Mel, as Mary Magdalene, Jetliners Ishan Bahar as Herod and Geoffrey Alagaratnam as Pilate.
Many who saw this production 5 decades ago would still say that the amateur production by a group of Lankan theatre geeks and musicians was not only ahead of its time but will compare with the best techno-assisted global productions over the years.
While the 1975 production will go down in the annals of theatre history in Sri Lanka, a second version was produced in 2013 by famed Josephian-Peterite music and theatre personality Jerome de Silva and ran to packed houses at the Lionel Wendt theatre.
Those of us who saw the 1975 production will forever remember the talents and creativity of Lankan youth of that time wherever and whenever we see the show again. It will bring back memories of 5 decades past as you listen to ‘What’s the Buzz’, ‘Hosanna’, ‘I don’t know how to love him’ and the rest of the musical score. One really would have goose bumps right from the opening bars of the show.
Five decades on from its debut is it time for a new Sri Lankan techo-version of one of the greatest rock opera musicals of all time?
Jesus Christ Superstar Australia 2024 production will run across all Australian capital cities during 2025.
The author – former Global President of CIMA is an Australian citizen of Sri Lankan descent and is an Old Josephian-Peterite of the baby-boomer era. Some background research from the Sunday Times archives.
