“Jesus Christ Superstar” by Tom Bond Amateur Productions
St Mary’s Church, Lace Market, Nottingham.

Before I start, this is meant in no way as disrespectful of any other production of this show that I have seen over the last few years, but this production is the best that I have seen to date.

Local theatre company, Tom Bond Amateur Productions, in arrangement with The Musical Company Ltd, have brought the story of the last few days of the life of Jesus through Judas’s eyes, to a place of worship, which in itself brings a completely different feel to the production, a kind of new respect for the story.

There can’t be anyone who doesn’t know this story but Tom has introduced an immersive element to the production where,on arrival, the audience are welcomed with bottles of wine and fresh fruit already on the tables, which was traditional fare in ancient Jerusalem. Even before the show starts, you’re completely enveloped by the whole feel and it really gets you in the mood for one of the most performed and most loved of musicals.

St Mary's Church is a beautiful church and the lighting and the acoustics really create that special atmosphere where respect should be shown, not only to the building but to the story, and the actors telling the story.

Andy Quinn reprises his role as Judas and, I know I say this every time I see and hear Andy perform, but he gets better and better and his voice gets stronger. His passion for this role is shown with every movement and every word he sings. He does not just sing these songs, he performs, and feels the songs. This is my second time of seeing Andy as Judas, and I thought I'd seen the best performance he did at Mansfield, but this immersive performance gave him more freedom with the character, making it even better than I'd seen him before. Topping an Andy Quinn performance is always going to be hard but when it's done by Andy Quinn... what can I say?

Andy is surrounded by an amazing cast, many I'd seen before, but every one of them seemed to have been injected with some magic that brought out the very best performance an actor can ask for. Every one delivered passion, and that showed on their faces and the fire in which they performed their songs.

David Hawker (Caiaphas), his voice was almost unreal with his bass tones. He demanded you listen to him, and we all did.

Andrew Buxton (Annas), I last saw as George in "Hair", and I though he was great in that show. This performance showed another side of him that I had not noticed before. As the blood hungry Annas, his faced looked like a rottweiler about to devour his prey - and I mean that in a complimentary way to his acting skills - , his manic angry looks were really quite alarming. The fire and blood lust in his eyes were quite scary! Needless to say, his vocals are excellent and really highlight his rock vocal talents.

Zain Abrahams (Jesus) brought a very soulful tinge to the vocals which in turn made the character softer, but when the scene came where he was clearing the traders you got to hear the other side of Jesus, the angered side. "Gethsemane" has always been one of my favourite musical theatre songs and Zain absolutely nailed this song. You could feel Jesus' search of his soul for the understanding of why he was being asked to die, and then the coming to terms of his fate was emotional to say the least.

Jessica Bridge (Mary), I don't think that I had seen before, but I am now a fan. Her voice oozed calm and controlled emotion, and again, possibly the best performance I have seen of this character. She completely tugged at heartstrings when she implored in "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and the gorgeous duet with Peter in "Could We Start Again Please".

Samuel Ward (Peter), is another new actor to me, and again a passionate performance from Samuel and his duet with Mary was so well matched vocal wise.

Benito Preite (Pilate) again showed me something I'd not seen in Benito before. Fire and passion, and I can't remember ever hearing him sing so powerfully and with such emotion as he did in this production. Like all these incredible actors, he climbed within the skin of the character and morphed into the role. Like Andrew he really acted with his face and we felt Pilate's frustration and anger with Jesus.

And finally, another young actor who again has raised his acting bar. I have seen Lucas Young in many roles over the years and have loved everything he has done. In his role as King Herod, which we all know is camp, Lucas delivered the most campest of performances and the whole audience absolutely loved it, giving him a massive show of appreciation after "King Herod's Song", and he still amazes me how he gets those high kicks and splits in heels, but then again, he is an incredible dancer.

A wonderful ensemble swelled the choral sounds and fleshed out the other characters like guards, merchants, lepers, reporters etc.

Musical Director is Tom Bond, who left the baton for this last night in the hands of another, whose name I also didn't get but did an incredible job with the band. The acoustics in church are beautiful and amplified the perfect sound created by this musical combo.

The lighting for this show was also perfectly designed to highlight not only the actors in the best light, but also the beautiful features of the church. At one stage the giant cross above the stage was flooded in blue light and gave an eerie feel over the whole church.

I also loved the costumes which were similar to the original film version, which I felt respected the performance space. Herod's costume was the sort that would not look out of place at Nottingham Pride, lots of gold body glitter paint and hot pants that Kylie would be proud to wear.

I've never seen an immersive version of "Superstar", and I was told afterwards by Heather from the media team, that this was the first time this had been done. Maybe this is why I enjoyed this production as I did. "Superstar" is, and always has been, one of my all time favourite musicals - it was the first soundtrack I bought on the old Music For Pleasure record label when I was just a kid, so has always had a special place in my heart. All these years on, this group has made me love this musical even more.

I've had the greatest of pleasure tonight telling the people around me all about the previous roles of many of the actors I know in this cast, and confirming what talented people they all are, they didn't need any confirmation by the end of this show.

I said on the way out that you don't need drugs to get yourself buzzing, just see a show like this. What's the buzz? This show and this cast, that's the only buzz I need!