Ok, to be totally frank, NOT ONLY am I a huge Tim Minchin fan, I've watched all of his concerts & shows I could find and some of series AND I've been listening to the original JCSuperstar album since the early 70's. All of my kids, who are full grown adults now, love the album. When I heard about this UK arena tour video, WOW! I was so excited to watch it, but then I saw that Tim had been cast as Judas, that just added to my delight.
Now, I get that not everyone likes Tim's act, he can be fairly caustic to a gentle mind. But I just love his stuff. Swearing & all. You cannot deny the guy is super talented.
This production was placed in a rock arena, as creators ALW & TR had originally planned while writing it. With a huge flatscreen at top of the steps which lets the audience see better close-ups.
The 1973 movie was very good (8/10), but as talented as Ted Neely was, I would've preferred to have seen Ian Gillian in the Jesus role (he does Jesus on the original soundtrack). In this version, Ben Forster is pretty good as Jesus. The way the arena is set up, if you're familiar with the original Norman Jewison film from 1973, you'll know where each scene & character is 'supposed' to be. Tim is excellent as Judas. MelC ,as Mary, is easy to watch. I love her gothy/punk look.
So, maybe I'm not unbiased, I've watched this movie so many times since buying it. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes JCS or Tim Minchin or rock operas or just a good show to spend some time on.
PS: Another Tim Minchin achievement is "Matilda, the Musical", he wrote all the songs and they are brilliant! (Watch Matilda at least once with the captions on so as not to miss any of his sharp lyrics!).
