Theater Review: 'Jesus Christ Superstar' Finds its Groove in Week Two

A lot can happen in a week, especially in the theater. GMG Productions’ staging of Jesus Christ Superstar is living proof. The show I caught on gala night (with Joshua Bess as Jesus and Javon King as Judas)  vs. the one I saw just over a week later (with Luke Street as Jesus and Ricardo Afonso as Judas) felt like two entirely different beasts—with the latter finally finding its rock and roll soul.

Keeping that stadium-concert intensity is vital because Jesus Christ Superstar’s main selling point is its radical, rock-opera reimagining of the Passion of Christ. Think Holy Week senakulo, but showered in glitter (literally), blistering electric guitar solos, and plenty of screamos. And instead of the divine Messiah, this Jesus is human ("He's a man, he's just a man"), who is overwhelmed, irritable, defenseless, and, ultimately, surrendering to his fate out of exhaustion rather than devotion. It is a musical theater retelling of a story we know so intimately that finding a novel angle feels nearly impossible, yet that is exactly what Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) pulled off in the ’70s.

We hear and feel this novelty as early as the electrifying four-minute overture. It kicks off with a distorted riff, an almost unapologetic introduction that's jarring yet hypnotizing. And then the synthesizer swells, picks up the tempo, and you just don't know where this is going, but you're pulled in, and there's no turning back. The whole musical is sung through, so it is important for that overture to set the stage, and the May 17 show did that more than the gala performance. The initial sound felt tentative, almost polite, but during my second viewing, the live band in the background was just letting it rip.

With this musical clarity finally achieved, the significance of the physical environment (with set design by Tom Scott) truly shines. Onstage is a multi-tiered scaffolding where the musicians stand facing the audience. Around them and their instruments, audio gear becomes the visual language: handheld microphones are passed around like a baton (and the passing of the voice—the capacity to speak and sing, or lack thereof), long microphone cords function as whips and/or restraints for binding wrists, and a speaker stand becomes the cross itself. The set is always out to remind us that this production is unmistakably a rock concert.

With the production's aural and visual landscape finally locked into place, the burden of proof fell squarely on the principal cast, who absolutely had to hold their own against a score demanding pure, unadulterated rock-and-roll glory. And that’s what we finally saw on Week 2, or the third weekend, to be exact.

Luke Street as Jesus is as irreverent as he is compelling—frustrated with the mob, tired of Judas’ lies, and openly tender with Mary Magdalene. He earns trust with coyness, but still captures the room with a rock-star charisma. When he sings, he taps into that essential grit in the voice without sacrificing the character's inherent vulnerability; he is, after all, still Jesus.

His understudy, Joshua Bess, while deeply attuned to that necessary vulnerability, struggled to escalate into the radicalism that the material requires. Bess’s Jesus is soft and tender, remaining as polite as the tentative audio mix of that gala.

Opposite Street’s Jesus, Ricardo Afonso’s Judas is pure fire. He is also a rock star through and through, unleashing a rasping roar that reeks of betrayal, but still revealing a desperate anguish in that vulnerable moment atop the scaffolding.

Meanwhile, Javon King’s Judas, playing opposite Bess’s Jesus, simply eclipsed the main character. He has an entirely different treatment from Afonso, but still one that worked; his sass carried that second act, so that it almost became Judas Superstar.

Finally, there is our very own Filipino talent in the midst of this international touring cast: Gab Pangilinan—the “One Almighty Gab” (Myke Salomon, 2026) in the middle of rotating alternates. Pangilinan showed a world of difference across the performances, steadily building her confidence during the first week before ultimately unleashing a soaring, show-stopping vocal release in “I Don't Know How to Love Him” later in the run.

Is Jesus Christ Superstar worth watching? Sure, especially to find out how one form of fiction (musical theater) can be adapted from another form of fiction (prose narrative, as in the Bible), and how this show became so groundbreaking.

Here, rather than the Bible narrative where the antagonists are the religious leaders, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and even the betrayer Judas, the ultimate enemy is the power of the mob. It's a case study in the mechanics of a public obsession, where a fickle-minded crowd can easily pivot from toxic worshipping to bloodthirsty judgment and execution. And that "what-if" is exactly what makes this retelling resonate across decades. There is a volatile mob mentality that every generation, every ideology, and every political movement must eventually contend with.

Finally, this production, in particular, is raw, visceral, and uncomfortable—exactly how rock should be. While the initial performances suffered from mismatched cast dynamics and technical imbalances, the later run ultimately proved why Jesus Christ Superstar remains a global sensation. There are still more than 10 shows to go, and if you're lucky, you might just catch that fiery Luke Street-Ricardo Afonso combo.

This is a review of the gala performance on May 5, three days after opening night; and of the 6:30 p.m. show on May 17.

Jesus Christ Superstar runs until May 31, 2026, at The Theatre at Solaire, 1 Aseana Avenue, Entertainment City, Tambo, Parañaque City. Ticket prices range from P1,900 to P7,000. Available through TicketWorld.

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