An essential staple of modern-day musical theatre, which rightfully sees productions in the amateur/community theatre and professional spaces, Jesus Christ Superstar continues to thrive on the market with its ‘rock opera’ approach to production which is quite different from most musicals of recent days – a well-known story told throughout the centuries combined with a continual delivery of lyrical music and a constant rock concert vibe. This musical holds the acclaim of being my very first musical back in 2001, with students from many local primary schools being bussed in to watch a local high school’s student production of it. Did the 10-year-old me understand what was taking place? Not at all. But there were many pretty lights and well-tuned music, so it was a fun time nevertheless. While I would argue the more general audience may be more familiar with the Arena recording featuring the likes of Tim Minchin and Ben Forster, with a hypermodernised setting aligned with the occupy movement of the time, there is something about the timeless nature of the production that works regardless of what era the producers ultimately set the show in.
For the past months, Crossroads Live Australia has been touring the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar across the country. As part of the final confirmed leg of the tour, the musical has arrived at Brisbane’s QPAC Lyric Theatre for a short six-week stint, concluding on 10 August 2025. If you are still pondering whether it is worth the trip into the city to see this production, I’ve got you covered! Scroll down to read my full review of Jesus Christ Superstar’s 2025 Brisbane Season!
For those somehow unawares of what Jesus Christ Superstar is about, it is not a traditional religious experience per ce, but rather a narrative built around the final week of Jesus Christ’s life, albeit less like him being a stained-glass personified legend and more as a fallible individual railing against the ‘big brother’ figures in the church, amidst his popularity surging beyond control and – at least the audiences knowledge – that one of the apostles, Judas, is about to betray him. This Regent’s Park revival leans hard into that tension: Judas’ opening plea feels like a prophetic tweet warning of brand implosion, while Jesus is framed as a weary rock-prophet crushed by the whiplash of fame.
Handheld mics and on-stage amps blur the lines between first-century Jerusalem and present-day protest rallies, which, given the times we live in, is quite apt. While the opening announcement portrays this as taking place in 33 AD, the events depicted in this production are more timeless, neither in historical times nor in modern-day. Political back-room machinations, a glitter-splashed flogging and Pilate’s public-opinion poll of a trial steadily tighten the screws, reminding us how quickly crowds can pivot from adulation to bloodlust when power feels threatened. In the quieter beats, Mary offers a fleeting balm. Yet, even her lullabies cannot halt the inexorable slide toward that hollowed-out centre stage, where the show finally asks whether truth-telling idealism can survive the spectacle machine we keep rebuilding in every era.
I feel like more musicals nowadays are finding a way to incorporate a celebrity guest in a key role – someone who may not always be the perfect fit for the character compared to others, but who draws in the crowds. Jesus Christ Superstar is not one of those musicals, bringing together a cast who genuinely sound strong for their roles Michael Paynter’s Jesus tears through “Gethsemane” with a laser-clear upper register; Javon King’s Judas answers with blistering belts and precise diction; Mahalia Barnes grounds the chaos with a soft-toned Mary; and Reuben Kaye’s five-minute Herod is a fun take on the camp character, although could have used a lot more of the actor’s presence on-stage during their scene… although got some of the loudest applauses of the night for good reason. Every principal cast member sounds built for the score, not parachuted in for name recognition value.
The secondary principal cast is just as solid. Elliot Baker’s Caiaphas was arguably my standout for the night – an accurate subterranean bass that rattles the back of one’s ears and gives the High Priest real menace. John O’Hara’s sinewy Annas slips neatly beside him, and Peter Murphy’s hard-edged Pilate brings rock-concert snarl to every line. There were no weak links, no questionable casting – just voices that do the material justice.
Driven by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s wall-to-wall score with nary a break between numbers, the show plays like a two-hour arena set: crunchy guitars on scaffold towers, splashy percussion that thumps your ribs, and dynamic pivots that let “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” breathe before “Superstar” slams the throttle back down. The songs are obviously strong, as without memorable, enjoyable songs, this would not be a musical still frequently performed decades after its debut. However, the concert aesthetic cuts both ways. The handheld microphones and on-stage amps sell the rock-gig illusion. Still, from my section of the Lyric Theatre, the sound balance often tipped from immersive to overwhelming, resulting in several sections of songs being either unintelligible or blurring into the music. It felt, at least from where I was sitting, that the audio balance and levels for the QPAC Lyric Theatre hadn’t been perfected yet. This isn’t necessarily a problem for those who have listened to the soundtrack enough times to fill in the gaps, but my guest on the night, a relative newcomer to Jesus Christ Superstar, struggled to keep up with what was taking place. The energy is undeniable; I just wish the mix offered a touch more clarity so every razor-sharp Tim Rice lyric could land as cleanly as the band’s back-beat.
The choreography gives Jesus Christ Superstar an adrenalised pulse, and there is no doubt that the spectacle of bodies ricocheting across the scaffolds and arms slicing the air in unison feels like a riotous mob going feral. Yet for all that kinetic charge, the movement vocabulary can feel scatter‑shot: motifs appear, burst like fireworks, then disappear before they lodge in my memory. I think that there could be more substance to them, but with everything going on, and everything feeling purposefully busy, it felt like the movements favoured atmosphere over clarity.
Visually, Jesus Christ Superstar feels like a mash‑up of a rock concert and a passion play. Rusted scaffolds frame the stage like a half‑built arena, and a giant metal cross lies on a tilt, doubling as catwalk and altar. It is a simple, mostly static set which works well overall, if not too ambitious. Something I do love about the design, however, is that at least some of the band is kept on-stage, with the shadow-lit musicians keeping every guitar riff punched up like you’re at a festival, while they’re in sight. Costumes sort characters quickly: disciples in dusty neutrals, authorities in sharp leather and metal accents, and Herod exploding in head‑to‑toe gold (and looking fabulous in such garb). Real violence is replaced by bold symbols – gold glitter for the lashings, and a swinging microphone cable hinting at the end for a character. Haze, strobes and tight spotlights tie it together so each scene feels both ancient and modern.
Ultimately, the 2025 Australian tour of Jesus Christ Superstar managed to rekindle some of that same wide-eyed wonder I felt as a ten-year-old, only this time, actually being able to comprehend the narrative fully, and perhaps a bit more pointed towards the world we live in today. Vocally and visually, it roars, with Paynter and King driving the engine, and the rust‑and‑glitter design giving the aesthetic a raw, timeless voltage. A hotter sound mix and the occasional choreographic blur keep it from outright transcendence. Still, when that tilted cross ignited and the final chord reverberated, I left feeling more than content. And I cannot deny that, living outside of Brisbane, means I was able to get home at a reasonable hour, thanks to the earlier finish time. If you’re still undecided about a night at the Lyric, take this as your nudge: this revival isn’t flawless, yet it lands close enough to remind us why this rock opera refuses to age, and may just not during our lifetime.
Final Score for Jesus Christ Superstar
Tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar’s Brisbane Opening Night were provided by Crossroads Live Australia and the production’s Brisbane-based publicity team Cinnamon Watson Publicity to facilitate this review.
Tickets for the (at the moment) final leg of Jesus Christ Superstar’s national Australian tour at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) Lyric Theatre can be purchased via the musical’s official website.
