Heaven on his mind: Cincinnati artist mines emotion leading 'Jesus Christ Superstar' again

Cincinnati native Aaron LaVigne has been happy to be back on the road bringing the emotional intensity of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" to life each night.

As the title character in the show's 50th anniversary tour, he said he has been honored to play the iconic role of Jesus since the tour started in fall 2019. That tour played just two nights at Playhouse Square in March 2020 before the pandemic shut it and all live performances down.

Now, "Jesus Christ Superstar" will return to Cleveland Wednesday through Feb. 20 with LaVigne and the cast back in full swing since the tour resumed in September after 18 months off. LaVigne (pronounced La-vih-nay), 40, spent that time off back in Cincinnati, where he had bought and renovated a 130-year-old house several years ago, before the pandemic.

Singer-songwriter LaVigne, whose career has included "Spider-Man" on Broadway and "Rent" Off-Broadway and on tour, said he had gotten out of the "rat race" of New York and was living in Cincinnati when the "Jesus Christ Superstar" opportunity came up in 2019. The artistic team was looking for a singer-songwriter who could hit all of the title character's wildly difficult notes and show vulnerability in the role of Jesus, who's a guitar-wearing singer-songwriter in this production.

"I didn't have anything to lose" accepting the job, said LaVigne, who had been working on his house for more than two years and doing gigs and tours as a solo artist.   

The musician, who grew up playing in classic rock and punk bands in Cincinnati, is a huge Beatles fan whose favorite music is from the '60s and '70s. That meant "Jesus Christ Superstar," whose original double concept album came out in 1970, fit right into his groove.

LaVigne describes this version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" as "artistically raw and incredibly exciting." 

"I think with this one they just wanted to kind of simplify it. What's the story here? What are we trying to communicate? And also, let's make it a rock 'n' roll show," said LaVigne, a Northern Kentucky University graduate.

That meant the Grammy Award-winning music came first and foremost in this show, which is set in the final seven days of Jesus' life.

Interestingly, LaVigne, who also plays bass and piano, played Judas in one of his first shows when he was a senior at the Catholic La Salle High School. He called the experience an eye-opener.

"This is an easier way to connect to the story [of Christ], through the show," he said.

"It's a very intensely emotional show for me, for sure," LaVigne said of performing in the tour. "The betrayal of Judas is the most famous betrayal of all time."

The 23 performances at Playhouse Square's Connor Palace will carry a unique musical distinction: Twenty-two additional Northeast Ohio strings players will join the tour's 11-piece ensemble to create an epic-sized orchestra for the Cleveland performances of the show, presented in live theatrical surround sound. The huge orchestra also happened in Cleveland before the 2020 shutdown.

This reimagined, 50th anniversary tour, whose original production opened in London Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in 2016, has a starkly modern look and feel with its set and costume design, with the latter featuring neutral, warm tones.

"The idea is anyone can step out of this group of people and play Jesus that night or play Judas that night" as an ensemble, LaVigne said.

The Roman soldiers have a chilling look, wearing identical-looking statue heads.

"It's just symbolic" to represent Pilate's court, LaVigne said. "The idea of a mob: A mob doesn't have a face." 

"The show questions leadership and what is leadership," he said. "Who are we following and why? Where are we getting our information?"

In this production, a dance-based character called the Mob Leader (Sarah Parker) riles up the mob.

"The ensemble, they're like a bee hive ... and they push the story into like a frantic pace," LaVigne said. 

The 90-minute show is intentionally relentless, running with no intermission.

"It's a fast and furious show. It's designed to make everyone exhausted on stage and get the audience really exhausted," LaVigne said.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Musical: "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Where: Connor Palace, Playhouse Square, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 

When: Wednesday through Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

Onstage: Starring Aaron LaVigne, Jenna Rubaii, Alvin Crawford, Tommy Sherlock, Omar Lopez-Cepero

Offstage: Andrew Lloyd Webber, music; Tim Rice, lyrics; Timothy Sheader, director; Drew McOnie, choreographer; Tom Scutt, set/costume design; Lee Curran, lighting design; Keith Caggiano and Nick Lidster, sound design; Tom Deering, music supervision; David Holcenberg, North American music supervisor

Cost: $59-$159

Information: playhousesquare.org or 216-241-6000