Just imagine that. The first play that we’re having this year at the Z- Theater is Jesus Christ Superstar. A play that goes through a portion of Jesus’ life, but performed as a rock opera. Not only will this attract singers and dancers alike, it will “-really be stepping up the game for Regis Jesuit” as the theater director Aldo Pantoja puts it.

Jesus Christ Superstar is the first musical in the new building, and “will definitley be the best” as Senior John Brock put it. John Brock did crew last year, and now joined cast. Everyone in cast and crew alike is exceedingly excited for this play.

Crew, cast, and staff have been working tremendously hard these past few weeks. Auditions for Jesus Christ Superstar were in the first week of school, and they rehearsed and will be rehearsing for 11 weeks, until November 8th which is opening night for Jesus Christ Superstar.

     Specifically in the crew department of theater, they start planning immediately after the last play. “It’s more of a student driven show, we do all the tech, building, costumes, makeup, etc” states Kate Donahue, one of the crew leaders. “Adults aren’t really telling us what to do, it gives us a nice feel that it’s our show”. Crew has worked and will be working for 45 days since the beginning of school, until opening night.

“For this show I wanted to have everyone including the ensemble to feel like an actor. We work extra hard on the costumes to give everyone a character that they can be, instead of just being a background person” says Kate. Since there’s only a few named characters in the play, who are the leads, other characters get to feel like they’re more important then just a background character who doesn’t get rcognized for anything. It makes the play a good experience for everyone involved.

Instead of this just being a replica of the original play or movie Jesus Christ Superstar, Pantoja says he wants to “-create his own modern twist on it”. For instance, they’re incorporating all kinds of rock music in the play, not just one type. This was an open gender play, so even Jesus could have been cast as a girl.

There’s also understudy plays, where the leads are completely cast by the understudies. Three days are understudy plays, three days are lead plays. Giving more opportunities for the cast being able to play who they want to play. The student-driven rock opera will be displayed over two weeks in November, more details to come.