Jesus Christ Superstar rises at MTH

Whether you love Andrew Lloyd Webber or think he’s a Svengali songster controlling minds with earworm hooks, Musical Theater Heritage’s Jesus Christ Superstar stands ready to bolster your belief. The musical has never looked better than it does here, in the hands of director Sarah Crawford, embracing efficiency as an 11th commandment. There’s no dead space between tunes, no frills to clog Webber’s power-chord machine.

The cast, anchored by Patrick Lewallen as a misunderstood Judas and Christin Byrdsong as an Axl Rose-y Jesus, is very, very good. As Mary Magadelene, Stefanie Wienecke raises hairs and expectations in the haunting opening bars of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” As Caiaphas, Nathan Whitson deploys a rich bass of operatic resonance, making you fear for the theater’s structural integrity. Jeff Berger is an impish King Herod, and Christin Byrdsong’s falsetto ascends in heavenly fashion.

The pit orchestra maintains the gospel groove, led by conductor Jeremy Watson on piano. And while the staging is simplified to throw the vocals into sharper focus, the production design has the quality of a full-scale production. Shane Rowse’s lights pulse in time with the music, suggesting a proper rock show, and Crawford’s choreography buoys an already-energetic cast. John Hileman and John Story’s sound design is its own impressive feat of engineering, balancing more than 20 cast members and musicians with deceptive ease.

But the show’s real superstar is stage manager Robin Harman, who totes a prompt book as heavy as a cross. Her timing at Sunday’s show was immaculate, and the whole show borders on the miraculous.