Whether they’re in a movie, television show or a musical on the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts stage, costumes help inform audiences about the characters wearing them.
In the Wagon Wheel’s production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” - about the final week of the life of Christ and the cost of fame as seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot - the costumes may have audiences thinking about some of the legends of rock music.
“Emily Brink, our amazing costume designer, has come to each character with an iconic rock star,” explained Kira Lace Hawkins in a recent interview. Hawkins plays Pontius Pilate in the rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. “I think Jesus’ kind of style - not personality or anything else - but his style is modeled after Freddy Mercury. Mary Magdalene is kind of a Janis Joplin. Pilate - because I’m a girl - is Madonna, in her power suit days.”

    Taylor Okey, as Jesus Christ, is mobbed by the ensemble in Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union.
  

Taylor Okey, who plays Jesus, said, “(King) Herod’s iconic number in the second act - his costume is so awesome and it’s worth seeing the show just then. But he’s based after Elton John.”
He said he never would have thought of doing that number like they do it.
“I thought it was genius. Absolute genius,” Okey said.
For those audiences who check out the show - which is on the Wagon Wheel stage through Saturday, Hawkins said, “You might recognize your favorite famous rock star.”
As musical theater artists, she also noted, “We have to be able to sing the classical, we have to be able to sing kind of the classic Broadway style. We don’t often get to sing this pure rock sound, and it’s been amazing to watch this particular company rise to that challenge, and allow their voices to healthily produce sounds that are filled with so much passion and so much artistry all around. It’s awesome.”
Okey said people often think musical theater is notorious for being behind on musical styles.
“So, people often credit ‘Rent’ as being the first rock musical to ever hit the scene, and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ came out years - decades - before ‘Rent’ did. So, this is one of the shows that changed the game for our industry, and changed the trajectory for the history of musical theater, similarly to how ‘Hamilton’ has in the last five years, so this (‘Jesus Christ Superstar’) is a piece of musical theater history. A piece of Broadway history. And, we’re lucky to be doing it. It’s very fortunate,” he stated.

    Hannah Ervin sings as Mary Magdalene in Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union.
  

Hannah Ervin, who plays Mary Magdalene, agreed.
“I think that now it’s sort of a time capsule of that era, and it definitely, at least for me, doesn’t feel like contemporary musical theater music, it feels like a little micro-cosma of the ’70s of musical theater. I think that there’s totally an audience for that still and a lot of the themes that we’re exploring in this show are really relevant to what’s going on right now. I really hope that if people come to see the show, and they have big feelings about it, that they just sit in them and don’t shy away from the questions that it presents about our contemporary society, what are we talking about, what are we thinking about, exploring now,” Ervin said.
The show is an intellectual undertaking, she said, and not escapism like Jimmy Buffet’s “Escape to Margaritaville” was in the last show.
“It’s just not that, and I’m really happy that Wagon Wheel has given this show the opportunity to be performed in this particular community. I think it’s important. I’m proud of it,” Ervin said.
Okey said, “I think, as a cast, we are all so incredibly proud of it.”
The “Jesus Christ Superstar” rock score contains such well-known numbers as “Superstar,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and “Gethsemane.”

    Pictured (L to R) are Brooks Andrew, Chloe Evans, Ben Thomas Strong, Luke James Cloherty as priests and Zion Middleton as Caiaphas in Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union.
  

Originally released as a concept album, the show opened on Broadway in 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, according to andrewlloydwebber.com. The original London production ran for over eight years. By the time it closed, after 3,358 performances, it had become the longest-running musical in West End history at that time.
“Jesus Christ Superstar” has been reproduced regularly around the world in the years since its first appearance, with performances including a Broadway revival in 2012, an ITV competition TV show called “Superstar” that led to casting Ben Forster as Jesus in an arena tour of the show, and a production at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre celebrating 45 years since the musical’s Broadway debut, the website states.
Two film adaptations have been made: the first released in 1973 with Ted Neely, Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman, and the other released in 2000 starring Glenn Carter as Jesus and Jérôme Pradon as Judas.
Tickets to the Wagon Wheel production may be purchased at the box office, by phone or online at https://wagonwheelcenter.org/.

    Hannah Ervin is Mary Magdalene and Taylor Okey is Jesus Christ in Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union.