My God, that was good!

Last night, we went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at Wembley Arena. And it was mind blowingly, staggeringly and amazingly good.

I first saw this show back in the seventies not long after it debuted in the West End. I also saw the revival in London in the mid nineties, and I’ve seen a few amateur versions. And none of them came close to seeing what I have realised is essentially a rock concert in a proper rock arena.

I hadn’t been keen to go along, mainly because I had in my head that this was a theatrical experience that should be seen in a theatre, and probably wouldn’t translate to the massive stages and spaces of arena performances. How wrong I was.

You do forget how much JCS is pretty much wall to wall rock music, since Lord LW is primarily known for his orchestral high drama productions like Phantom of the Opera. But apparently he’s a hard core rock fan himself, enjoying stuff such as Deep Purple and the Stones. He made an appearance at the very end last night to tumultuous applause and was clearly delighted that his original vision for his masterpiece (and it remains, to my mind, the best thing he has ever written) to be performed in a proper rock’n’roll venue had come to pass.

The Hubby had bought me these tickets as a surprise, and to say I was ungrateful initially is an understatement. I had decided that I didn’t want to go and see something like this in a stadium, Wembley is a pain in the arse to get home from late at night, and I HATE surprises. At first I told him to try and resell them, but eventually he convinced me to go along anyway for a night out and not be such a boring old fart. So I went, and I’m very glad I did.

But Wembley Arena is a pretty dreadful place. The standard of the loos and the catering hasn’t changed or improved for the last forty years despite being a high profile venue for so many major events. I’m sure we’d all be willing to pay an extra pound on top of our already extortionately priced tickets if we felt it was going directly towards modern sanitation and something better than lukewarm lager, acidic wine and something to eat that look like a horses willy in a bun covered in dog sick. Fortunately, we ate at Wetherspoons in Victoria so managed to get something that was actually edible.

But all in all, we had a jolly nice evening and have contributed to the musical lord’s coffers yet again, but do feel we have had value for money. There is something indefinable about the standard of really good professional shows that sets them apart and it’s not just the fact that shed loads of money have been chucked at them. This show was slick, relevant to today’s audiences and impeccably done. The cast were disciplined, drilled to perfection and perfectly cast. I know some people are sniffy about the reality shows which choose the leads for some of these shows, but so far they have done a thorough job, and certainly the winner of the JCS show on ITV in the spring (poor as that was) cut the mustard last night, just like Lee Mead did for Joseph and the ATD.

Well done, Andrew – another triumph!