JC superstar

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
THEATER 7
-summer 1985
JOSEPH had changed things. Acting was now a part of my life, like nothing else had ever been. Judi asked whether i would like to audition for a community theater production of the Webber/Rice rock opera. Through the million or so times my sister had played the album, i knew it was the most amazing show ever. Would i like to, are you kidding? The group was the Pennington Players, across the river in New Jersey, performing at the Washington Crossing (state park) Open Air Theater. I became the youngest Apostle. Kathy Garafano was Judi's co-director, and the three of us carpooled. Kathy was organizational-minded and funny. They smoked during the drive, and i joked about them being "the twin smokestacks". In our cast of more than thirty adults, teens, and children, the talent level and dedication were a bit higher than what i'd been working with, particularly at the bottom end. Judi and Kathy made a wonderful focal point. Though it never came up in the play, i chose as my character the former tax collector. There were several female Apostles. Chris Arena played Simon. He was fantastic, and became the first gay friend i'd ever known. I'd had a homophobic upbringing, and had always wondered how i'd react when i finally met a gay person. At one time, i had thought i might react negatively, even profoundly so. But when i did find out, it was a complete non-issue. Amazing. John Kling was an Apostle friend, along with his buddy Betty Henninger (the "maid by the fire"). Tony Smith played Jesus, and he was incredible. He had been waiting his whole life for the role. We rehearsed in a sweet old barn in Hopewell. Charlie Krasner played Judas, decently well. One night he filled in for Tony in rehearsal, when Mary is singing to the sleeping Jesus. He lifted the crotch region of his baggy pants inches into the air, and it stayed there suspended while Mary tried to sing. Pete Labriola played Pilate, with great presence. Eric Metz, at 300 pounds, played Herod, and his was a campy, great number. Kathy Guthrie and Tisha Troike became sweet friends. Kathy tried to get me to go out with Tisha, but i had a little crush on Kathy. The next year i went to Tisha's prom, as a friend. Another romantic approach i avoided was with Donna D'Andrea, a dancer who carpooled with us sometimes. She was incredibly sweet and loving, but not my speed. I was excitable myself, but she made me look sedate. I think Kathy and Judi got no small amusement out of the uncertain look on my face, the day Donna lay her head on my shoulder in the back seat of the car. One of the greatest people in the cast was Jim Patton, an Apostle. He was just full-on goofball cool, always making everyone laugh. I would be very saddened two summers later when he told me he was moving to California, in part because of frustration over not getting better parts with Pennington. It would be the first time i would learn that the happiest, best people in the world can have hidden sadnesses. All the Apostles wore purple. I wore a purple vest, with no shirt. So many incredible numbers…the ever-increasingly drunken Apostle harmony on "The Last Supper"…playing a soloist leper...how we Apostles emerged from the fog to sing "Could We Start Again, Please". One night the fog machine kicked into overdrive, and the audience had the unique pleasure of being serenaded by an impenetrable fog bank for an entire number. The stage was in a valley, carved out of a forest. We had a full rock orchestra in the pit. We had been one trombonist short, so i recruited one of my school band mates, Keith Harshaw. He and i did some carpooling. I was able to hook him up with one of my new castmates, Laurie Sell. There was a whole group of teens from Jersey, among them Pam Jerde, a sassy Polynesian-American. The following spring, i went to their Hopewell High musical, and graduation. In a riotous, strobe-lit crowd scene, a buddy named Steve Shire and i engineered some stage combat wherein he punched me out. During a performance, we got the timing off and he connected. I had a crush on a woman in the cast, and in rehearsals fantasized about saving her from falling rafters. There was a huge tree downstage right which was hard to block around, semi-affectionately known as the MF tree. The seating capacity was 1200. There was a full summer season of shows, and ours was the only one to play to a full crowd. We had to sing over the crickets, and we lost a show to rain, but we were so in love we didn't care. After rehearsals and shows we'd go to the Wayside, order pizzas and drinks, and generally carry on. One controversy which Judi had to navigate was what happened to Jesus at the end of the show. Mike Spottiswood, one of the producers, a good guy with Christian leanings, felt that the show should end with Jesus on the cross. Judi had Jesus coming down, and walking off with the other actors. Judi's vision won out, and i was glad, for both her and the show. I became a caretaker of the children. They sort of flocked to me, and i realized for the first time that a lot of adults aren't good with children, even many who want to be. Most adults talk at children, not to them. My closest little buddy was nine year-old Annie Merlino, whom i carried on my shoulders in one scene. The whole experience was wonderful and amazing...the show itself, the ease with which people befriended each other compared to the uptight halls of school i had known. In future years i would learn that community theater is occasionally better than professional, because the passion and love are more pure.