Honouring former dance studio director Maureen Dowie Marando

LAURIE WEIR

It’s been 20 years since Jesus Christ Superstar was last on stage in Perth, and it will be resurrected Feb. 23 to March 3 at the Perth United Church. 

Produced by Orion Theatre Company, the new and fresh interpretation to the iconic show will feature talented performers and musicians from the Ottawa Valley.

Director Peter Dixon said they are honouring a former director, who died of cancer.

“Our theatre company used to do at least two or three musicals a year for a number of years. We’ve been on hiatus for a while, and when (JSC) was done in Perth before, it was directed by Maureen Dowie Marando who passed away a year later from cancer,” Dixon said. “She ran a dance studio in Perth for years.”

The Academy for Musical Theatre’s Heidi Stepanek and Dixon launched Orion Theatre Company in 2003 with a production of Rocky Horror Show. 

Orion is a semi-professional community theatre company that specializes in intimate productions of well-known Broadway musicals. It is known for presenting high-caliber productions highlighting the many talented local actors, singers, and musicians.

On hiatus since 2014, Dixon said they are excited to be resurrecting Orion with this new production. 

It’s been 10 years since Stepanek and Dixon staged their last Orion Theatre

Company production, Les Misérables, and now they are storming back on the scene with the show that shook the theatre world over 50 years ago with its first rock opera.

Jesus Christ Superstar, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, began as a concept album in 1970 before being staged the following year, and then filmed by director Norman Jewison in 1973. Multiple stage adaptations have been produced as well as several filmed versions.

Dixon explains: “While early on, the idea of turning the Bible into a loud, flashy, rock ‘n’ roll spectacle was often seen as sacrilege, (we) do not in fact view it as a mere re-telling of the biblical story, but rather a deep dive into some fascinating characters borrowed from that older story, and imagining them anew as individuals struggling with a very complex and dangerous situation. It’s a show full of questions –about politics and power, leadership and idolatry, fate and personal responsibility. It’s tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions where the characters are caught in a time of political and passionate tensions.”

And it rocks, he said. 

The orchestra assembled for this production is top notch and is directed by past music director of the Quinte Symphony, Gordon Craig. 

“Right off the top the show launches in with a heavily distorted guitar, setting the pace for the ‘rock’ part of this sung-through musical, followed by a variety of different musical styles, from funk to acoustic ballads and everything in between –each one a classic – until the show’s haunting finale.”

Don’t miss this opportunity. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, 24, 29, March 1, 2, and at 4 p.m. on Feb. 25 and March 3 at St. Paul’s United Church in Perth in their recently renovated performance space. The church is located at 25 Gore St., W. Tickets are available at www.ticketsplease.ca. For information, email oriontheatrecompany@gmail.com.