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Tharunka, Tuesday, 8th August, page 14The fallowing Is an interview, winch was held on Campus at the end of last session at Sunday forumThose being interviewed are Trevor White and Jon English who play Jesus and Judas from the Rock Opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Interviewer: Could you tell us something about yourselves and why you were interested in playing in Superstar? Trevor When I was 20 years old I auditioned for a group called Sounds Incorporated who came out first in 1964 with the Beatles tour On their last tour I decided to stay in Australia. As far as Superstar is concerned I didn'l know much about the Opera. I thought that if i could get the joint-lead it would be good lor my career.Jon: I came out troni Fngiand when Iwas about 12 and went to the notorious Cabramatta High School In 1967 I got a Teachers' College Scholarship and earne to the University of NSW fot a year. Interviewer- Was that you could stand? Jon. No well - er - Yeah Anyway, Johnny O'Keefe came along and 1 ended up playing organ in lus backing group. The last group I was in prior to Superstar was Sebastian Hardy.When Superstar first came out I was knocked out by the music and lyrics. Interviewer: Where you auditioning for a particular part?Jon: Yeah, I wanted to be Judas.Ircvor: Type-casting.Interviewer: Did you find it difficult to adapt from singing in a rock group to playing a role on stage?Jon Yes and No. Its a rock Opera and most of the songs in it are straight rock. Jim Sharman, the director, spent hours and hours with Trevot and I helping us with the character portrayals. Most of the songs themselves are pitched very high so that they bring a note of anguish into your voice and this is past off as brilliant acting, liltcrviewei Superstar is a religious rock opera. Has it affected your religious views in any way'.'Interviewer: Why did he die.Trevor: There again, its up to you. We often argue among oursoivcs about such things and we never realty agree. Its purely personal. I suddenly realised a few weeks ago that on the odd occasion I’ve been moved so much by somclhing lhal I wouldn'l have minded dying on the spur u! the moment for that cause and one of those tilings was the Biafran War. t used to see films on Ihe television every day showing hundreds andhundreds of kids jusl wasting uway, skin and bones, there were the stupid parents fighting and the kids were the ones who were suffering. Then there's Vietnam, I don't understand it. all Iknow is that there arc peoplesenselessly dying. When I read about atrocities like the Mai Lai Massacre and see the photos of what'shappening ovet there, I'M reallyhorrified. Sometimes, when I'mthinking about these things for a moment, i want to die. I don't know whether it would help. The same thing would have applied to Christ who was moved by the plight that all his people were in. He seemed to think t hat if he died they would understand that he had died for them and would begin to ask themselves about what he was trying to tell them. Jesus was trying to teach them something that he couldn't see before.Interviewer: We've been on interpretation for a while, can we get back to the production. Like many people. I’m a bit over awed by the actual scale of Ihe production. Do you feel that you were dwarfed by the stage props?Jon: Its hard to answer becauseunfortunately I haven't seen the production, for Ihe first live minutes the dodecahedron is incredible, an awesome sight to behold, but that soon wears off. then gradually the characters utilise it and coine out on top. One critic said that “Hair was people and Superstar was machines I don't think this is fair. The machinery is just there to help the something that is really a very human drama. There's not much sex and there's not much bloodshed in Ihe life of Chrisl and you've got to have something to gel the people in.interviewer: Some people say thatSuperstar is great entertainment. Some say it’s a great money-spinner. Do you think its a work of art?Trevor. I think its definitely a work of art. For a start its bringing Opera back to the people. Its called a Rock Opera, but in fact is embraces every kind of music you can think of. Its gol classical music, vuudeville, rock, ballads, everything and Ihe people can understand the words I hope. If not they can buy a programme for 60c.Jon: 80c. - its gone up.Trevor: The thing is who wants to go to an Opera lhats in Italian, except an Italian. Superstar is something that people can understand. Its a story that most people know and bolh the music and Ihe lyrics are very clever. But I’d like to add something to what Jo n1 revor White as JesusJon English as Judassaid about the set. 1 don’t have such an energetic role as John and the set does lend to swallow me up. Its very hard to sing with a microphone lhats got lt;10 odd feet of cable on it. It lends to get twisted up in everything and you have to sing walking up a hill wearing a long gowrt which, if you tread on, will send you flying. Its very difficult not to be swallowed up by props of that nature. But as we go on, we will eonquor.interviewer: Do you think you will ever get stale?Trevor: Its possible, but I think it would be a sad thing if It does get state because that means you’re losing out as a performer, if it gets boring you should have enough initiative as an entertainer lo say. Right, how can we change this and make it more interesting.Trevor: Well I've thought a lot about religion since I came into the show I studied the Bible and the Gospels in particular. We had to read them to get an accurate background to the show.Interviewer: How do you feel playing great traditional figures like Jesus and Judas?Jon. Well we're not realty playing the traditional Jesus and Judas. Its a fairly original, contemporary conception of the role of Jesus and Ihe role of Judas. Jesus is more or less played as a man and Judas is just played as a guy who likes to see the right thing done.Trevor: One of the good things about Jesus Christ Superstar is that it doesn’t push religion down anybodies throat, it doesn’t say that Chrisl was divine and it doesn’t say that he wasn’t divine either. You can go away and make up your own mind. There is a lot of ambiguous religious symbolism in the Opera. For instance, after the show one night a guy came up to explain to me the significance of the dodecahedran. He reckoned he had it all figured out and that the dodecahedron at the beginning was a spaceship that I'd arrived in and when it closes up after Ihe crucifixion that’s the spaceship I go off in. Well, I couldn’t answer him. If he wanted to think that then that’s fineInterviewer: At the moment we’ve got Superstar, Godspell and Man of Sorrows all playing in Sydney at the same time. Do you think that this represents a return to Ihe past where religion was conveyed through the theatre and not only through the churches?Jon: No I don’t think so, in this case its just a money-making venture. But it is at least making people think about Christianity again, i think that you geta completely different Christ In each of those three productions. At least their presenting a legitimate, contemporary concept of Christ. People go away and think about this and I think that's an important thing from the churches viewpoint. When you asked before had our roles affected our own religious outlook it jusl dawned on me that before ! started playing in Superstar I didn’t have any outlook. I didn't even worry about it But when you've seen Superstar you're left asking questions. It's bringing Christianity back lo the people rather than having some witchdoctor ritual performed in the church on Stmduys. Which is realty pretty horing.Interviewer: Jon, you're playing the part of Judas. How do you understand Judas' response to Jesus.Jon: Judas is portrayed as Jesus’ right hand man. He’s the guy with Ihe questions and Jesus is the guy with the answers. There botli more or less pawns in a game. A game designed to make Jesus a martyr in order to unite the Jews. I think they both realised lhal they were hurtling towards a goal, the divine death-wish ir you like. Christ had lo be martyred, he had todie in order lo unite the Jews at thetime and I think Judas was Ihe only one who realised this. Judas realised that it was he who had to betray Jesus.Interviewer- Trevor, throughout the show, the people who respond toJesus; Mary and Judas seem to hefrustrated because they can’t pin him down. Can Jesus pin himself down and has he got anything to say to Judas and Maty?Trevor: It’s tfuc that there are a lot of things they don’t understand about Jesus, Like when he goes lo Jerusalem and gets arrested. (That parts not in the play, its in the Bible.) The apostles say “Jesus don't go to Jerusalem and when lie turns around and says “We've got to do it they jusl can’t understand. Us like that alt through the show. For example, wiien Judas says to Jesus, “Why do you mess about with that old whore? Nasty Mary, who does nasty things for a living and Jesus says mote or less “Look you just don't understand what I'm about. But I don’t think Jesus gets it alt sorted out until his last words at the crucifixion where he says It is finished. Father into thy hands I commend my spirit”. This is a triumphant cry because he's had all these other temptations to get out of it.
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Kensington Tharunka
Kensington, New South Wales, AU
Tue, Aug 08, 1972
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ME, USA 11 Mar 2025
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