Musical theatre? Nah! Not for me. I’ve always found it to be a little sickly sweet and pretentious. Not that I ever ventured out to experience it, which shows a little of my ignorance and stubbornness when I was younger. I didn't see the point in it but, of course, kicking a pig's bladder around every day and scoring a ‘goal’ meant everything to me.
Then Jayne came along and opened my eyes to different experiences that I just didn’t have growing up like Shakespeare, ballet, classical music etc. Suddenly I was finding value in these things but not musical theatre! Never musical theatre.
One day; while I was, probably, playing Championship manager (a football management sim) upstairs, out of the way while Jayne was watching television in the living room downstairs, I heard a voice on the show that Jayne was watching. The range of the voice was so inhumanly large that I could not place if it was a man or a woman. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. I went down to investigate.
It was musical theatre, and a man who looked like Jesus Christ was stood on stage with tears in his eyes and giving the performance of his life. I was captivated and a little stunned at the effect that it was having on me. The man was Steven Balsamo and he was giving an emotional and vocal performance that I had never thought possible until that moment. The production was Jesus Christ Superstar the rock opera from Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and the song was Gethsemane.
I have since been to watch musical theatre and especially Jesus Christ Superstar a few of times and, although still cautious, have been won over by that experience. Jayne has been lucky enough to have witnessed Steven in the show twice whereas I was too late, which is a regret, but the shows that I have witnessed were inspiring still.
Jayne has opened my eyes top a lot of experiences in my life and this was certainly one of the more prominent ones. I thank her for all of them.
So here it is. You have two versions of Gethsemane to choose from. The first is a very emotional live version from 2004. The second is the studio version which was made in 96. Steven was only 25 during the studio session and was at his full range.
For JCS fans they know what’s coming but if you never ever saw Steven or the show then sit back and enjoy.
I hope you are as inspired as I was.
Live version 2004
Studio Version 1996
Thanks for listening.
Gaz