OCU Stripped presented Jesus Christ Superstar on October 29 and 30 in Petree Recital Hall. It was directed and choreographed by senior music theater majors Charlie Turner and Cooper Clack, respectively, this production is a musical/rock opera based on the Gospel’s account of Jesus’ life, highlighting his complex relationship with Judas.
OCU Stripped is a student-led musical theatre organization that produces full-length musicals “stripped down” to the story-telling essentials. This means they are typically done without sets, costumes, or a full orchestra.
“Putting together this show was quite a long process,” Clack said. “We started planning the show way back in the summer. Once school started, the team got into the swing of things with how we wanted to organize the audition process, and how many people to cast.”
The team found ways to gender-bend certain roles to include more female-identifying talent at OCU.
“This is not a show with many female characters,” Clack said. “We knew that we wanted to gender-bend roles, but without affecting anything vocally.”
Arissa Brown, junior music theater major and ensemble member, understudies the roles of Simon and King Harod.
“This cast is so talented and diverse,” Brown said. “I think the choice to have women in roles traditionally played by men adds an interesting color to the show.”
According to Brown, Jesus Christ Superstar has many themes that make it relevant and important today.
“Our director, Charlie Turner, conceptually liked the idea of houselessness and martyrdom to shape the plot,” Brown said. “The whole story of Jesus Christ Superstar can be used as an allegory for a movement that is championed by the common folk, but is quashed by people in power because they cannot handle the unrest and the need to change.”
Despite the magnitude of the show, OCU Stripped only had a few weeks to rehearse.
“Putting together an entire show in such a short amount of time was stressful,” Brown said. “But the creative team is great about time management, and the cast is very dedicated to getting things done”.
Due to the pandemic, Stripped has been unable to perform in front of a live audience for two years. Jesus Christ Superstar marks Stripped’s return to the community.
“We didn’t know if we were going to be able to have an audience by the end of this year,” Clack said. “The feeling of staging something that is going to be presented live is so freeing and overwhelming. The supportive and creative culture of Stripped made me realize that I wanted to come to OCU in the first place, and it’s so thrilling to present that to our community.”
OCU Stripped will present The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in the Spring of 2022. Auditions will be held in the Spring and admissions to performances are free. Donations accepted via Venmo @ocustripped.
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