Starring Jencarlos, Trisha Yearwood, Sean Daughtery, and Tyler Perry
Directed by David Grifhorst
Music and Lyrics by various
This one stems from an unusual source. This retelling of the Passion Play as a jukebox musical featuring current songs began as a BBC special set in Manchester in 2006. From there, it became an annual event in the Netherlands, played as a musical drama in different Dutch cities. It came over to the US in March 2016 as Fox's second live "event" musical after the wildly successful Grease Live. Does it live up to that show, or should it be sent to prison? Let's begin at a concert in New Orleans with black movie director and impresario Perry and find out...
The Story: Jesus (Jencarlos) is an extremely popular carpenter in New Orleans. He tells his best friends at their last supper together that he believes one of them will betray him. Sadly, he's very right. Judas Escariot (Daughtery) turns him in for the reward money. Though his mother Mary (Yearwood) believes in him, he's put on a sham of a trial by governor Pontieus Pilate (Seal). His rebirth, however, becomes a catalyst for his followers to carry on his legacy.
The Song and Dance: Some decent performances here, mainly from Seal as the judgmental governor, with some of the most passionate singing of the night, and Daughtery as the conflicted Judas. The sequences filmed in New Orleans itself shows off the city fairly well, especially the Last Supper. The Resurrection, staged on top of the Westin New Orleans, was also fairly effective thanks to its use of a powerful chorus.
Favorite Number: We open with Jesus and his followers on the New Orleans waterfront, banding together for "Love Can Move Mountains." Jesus insists to Peter that this will always be his "Home," and even when he's not there, he's still with him. Jesus gathers his followers "With Arms Wide Open" and questions his own faith with "Calling All Angels." Judas does some questioning of his own in "Bring Me to Life." It's his "Demons" that ultimately come between him and Jesus when the cops come in during the Last Supper.
Young fisherman Peter (Prince Royce) wonders what "The Reason" for all this is while repeatedly claiming he has no idea who Jesus is. Trisha Yearwood gets four solos of her own on the mainstage as Mary recalls her son's birth and worries about his future, "My Love Is Your Love," "I Won't Give Up," "Broken" and "You'll Never Walk Alone." Pilate reveals why he sentenced Jesus in "We Don't Need Another Hero" at the trial and "Mad World" afterwards.
What I Don't Like: First of all, despite the title, this isn't a fully live musical. The segments in other parts of New Orleans were pre-recorded, and are edited awkwardly with the live segments. Most of the other performances are deadly dull. Jencarlos looks and sounds less like a poor carpenter and more like a guy on his way to Starbucks to hang with his buddies. Yearwood never interacts with the rest of the cast, which makes her songs sound disjointed. Some of the song choices are a little odd. "Walk Alone" is an old Rogers and Hammerstein number that sounds a bit out of place among the rock songs, and some of the rock songs are clearly ballads with little relation to anything religious. Tyler Perry's narration is mostly wooden and dull, though he does perk up when describing the gruesome Crusefixtion.
The Big Finale: In the end, this is really more of a concert with a story than a musical, and is really too disjointed to be good. Interesting enough time-waster at Easter if you want to see another version of the Passion Play or are a fan of any of the stars involved.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming; the latter is currently free with commercials on Tubi.
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