April 2, 2021

Cathedral High grad remembers 1971 production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’

REGIONAL
By Rebecca Drake

 

 

SPRINGFIELD — Before it became a groundbreaking Broadway musical in October 1971, “Jesus Christ Superstar” was a 1970 rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and lyrics by Tim Rice, first released as a record album and the basis for numerous “unauthorized” stage productions throughout the U.S. and Canada.

One of the early stage productions was presented at Cathedral High School (CHS) in Springfield in the spring of 1971 — a production fondly remembered by 1971 Cathedral grad Thomas Yarsley, who recently contacted Catholic Communications to share his memories of the CHS performances. He said the school’s production was the idea of student James (“Jaime”) Cass, who played Judas. (Cass, who became an actor, director and theater teacher, died of cancer in 2019.)

“The album was released in the U.S. in 1970. Jamie listened to it that summer and offered the idea of a stage production, at the beginning of the 1970-1971 academic year. Father (Richard) Riendeau initially eschewed the idea, but later warmed to it,” Yarsley said.

Reached by telephone on Good Friday, 2021, Father Riendeau told iObserve that he was convinced to direct the rock opera performance “by the students themselves — they saw the possibilities — and their enthusiasm.”

Now retired, Father Riendeau taught theology at CHS from 1962 to 1975 and later taught at Holyoke Catholic High School for 10 years. He said he often directed the students  in lip-synched performances of famous operas, in Italian, German and French. He also once directed a parish performance of “The Barber of Seville,” he said, with students who all were age 13 and under.

Of the 1971 CHS presentation of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” he recalled, “It was a sensation. I couldn’t believe it.”

“It was an extraordinary thing,” Father Riendeau said. “I came back to school the next day and I could not believe the explosion that it had.”

Yarsley recalled that the first performance at the school, in which students lip-synched to the record album, was held on the Monday after Palm Sunday, which fell on April 5, 1971.

“The audience of 300 or so people consisted of faculty SSJs (Sisters of St. Joseph), parents of cast members, and a few others,” Yarsley said. “Their reception of the largely unknown but certainly suspicious – perhaps heretical – show was surprisingly positive. Subsequently, the administration decided that it would be performed for the 2,800-member student body, in two school-hours shows on Holy Thursday.”

Yarsley, who was lighting and sound designer for the production, remembers proudly the effect on the student audience members of those first two Holy Thursday shows.

“The morning performance of the 89-minute long rock opera was attended by the junior and senior classes. When the stage lighting made Jesus appear to vaporize into thin air in a climactic resurrection scene, the 1,400 upperclassmen (‘cool kids’) screamed out loud, and rose to their feet in a thunderous standing ovation,” he said. “It was one of those rare once-in-a-lifetime moments.  All of a sudden, we had something here.”

The response was similar from the afternoon audience of freshmen and sophomore students, Yarsley said, and, “We were ‘go’ for a Holy Thursday night performance. What happened that night blew our minds. 

“Two-thousand five hundred people showed up an hour in advance of the hastily scheduled and completely un-publicized performance,” he continued. “When we opened the doors, the crowd literally ran into the auditorium space, filling every seat and every square inch of space in the six aisles and in the orchestra pit.” 

The packed-house performances also caught the attention of the Springfield newspapers.

“Pam Robbins was a beat reporter for the Springfield newspapers,” Yarsley noted. “She and a staff photographer were there. The next morning, a story with photos ran in the Morning Union.

“Word was out: The phenomenon was in full swing,” he said. “We did two performances on Holy Saturday, and two more on Easter Sunday.” 

With a licensed seating capacity in the CHS auditorium of 1,500, Yarsley said, “The fire marshal was not amused. But he loved the show.”