Jesus Christ Superstar Opening at Civic Theatre

Mason McGowan | Writer

Alejandro Rodriguez starring as Judas during their final dress rehearsal of “Jesus Christ Superstar” on February 20, 2025 at the Civic Theatre of Allentown. (Bill Basta, photographer)

This weekend, the cast of the Civic Theatre of Allentown’s production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” will be performing their final series of shows following two nearly sold-out weekends.

The acclaimed musical, directed by Rae Labadie and music directed by Nicholas Conti, tells the story of the death of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas, the infamous disciple who betrayed him.

The show’s plot explores themes of political violence, hypocrisy, and corruption, which may reflect themes we see in today’s age, according to Labadie.

 “This show takes these biblical, political, larger-than-life characters and humanizes them in ways that we might be able to relate to more,” she said. “When we put ourselves or others in their place, it highlights our tendency to condone or condemn public figures and fall into a ‘crowd mentality’, which I think is extremely relevant right now.”

Although Labadie has been involved in productions at Civic since she was 8 years old, this is her first time taking the position as director of a musical at the theatre. 

“My favorite part about this entire thing, obviously, has been working with such an incredibly talented production staff and cast,” said Labadie.

Since “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a rock-opera, the music director’s role plays a crucial role in the success of the musical. Nicholas Conti has been the theatre’s music director for seven shows now, but feels that this production is very different from others they’ve shown. 

“I’ve never done a rock-opera here before;  the show is set up in a way where applause isn’t encouraged after every song. [...] The music is the main driving force behind telling the story, end-to-end,” said Conti.

Alejandro Rodriguez stars as Judas (understudied by Chloe Griffault), accompanied by Diego Subero-Butler portraying the titular role of Jesus (understudied by Mason McGowan), and Cathy Ritter as Mary Magdalene. The show runs throughout this weekend into Sunday, March 9, including a ‘Pay-What-You-Can’ night on Thursday, March 6.