When ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ comes to town, Philadelphians can find University of Arts graduate Jack Hopewell taking on the role of Jesus—one of his first since graduating last year. The actor says returning to the City of Brotherly Love is a full circle moment for him, and to dive a little deeper into the ever-popular production and what this specific tour entails, Hopewell sat down with Metro to chat about the tour, which will be in town from May 2-7.
Can you give me some background on your career?
I am not originally from the Philly area, I kind of grew up all over the place. My dad was military, so we moved around a lot, but I did move to Philly for school at the University of the Arts for four years and graduated there last year in May. I still consider my residency Philly—I just fell in love with the city and I am so, so happy to be coming back. And not just to the city, but to the theater we’re gonna be at, The Miller. It used to be owned by U of Arts, and I had my freshman orientation there. So, it’s a very much a full-circle moment for me.
What was the audition process like for you?
It was a very long process, and mine wasn’t even as long as some other people’s. I was called in at the end of March, so around a year ago, and I probably had four or five, maybe six rounds of auditions just coming back to New York and doing very specific things. And for the most part, I was only doing the Jesus material in those audition rooms. They did have me prepare Annas the tenor priest material—I never ended up singing that though, so it stuck pretty much [with Jesus] and here I am today.
After graduating and landing such a big role, how does that feel for you?
It’s incredible for me, not just as an opportunity coming out of school, but, I really grew up with this show. When I was probably six years old, my mom sat me down in front of the TV and put in a tape of Ted Neely’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ from 1973. I sat there super wide-eyed and going, oh my gosh, these voices are so cool, they sound amazing and this music is so good. I think I just grew an appreciation of that over the years.
My mom was always playing the 71 Brown album in the car whenever we’d go somewhere, so I was really familiar with this show. Then when I got the opportunity to audition for it, I’ve been singing this stuff all my life, and it’s like my dream show to be [in]—so finally getting that call being told that I was gonna do this, I shed a few tears and I screamed a bit in a Wawa parking lot like a true Philadelphian.
But it’s one of those shows where it’s such amazing source material, and on top of that, the direction is so fantastic that it really feels feasible for me to do eight shows a week. We’re coming up on our 200th performance, and it still doesn’t feel stale in any way.
For people who are fans of the show, what can they expect for this tour specifically? And then also maybe for people who have never really seen the show at all, how would you describe it?
It’s going to make both people that have never seen the show and then people who have loved the show for 50 years happy. The show is very timeless. It’s industrial and it feels… not necessarily set in a certain era, which I think makes the show more accessible for a lot of people. On top of that, it really sticks to the source material. And by that I mean the 1971 album and I think for the most part a lot of our voices in the cast are very similar.
It is a very rock music-focused production and in a lot of ways it does kind of feel like a rock concert even through the story and the plot as well. Most of the principles are holding handheld mics, so in that sense, it feels very grounded in its rock and roll origins. I think that’s been very pleasing for a lot of people that have loved this show, and with people who weren’t fans, I’ve talked to some who aren’t even musical theater fans and they absolutely were thrilled with it because of the storytelling aspect, but also how incredible the music is.
Any moments from the show stand out to you?
From the songs I sing, ‘Gethsemane’ is a beautiful, fantastic song and I think it’s really pivotal in showing Jesus as this human character. He’s not just the son of God or this imperceptible deity. He’s a human who’s afraid and has fears and all those things.
Also, a lot of Judas’ music for me stands out. Judas’ death is absolutely heartbreaking and is a really poignant number in this show because of how this show goes to these lengths to humanize Judas and it asks difficult questions about Judas’ relationship with God and Jesus.
Is there anything you hope people take away from the show?
I hope people see the show and really connect with the human element of it. I think this show does an amazing job of presenting these people, these legends as humans, and while they might have made mistakes or while they might have gone on to do incredible world-saving humanity, at the end of the day, they are just human.
And lastly, what are you looking forward to doing when you’re back in Philly?
I will absolutely be in Rittenhouse on Saturday for that Farmer’s Market, and I’m hoping to see Doc Pickle there. I’m definitely going to Wissahickon, I’ve missed hiking there. And a food tour through South Philly definitely.
Catch ‘Jesus Christ Superstar‘ when it comes to Philly at The Miller Theater May 2-7.
