Three years ago, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach went where few metalheads have gone before: Broadway. His performances in Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical and The Rocky Horror Show helped him land the role of Jesus in the current touring production of te classic Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, a production that debuted in LA last November and will arrive at the Wang Theatre this Tuesday, finishing up on Easter Sunday.
Bach, however, will not be appearing in Boston: last week, his services were " terminated " after a dispute with the show’s producers. The precise reasons for his departure were unclear at press time, but at least one of his co-stars — stage veteran Carl Anderson, who plays Judas — says he will be missed.
" Sebastian and I had a relationship like father-son, " explains the 58-year-old Anderson over the phone from Atlanta, after the announcement of Bach’s dismissal. " It was weird because I didn’t want to like him. I didn’t know Skid Row, and the first thing I read is he cracked a girl’s head open with a bottle and wore a T-shirt that said ‘AIDS Kills Fags Dead.’ I didn’t want to like him, but then I met him and he’s just like this golden little boy trapped in this bad-boy image. I think he got affirmed a lot more as a bad boy than he did as a good boy, but I saw the core of him. He was a really sweet, beautiful boy. "
The search for a replacement Jesus is on, but understudy Raymond Patterson will spell Bach if none is found in time for the Boston shows. " Artistically, we don’t need a replacement, " Anderson raves. " Raymond blew my mind the first night. He doesn’t bring the dynamic quality that Sebastian had, but he’s a really good actor. Sebastian knew heavy metal. He walked out on stage, 6’5 " and very imposing, and he was oblivious to whatever else. But that was one of the things that really worked for him. Jesus was oblivious to everything around him because he had his eye on the light. And Sebastian was oblivious to everything because he was in a world that wasn’t of his making. "
If anyone knows what it takes to play Jesus, it’s Anderson: he was Judas in the original touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as in the ’73 Norman Jewison film. The irony is, he was skeptical when he first heard the hit album that gave birth to the show, an album that featured Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan in the title role. " I didn’t need to hear it, because I was into [the Who’s] Tommy, and I thought it [JC] was a ripoff. But my piano player sat me down, lit a joint, and made me listen to it. The first thing I heard was Judas’s ‘Heaven on their Minds,’ and I have never gotten over that song to this day. That song is really like Heaven on stage: all alone, the opening number. You know, seven minutes of just whatever I feel at the moment. "
Regardless of who’s playing Jesus, the show is booked through the end of the summer. Thirty years after he first played Judas, Anderson says he’s prepared to do it for a year beyond that if the opportunity is there. " Physically, it’s a very demanding role. You know, Michael Jordan is still one of the top 10 basketball players in the world, but we’re mad at him because he’s not Michael Jordan. I don’t want you to be mad at me because I’m not Carl Anderson. I will sense when I can’t do it, but right now I’m doing the fuck out of this show. It’s a great part, and I’m enjoying it. When I’m enjoying it, it’s a great show, because it’s the role that moves the show along. When I come on stage, shit’s fixin’ to change. "
Jesus Christ Superstar is at the Wang Theatre this Tuesday through Sunday, April 15 through 20. Call (617) 482-9393.
