I discovered Bayou City Theatrics (BCY) this year and have been pleasantly surprised by the level of professionalism of this young, tiny, but extremely talented theater company.
BCY is located in downtown Houston on Capital street just around the corner from the Flying Saucer pub. You can in fact hear the patrons next door if it’s a particularly raucous night. The playhouse is tiny, maybe 70 seats in total and the stage is small. But don’t any of these factors dissuade you. This troupe of performers is well worth going to see. BCY mainly focuses on Broadway musicals. So far I’ve caught two plays and they were both well worth it.
I recently caught the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”, a musical dealing with the last days of Christ and his relationship with his apostles and in particular with Mary and Judas.
BCY gives the play a contemporary flavor. The actors are all dressed in modern street clothes and the sets resemble inner city settings rather than ancient Jerusalem.
The play begins with Judas shooting up and rather worried about the growing popularity of Jesus and how Jesus is not using his fame to do more for the poor. He also worries that the Romans will crackdown on Jesus and his apostles if they are not careful.
The other apostles and Mary argue that everything will be fine and that Jesus should not worry. Judas chides Jesus for not doing enough to help the poor but Jesus counters that he by himself cannot help out everyone.
Meanwhile the high priests, led by Caiphas and Annas, decide that Jesus is becoming a threat to them and that he may bring down the wrath of the Romans on them. So for the good of everyone Jesus must die.
Judas becomes jealous of Mary’s relationship with Jesus and goes to Caiphas. He convinces himself that betraying Jesus will be for the greater good and promises Caiphas to betray Jesus. Annas offers Judas money for the betrayal and tells him he can donate the money to the poor.
At the last supper Jesus seems to know that the end is near and tells his apostles that soon things will go wrong and that they will deny knowing him. He teaches the apostles to eat and drink to remember him and as they all fall asleep he goes out to the gardens to pray where Judas is waiting for him.
Judas kisses Jesus and betrays him. Jesus is arrested and taken to trial. He is repeatedly asked if he is the son of God but only replies “That’s what you say”. He is taken to Pontius Pilate, the roman governor, and gives the same answer. Pilate begs Jesus to recant but Jesus won’t. Finally Pilate is forced to condemn Jesus.
Judas in the meantime realizes the horrible mistake he has made and is overcome with remorse. He wails in horror and finally hangs himself. Mary and Annas pass by and discover Judas and run off horrified.
As Jesus is being crucified the spirit or ghost of Judas comes to Jesus and mocks him asking him if this is really what he wanted all along. Jesus does not answer. In the finale the apostles and Mary all lament his passing and tell how he has affected them all.
BCY makes very good use of their performers and their small stage. Although narrow it is a deep stage and the scenery work is very well laid out. This allows the audience to get the experience of seeing a much larger stage. As I said before the cast is dressed in contemporary clothes and the theme is somewhat urban. The players look like they might be modern street people. I think this works very well in helping the audience connect to the material.
The idea is to relate how much of a celebrity Jesus was in his own time and how much of an effect he had on Jerusalem society that he was perceived as a threat by the ruling classes. I think this makes the material much more relatable to today’s audience.
Overall I am enjoying the work that BCY is putting out and look forward to the rest of their season. I would highly recommend catching a performance at this venue.
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