I took my friend to this show for his birthday. This is his favorite musical ever. We had seen another production several years ago at the Wiltern Theater and loved it.

This was a much smaller venue, so we weren't sure what to expect. Was it going to be like a high school play, or what?

But we were very pleasantly surprised. The show was filled with incredibly talented performers - top notch professionals.

First Judas hits the stage and belts out his first tune. Wow! When he first hit his first high/loud note, I got chills throughout my body.

Then my friend and I were thinking, "I hope they have a good Jesus, I hope they have a good Jesus!" And he hits the stage and he looks magnificent. Totally looks like the popular idea of what a Jesus looks like. And his singing was incredible!

We've listened to the original Broadway version of these songs over and over, so we know exactly what the original singers sounded like. The octave range of these singers isn't to the enormous proportions of the Broadway singers, but still incredibly good, on pitch and absolutely professional quality.

Then, I was hoping for a good Mary Magdalene. And again, I was not disappointed. She's lovely and beautiful and she sings like an angel. I got to meet her in the lobby after show and I got to express my appreciation for her performance. That was really nice that they came out to the front to greet people after the show!!

The ensemble was terrific! I loved the kids in the show. They really got into their parts and they looked like they were having the time of their lives.

The disciples had individually fabulous singing voices and I really enjoyed the harmony they made together.

One of the ensemble really stood out. Her name was Jessica Hren. I was shocked to find out that this was only her third musical theater play. I thought for sure she was one of the more experienced players. She really shines on stage and has that star quality. I especially loved her belly dance number. I'd come and watch a whole show of just her belly dancing. Fantastic! This girl's got a great future cut out for her! I was excited that I got to meet her after the show as well.

Since I had seen this show at the Wiltern, I was wondering how they were going to do the Jesus hanging on the cross scene. At the Wiltern they had this huge cross that they actually laid the Jesus on and then erected it. This wasn't a big enough stage to do something like that. So I kept thinking how were they going to do the cross. Well, their solution was brilliant. It was highly creative and very effective. I was very impressed. The artistic direction on this show was outstanding.

My friend was wondering how they were going to do the Judas hanging scene and again, another brilliant and creative solution.

Bart Sumner as Harod did a wonderful and hilarious Harod's song. And the dancers in that number were so lovely and expressive. Very well done.

I only have one small criticism, and given how amazing the show was, this is very small. Overall the orchestra was great. However, there was a trumpet or two that were hitting some sour notes. I saw this show on the second day of production, so hopefully as the show goes on the trumpet players will fine tune their playing.

I plan on seeing the show again near the end of its run so I'll get to see all the progress they made.

And I would have liked the signature guitar riff to be played a little bit louder. It's just what I was expecting after hearing the cd so much, and seeing the show live at the Wiltern. But the orchestra is not in a pit, so maybe they muted it down a bit as to not blow the audience away.

But as you can tell, I loved this performance a lot and so did my friend. My friend said that he even enjoyed this performance more than the big production he saw in Vegas. That's saying a lot.

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This Simi theater is like The Little Theater That Could. Saw an excellent DROWSY CHAPERONE production a few months ago, and now this. JCS is one of my favorite shows, and they really did a terrific job.

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Really loved it, though I was expecting to be disappointed at the small venue out in the serious surburbs. All was excellent, and they could've fallen flat in so many areas but didn't. Phew. Took a chance taking my 2 teenage kids on Mother's Day - an enjoyable event for all. I'd love to see it again.

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I give this more than 5 stars. The talents are amazing , I can't believe we are watching it on a small production, they are as good as the original movie especially Tom Mesmer & Alfred Molina as JC & Judas, they really nailed it. I hope they keep this play long so I can spread it to my friends & they can watch it too.

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