Heaven On Their Minds

With Jesus Christ Superstar opening in Melbourne, David Spicer speaks to the performers playing Jesus and Judas. Michael Paynter and Javon King reveal that faith, their mothers and love of good tunes bind their passion for the musical.

Michael Paynter has taken ‘long-service’ leave from his gigs as a guitarist with Icehouse and Jimmy Barnes to make his professional stage debut in Jesus Christ Superstar, which is running at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne until June 22.

“They know where I am and my positions are being held,” he notes wryly.

Indeed, Jimmy’s daughter Mahalia Barnes is on stage with him as Mary, so it’s family celebration for him, while Icehouse founder Iva Davies is a big fan of the musical. It’s a giant leap for the rock star, as the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice blockbuster is the first musical he’s been in since he was a teenager.

At his last theatre gig, Paynter played Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls at Flinders College. After that, he turned away from theatre, despite the hyper-enthusiasm of his show business parents. 

“My mother and father met playing opposite each other in high school in West Side Story. I think my mum starred in it and directed the musical.”

Conceived as a direct result of a ‘showmance’, the singer might have been destined for the stage, but instead rebelled against his “theatre nut” mother.

“Maybe it's one of those underlying things, that you just do whatever your parents don't do.

“I just loved being a musician. I got sucked in by the rock’n’roll dream and the pop dream, which I continue to love to this day.

“To be honest, I think theatre has never been something that's drawn my attention too much. I wouldn't say it's a sort of music that I put on to listen to … to relax.

“That is why Jesus Christ Superstar is very different. It has a disproportionate amount of great pop songs in it, which is probably why it's got so much populist attention.”

He nominates the song ‘Gethsemane’ as “such an incredible mountain top of a rock opera piece”.

Also, he overheard his six-year-old daughter singing the chorus of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.

“She's probably heard the song once, when I was playing it in the car or something. It's a show with the sort of music that gets under the skin and sticks with you.”

Javon King is playing the character of Judas.

The native New Yorker came to Australia to play the character of Seaweed J Stubbs in Hairspray the Musical.  He “absolutely loved living in Australia” so has stayed as “a fake Aussie”.

Javon describes ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ as one of the most beautiful songs he has heard.

Both Paynter and King nominated the song ‘Heaven on Their Minds’ as one of the iconic songs in the piece. It is sung by Judas, who is the central character in the musical. The late Jon English was fond of re-telling the story that the lyricist Tim Rice told him directly that the sung-through work was written as the gospel according to Judas.

King jokes that the name on the billboard should be Judas and not Jesus. 

“I think this show is so cool. And it's that sense you're watching Jesus' last couple weeks of life through someone else's whole mindset,” said King.

He describes the Judas’ perspective as Jesus becoming too much of a celebrity and not standing up for what he believed were his principals.

“It's a modern take on seeing two really good friends, and how that relationship has kind of had a falling out and putting it under the lens of the biblical story of Jesus and Judas. And ultimately what Judas does, that breaks his heart in the long run.”

The character of Judas was played by a person of colour in the original movie, which King says is a good tradition to follow.

“I don't think it's a necessity that it's played by a person of colour, because it is not scripted that way, however the songs are geared towards that, as they have a very gospely twang to them.

“I grew up in an all-black Baptist church, which had that type of choir and singing.”

King’s mother, who he describes as a Christian who holds to traditions dearly, is travelling from New York to see the production when it opens in Melbourne.

“My mom doesn't come from a theatre background, so, all of this might be a bit shocking to her - having that whole crucifixion on stage. Watching a man literally crucified on stage might be a bit graphic.”

Javon King describes himself as not as religious as his mother.

“I think I'm more of a kind of a spiritual person.”

Michael Paynter’s parents, however, knew what to expect when they saw him at the Sydney opening last year.  His performance also impressed critics - winning him Best Performance in a Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards.

His mother has been running a community theatre company (Gateway Theatre Productions) on the Mornington Peninsula for the last twenty years.

“Both my parents are pastors. The theatre company that my mum runs is a real outreach to the community where the church is, and they do this Broadway in a week a holiday program for kids in the area to do the junior version of a show. So, she manages to teach, direct, paint sets and make all the costumes.”

Photographer: Jeff Busby

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