The Town & Gown has been readying a new production of musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ led by director G. Derek Adams (pictured left, with cast and crew). The Gown’s players built the majority of the set themselves, and that sparseness is in keeping with the show’s stress on emotion and theatricality, rather than extravagant production values. In the six weeks since rehearsals began, ‘Superstar’ has grown sharper and more cohesive as it readies its stage debut. PHOTOS BY KATHRYN INGALL/Staff

Editor’s note: for the next in our behind-the-scenes look at local media outlets, we turn to the Town & Gown.

One man’s struggle is another man’s musical.

And for Town & Gown director G. Derek Adams, the plight of Judas is the driving motif in his remake of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s religious musical of deception and moral strife.

“The show’s about grief for me,” Adams said. “It’s about Judas and also the playwright questioning, ‘Why does Jesus exist and why does all this happen?’”

In Adams’ telling, darkness engulfs the stage at the start, as the actors slowly walk to their benches. The lights overhead silhouette the cast as they face Judas Iscariot approaching a podium. A keyboard plays an ominous tune.

Jesus’ funeral begins.

Director G. Derek Adams gives a few notes to his cast and crew.

For Adams, a University alumnus, this somber tone was important for taking the 40-year-old musical and adding his own twist — harnessing a minimalist approach to stage props and wardrobe and adding his own introduction and ending.

“I felt like the best way to establish the mood for people was with a funeral and I also like how funeral attire hasn’t changed in a hundred years,” he said. “It’s a common experience for everyone. It’s the moment when you think about death, you think about God — and for me that’s where I think about those things.”

Other than some finishing touches by set designer Bryn Adamson, the barren and almost naked set — with one wall, a fake window and six benches — was completely constructed and painted by Adams and his cast.

“There’s no set-building magic fairies that show up, it’s the people in the show.” Adams said. “That’s who builds it.”

He said many productions of “Superstar” attempt to make it “the most epic rock show ever,” and go to great lengths recreating a desert scene or building an extravagant and expensive stage.

But Adams’ vision is to focus on the music — and emotion.

“Our production, because we have a very small stage, is very simple … stressing the theatricality of it,” he said. “People always joke that I just want people to be wearing a shirt and some pants and no set and this is very close to that.”

And Adams’ crew senses the underscoring.

“What Derek has done is he’s boiled this production down to just the essence of it,” said Thomas Torrent, the stage manager. “It’s probably the most minimal production I’ve ever done.”

Armed with only the clothes on their backs, the actors spill all their emotion on to the stage, filling the otherwise empty space; day-by-day, rigorously they rehearse.

And with this community theater in its 59th season, housing many of Athens’ thespians, a family-like atmosphere among residents and students alike has been built.

Brother and sister Elias and Asia Meana — who are also University students and are playing apostles — enjoy the intimate, relaxed atmosphere.

“I love everybody in our cast,” said Asia, an English major who’s been with Town & Gown for three years. “Everyone’s got each other’s back and there’s not much ego here, which is nice and different from lots of other theaters.”

Amy Miller — incoming president of the Town & Gown Players Board of Directors off-stage and King Herod on — has experienced the communal rapport performing in the theater for 23 years and also welcomes the fresh faces of this production.

“And that’s one of the best things about the Town & Gown in general,” Miller said, “because there’s always new people.”

One of the new faces is the lead actor Dustin Ah Kuoi, playing Judas.

“I’ve been wanting to audition for years and I haven’t done theater for about a decade,” Ah Kuoi said. “Everyone has the one part that they think, ‘Man if I could just have this one part to play,’ and Judas was on the top of my list.”

Actors prepare their dance moves.

He found Town & Gown by chance, searching for the play on Google and said he has enjoyed every minute of his new experience.

“For me personally, it’s just having conversations with them and it’s sort of a little family for me,” Ah Kuoi said. “My favorite part is probably getting to know these people.”

Miller said this theater is not only different because of its constantly revolving door, but it’s also comprised of interchangeable cast and crew members that swap roles each production.

“Because everyone has a chance to be in charge or not be in change, I could be directing one show or costuming the next,” Miller said.

And Adams is no different.

“I started doing shows here as an actor a long time ago,” he said. “It’s never the same director and it’s always changing. This time I’m the director and next time I’ll be soldier number two in the back or next time I’ll help build the set.”

Although this community of actors has a good rapport, playing nice isn’t always enough to keep a show running smoothly.

These actors, new and old, dance and sing throughout the nights of rehearsal, perpetually forming bonds, friendships and intuitive links.

“There’s a range of experience in all aspects,” said grad student Chelsea Toledo, whose playing Mary Magdalene. “I’m a singer before being an actor and others may be an actor before being a singer, so everybody has a different skill set that they are bringing to the table in terms of raw talent.”

Organizing the musical and rehearsing with amateur singers and dancers proved to be cumbersome — at times.

As the weeks of rehearsal passed, the actors repeated dance routines with Hayley Platt, the dance captain and a University student.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,” and “Doing it again, you ready?” were the reoccurring themes as the cast swayed back and forth in unison.

At the same rehearsals — well into the fourth week — repeating lines on stage, the actors trudged through the same scenes, sometimes red in the face, or short of breath, with intermittent laughs, until Adams and musical director Jonathan Sparks were pleased enough to move on.

“This is the point where you start to hate what you’re doing,” Adams said to his cast on multiple occasions.

At the end of each night, Adams and Sparks gave critiques — usually met with laughs, note-taking and members saying, “thank you.”

Steadily the cast became more fluid, but at times were met with confusion when members were out sick, or bench placements were unorganized, or members forgot lines or the pitch of the notes they were supposed to sing.

“You guys need to go home and listen to your recordings,” Sparks said at multiple rehearsals. “This will be a lot easier for you guys if you practice.”

But the cast kept a jovial attitude while on and off the stage.

Actor Tracy Carroll — who’s playing Jesus and also suffered bronchial issues — kept his spirits high, focusing on his vocal capability and the challenge of living up to the prominence of his character.

“I just had to figure out my own way of doing it,” Carroll said. “What I’ve found is that when I find the connection emotionally with the character and vocally it comes through, I feel successful.”

Despite the absences and sicknesses, by the last week — or “Hell Week” — Adams and Sparks began to see the show come into fruition.

And four days before the opening of the rock opera, and six weeks into the rehearsals, Adams gave his cast some inspiring words.

“Hot damn you got a show and I’m really excited that we can do it three more times,” he said. “But it’s there, and it has a pulse … and it got really good at times, but then something would happen with the benches and I’d think ‘It’s over!’”

“JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR”

Where: Town & Gown

When: Dec. 2 to 3, 8 to 10 at 8 p.m.; Dec. 4, 11 at 2 p.m.

Price: $15, $12 (students)