Blehh!
My honest thought on this: not a success in any aspect.
I wanted to say different; I still have high regard for this show as a piece of theatre. But everything in this seemed to be about posturing, from the "GFC in London" scenario to the cast who didn't act, just struck poses. Even the songs weren't acted, for the most part, and they really should have been. Instead of musical phrasing or telling the story, they were generally delivered as if the singer was looking for the next spot to go into a hyper adenoidal belt.
I guess that's what the "Arena" means in the title: everything's posed in tableaux. But for me, what that meant was that the show had none of its usual power, and it didn't even feel like it was telling a cohesive story.
As others have said, the modernised scenario really didn't work very well. Was it trying to say the story of Jesus was "timeless" (it isn't) or had relevance to today (it doesn't, not directly) — or is an implicit admission that modern audiences ca't relate to anything unless it's put on their terms?
I think it's clear I was not part of the target audience for this production. Glad I hadn't bought tickets for it.
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.