Interview: How Notre Dame Resurrected Their Annual Musical During COVID-19

In the midst of a global pandemic and at a time when nearly all live theater and music performances were suspended, University of Notre Dame director of musical theater and assistant professor of the practice Matt Hawkins managed to bring to life a live student performance of Jesus Christ Superstar in Notre Dame's iconic football stadium.

When campus closed in spring 2020 because of COVID-19, Hawkins and his students had already spent months planning and rehearsing for the spring musical - a modern interpretation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice classic rock opera. Fast forward to August of last year. Notre Dame brought students back to campus for in-person learning but campus COVID protocols prohibited large indoor gatherings and performances. Hawkins spent months trying to develop a safe strategy and locate an appropriate stage so that the show could go on.

The resulting production was deemed a huge success, and was presented to over a thousand audience members in early April, socially distanced throughout the school's football stadium.

We sat down for an interview with Hawkins to find out how they did it.

When did the department get the news it wouldn't be business as usual mounting a production this year? What were the initial reactions amongst the faculty and students?

In March 2020, we all left for Spring Break and didn't come back... because that's when the lock down happened. Students and faculty didn't come back in person the rest of the academic year, and we all pivoted to teaching on-line with our production of Jesus Christ Superstar being cancelled. At that point, we had finished almost six weeks of rehearsal. We had learned all the music, staging and choreography for the entire show. After Spring Break 2020 we were supposed to have two weeks left in the process: one week of tech and one week of performances... those two weeks didn't happen.

We were all conflicted. We felt relieved that we were being asked to stay home and be safe, but on the other hand-all the work we had put into the production was essentially taken away with no future production in sight. So, to help with "production grief" I made the Jesus Christ Superstar series, to celebrate all the work we had done. And I was even surprised at my own reaction to this moment. I personally stay away from any sort of social media, and even I found myself gravitating towards YouTube in an effort to connect with my students and their families. (It was an odd time)

We knew in the middle of the Summer that there would be no indoor live performances for the entire year. (Due to in person gathering and mask mandates) This was tough. Really tough. Especially for our Seniors. And you can imagine that everyone was scared and skeptical about the whole "in-person learning". Some students were even questioning why they should even come back to school and pay for an education if they can't get the full experience. So, when I had the idea for Jesus Christ Superstar in the stadium the students were extremely excited for it because they were finally able to do something creative.

Jesus Christ Superstar has often been performed in concert, but rarely on the scale at which you've done it. When did you get the idea to try and stage the production that way?

I came up with the idea at the end of Summer 2020. Notre Dame had already announced that the University would be back in person (which we were all nervous about), but of course our productions and performance classes posed different challenges because you have to sing, and we have to see the student's face, which we could not do indoors at the time. So, after multiple conversations with ND's general counsel, a bio-molecular scientist faculty member and our Athletic department, I knew I could pull it off. I knew I needed space for safety and video board for story.

Basically- the football stadium gave us the space to keep performers safe and audience safe. And the video board allowed us to still stay true to the original conceit of the multimedia elements. And then it seemed kinda perfect to think of Jesus Christ Superstar in the Notre Dame football stadium, right next to Touchdown Jesus.

Your production looks like it incorporates 'social media' and multimedia elements - where did that idea come from?

Well, (this is me clearing my throat), I started working on the show during the summer of 2019. During that time, we had a President of the United States using Twitter on a daily basis, and the political/social/cultural discourse had become extremely volatile, and all of it was happening through digital mediums. And that's when I thought: "What if the Son of God arrived today? I wonder how that would go?" Then I thought about the News Media, Twitter, communication through Instagram, texts, viral videos, etc. ALSO- I am fascinated by mob mentality, especially mob mentality over social media. So how could a group of people, who loved Jesus, turn on him? Once his followers figured out that he was a heavenly king and not a warrior king, they got a little upset... so upset that they killed him--and I wanted to figure out how to tell that story in the digital age.

What was the University's reaction when you brought forth the stadium idea?

Ummm... there wasn't really a reaction because I didn't ask.

I just said, "I'm doing this, let me know if you have any concerns."

What were the biggest challenges to get the concept approved?

1. COVID

2. WEATHER

3. FOOTBALL

Other than that, our President, Provost, and my own Dean of the College of Arts and Letters were very supportive-- and they all cheered us towards the finish line. (I guess end zone is a better metaphor)

The production, visually speaking, looks stunning from the photos and clips. Are you able to share anything about the budget/funding that went into staging the production?

You are correct... this wasn't cheap. I am very fortunate to have some donors who support the Musical Theatre program which enabled this to happen. (Side note- I'm still trying to raise an endowment for the program so we can continue this work in the future, so tell your readers to email me if anyone wants to talk!) The biggest challenge was that I was trying to use a space in a way that it was not designed to be used. If I were in a theatre, I would have control over sound and lights, but that was not the case in the stadium... so a lot of my energy went there, trying to create our own sound system and lighting design. There were are also a few financial discounts for the use of the football field plus the majority of our performers and orchestra players were students, with a few professionals scattered throughout. But the large video board, along with the additional staging platforms, lighting and sound equipment, camera crews and studio crews did create significant production costs.

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing at the beginning of the process you wish you knew then - what would it be?

This is a great question. I wish I would have learned sooner how to be in a control room. Learning about 2 boxes, 3 boxes, tally lights, keyed up images, overlays, shaders, and being able to call all that while setting up cameras in real time was pretty intense. Because the musical moves so quickly, I really couldn't ask anyone else to call the show. Plus, I had spent so much time with the musical I knew it really well. The week before the show I spent almost 2 hours every day with my score, calling all the cameras, graphics, and setups while listening to a Jesus Christ Superstar cast recording off Spotify.

Considering the massive success of this production - are there plans for future productions to be performed similarly at Notre Dame?

We aren't in a position to commit to anything yet... But there have been some casual conversations about doing Jesus Christ Superstar again, during Easter, and make it an annual thing-Garth Brooks played there, and Billy Joel is next, so why not Jesus Christ Superstar?

What was audience turn out like?

For one night only we were able to get just over 1,000 people there.

How can our readers learn more about Notre Dame and your upcoming productions?

Check out our new theatrical musical called An Old Family Recipe by Veronica Mansour, that we filmed in the Regis Philbin Theatre during the pandemic, developed through our New Works Lab. (I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to do both Jesus Christ Superstar and this new musical in the same semester, I'm a little tired) but it's being broadcast this Friday on YouTube premiere, and we'll do a live talkback to chat about the show and all the safety protocols. This project is another great example of innovation and creativity coming out of necessity. Because of COVID, I was able to work with film faculty member William Donaruma , who is a brilliant cinematographer, and we were able to collaborate in this new form of storytelling.

Or they can visit us online at ftt.nd.edu.