Bella Massey on the thrill of Swinging on JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Jesus Christ Superstar, the hit rock-opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that reimagines Jesus’s final days through a sung-through rock score, is currently playing at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. This acclaimed UK production, originally directed by Timothy Sheader, has arrived in Australia after garnering critical praise across the globe. The Aussie talent bringing the piece to life have earned praise for their synchronicity of powerhouse vocals and thrilling choreography.
Bella Massey, who makes her music theatre debut in the piece, says the electricity on stage is just as palpable for her as it is for the audience. “The show is all about stamina and strength and there is just so much energy between us… Everyone on that stage is giving it their all at the highest standard, and you can feel it.” she says.
As a swing on the show – a cast member who learns multiple roles and can step into any part on any given night – exhilaration is her driving force. She proudly dubs her team as “the glue of the show”, and her last eight performances are a testament to the phrase. From switching in and out of her own track, stepping into male roles she hadn’t performed in months, and taking on the mob leader – her body has experienced the show through every angle.
When asked how she manages the mental and physical complexities of the job, she tells me that even amidst the overwhelm, she focuses on distilling each section and embracing every moment.
“As a dancer, the same way you would translate words – we translate movement; it’s second nature to me. Once the show is deep in my body, it’s not going anywhere.”
While Jesus Christ Superstar may mark her debut in the music theatre scene, Bella is no stranger to performing. Raised in Singapore, she immersed herself in the world of dance from a young age and aimed to pursue it professionally. After suffering a severe ACL tear, her recovery options in Singapore were limited and she struggled to bounce back into the dancer she knew she could be. Encouraged by her family to move to Australia, she relocated to Sydney, where she found the right treatment and began training at ED5. After graduation, her career began to unfold.
Her first contract was a featured dancer role in Vic Opera’s Il Trovatore, and just a day after it ended, she hopped on a plane to Miami to perform with Royal Caribbean Cruises. After a few years performing at sea, she set her sights on booking a musical – and nothing would hold her back. “I was just like, I want to learn a musical. I’m going to work my butt off, and even if one door closes on me, I’m going to keep trying until one of the doors opens for me.” she says.
Bella’s determination knows no bounds. As she tells me the story of her JCS audition, she admits an injury almost took her out of the running. “On the first day of auditions, I tore a bit of my meniscus and then went into the second round, still dancing on a torn meniscus. But I remember just telling myself, I will rip my body apart just to get this. Whatever it takes. I will try my hardest to dance as best as I can.”
Against the odds, she got the call from her agent – she’d landed a swing position. Overcome with tears and excitement, she jumped straight into preparation for a job she had never done before. “I didn’t really know what swinging was. I thought I did, from the outside,” she says, “but it takes being in this show to fully understand – you have to know everything.”
“When I stepped foot into rehearsals for the first time, I was around people like Nathan Pinell and Bree Tipoki – they have been swinging their entire performance careers. And then there was me being like – ‘So, how does this work?’.”
Bella quickly learned that there’s no industry secret to tackling the job. Every swing has their own method of absorbing the movement. It’s about taking the time to find what works best for you and harnessing whatever helps sync your mind and body. With her own on-stage track embedded in her muscle memory, she admits that while she’s performing, she’s watching the tracks around her and mentally taking notes.
“You have to watch this person, and then make sure you’re looking at that person at the same time. So, for me, I just needed to break it down and take it step by step, and each day I’d focus on a different person… It’s all little bits here and there, but I kind of find it like a puzzle.”
“I needed to just trust myself, trust the process and my capability and remember that’s why they gave me this job.”
One of the biggest lessons she’s taken from years of performing and auditioning is the value of trusting her intuition and staying persistent, no matter the challenge. “It’s definitely a constant case of throwing yourself into the deep end and seeing whether you swim or sink. And that’s not just in the show,but outside of it too, because I’m constantly training on my days off and pushing to see what I can do,” she says.
“It’s just really about not giving up on yourself. I’ve learnt a lot from this show that even on days I might feel like a nervous-wreck, I’ve learnt that you can throw whatever you want at me, and I know that I’ll know the steps and just give it my all.” she says
On the final show of her mammoth week, she was ‘swung out’ (taken offstage to watch the performance from the audience). It was her first time seeing the full production, and she was completely enamoured by the talent of her cast.
It was her first time seeing the production in full, and she found herself completely enthralled by the talent of her colleagues.
“I was supposed to be looking at all the details in the formations, but I kept getting so distracted because it was absolutely amazing… If I didn’t know how physically tough the show was first hand, I wouldn’t be able to tell, because watching – they all make it look so easy.”
“That’s what I love about my cast, even when it’s challenging we’re all supporting each other through it and giving it our all.”
You can catch Bella and the entire cast of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne until June 22, before they head to Brisbane to begin shows at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre on June 29.
Header photo by Jeff Busby
