‘Superstar’ shines in touring version

This is not your father’s, or even your grandfather’s “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

More than a half-century after Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice created this rock opera, based on the biblical Passion narrative, the 2017 London re-staging — now posing as the “50th anniversary tour” — is tight, feels right and is chock full of choreography to the point where there are few minutes in its 90-minute length that don’t involve some kind of motion.

Friday night at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, Jack Hopewell as Jesus and Elvie Ellis as disaffected disciple Judas did a lot of musical screaming in the upper musical registers, but they kept the audience on the edge of their seats as Judas, misunderstanding what his friend is trying to achieve, turns him over first to Caiaphas the high priest (Grant Hodges doing some major bass barnacle-scraping) and eventually the Romans (Alex Stone as a very passionate Pilate).

Strong performances come from Jaden Dominique as Mary Magdalene and Alec Diem as show-stopper Herod, adding some charm to his mocking number (maybe more New Orleans than Vegas, thank goodness) that has the show’s wittiest lyrics.

The ensemble keeps things moving, literally, with angular crowd choreography that sometimes enhances the action and sometimes distracts. The stage features not only a five-piece live band (in two-story windows) but a lot of stray guitars, a surprising number of hand-held mics and some clever props, including priestly staffs that turn into microphone stands. Costumes verge on the contemporary, including hoodies, all in a neutral white-grayblack color scheme.

The show will be onstage again at 2 and 7:30 p.m. today and 1 p.m. Sunday at Robinson, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. Ticket information is available by calling (501) 244-8800 or online at CelebrityAttractions.com or Ticketmaster.com.