Let me put it on the table. I've seen Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar" twice, in different productions elsewhere in America, and never cared for it.

Now, as she has done twice for me, Waterville Opera House director Debra Susi has dragged me around to a new vision of the work, and through her complex alchemy, proven me wrong.

In bold strokes, Susi and her multitalented team put Lloyd Webber and Rice's big canvass in sharper focus. Her "Superstar" is an interesting combination of the famous Oberammergau Passion Play and a three-dimensional Cecil B. DeMille rock video game.

The faithful who have never seen this show, and who come looking for their childhood coloring book Jesus, will probably be surprised if not shocked. Rice and Webber, and certainly Susi, are known to color outside the lines in their presentations.

Theirs is a flawed and human Jesus, uncertain and often confused, a soul-searching pilgrim doomed to become a "superstar," a Nikos Kazantzakis' Jesus set to music.

This would be Jon Hawley's Jesus of Nazareth. Hawley gives us, in appearance and demeanor at least, the familiar Christian icon. I would have liked a more powerful voice but this is a tough score to sing, and as the evening goes on, Hawley grows into the role and has some very good moments, particularly the powerful scene with a cluster of crawling lepers, when he panics and gives us a savior with definitive breaking points. It's one of Hawley's best moments.

All of Lloyd Webber's famous rock score is intact, splendidly played out by a full orchestra of brass, tympani and impressive strings. My only complaint in this area is that, too often, we get the feeling that this is a show, not so much about the story of the savior. But that great orchestral score! I'm told by the producers that the volume, which too often drowned out the great voices, has been scaled down.

The principal players in Jesus' life come in low key here. Dan Kennedy's Peter has some nice moments in the denial scene but most of the Bible team has little to do. I think that Mother Mary might have bigger moments. As a former altar boy, I rather longed in vain for a pieta. But remember, this is about Jesus and it is a rock opera, so the focus is on the songs.

Among these, the title number is strong, and Lisa Neal's "I Don't Know How To Love Him," doesn't fail to leap out, as it usually does, from the score. Neal's instrument is sweet and perfect. A very nice Magdalene.

But what really makes this production soar beyond any limitations is Susi's staging, and the spectacular choreography of Maine Central Institute's Natalia Getman. Getman, a Russian ŽmigrŽ who works with and teaches Andre Bossov's fabulous ballet group, brings her gifts and students to the stage and us, to our feet. Her staged "Hosanna Palm Sunday" number will take your breath away.

And of course, there is Judas, the celestial "fall guy," who discovers at show's end that he has been "used" by the Heavenly Father into making Jesus into the forever "Superstar."

Judas is second chair in this story, and Dean Neal, a Sting lookalike, holds his position with strength and ferocity. We all know how Judas came to his end, but you've never seen it done like this. Hold your breath.

The show gives us a combination of the Sanhedrin chief priests and pharisees, as an evil flock dressed in Jesuit black, who hover and flutter like salivating crows. A very nice and scary touch.

Every show, we all know, has one show stopper, in the number and the performer who does it. In this production, Randy Begin's "Herod" holds the honor.

In a smashing "King Herod's Song" Begin comes on like Zero Mostel on uppers. His Herod is a fey slippery vaudevillian, Borscht Belt comic, who commands a bevy of slave girls, golden bowls of booze and more bling than an elephant-sized rap star. It will happen at once. Prepare yourself.

Prepare yourself for another surprise that comes as Judas returns from death. It will drop from the sky and rivet you to your seats. I've never seen anything like it, and it's worth the price of four tickets.

Yes, you will not be spared the crucifixion, but it's done with great taste and artistry. You will be thinking about it for hours afterward.

Suzi's vision of the work debuts this week on the Opera House stage, and it is a dazzling piece of work. What makes it special this time is this collaborative effort between some remarkable artists, the Opera House and Colby College.

Much of the magic of this production is due to the incredible set designed by master craftsman Jim Jenkins, the brilliance of Colby's Jim Thurston's lighting design, and Colby's Christine Nilles, whose costumes are stunning and letter perfect.

Clearly, this is a well thought out confluence of two rivers of theatrical talent, a true "town and gown" effort.

J.P. Devine is a former stage and screen actor in Waterville.