I absolutely adored this book. Doubtless, my obsession with the musical subject and a preteen fascination with Jesus Christ Superstar has quite a bit to do with it, but as author Devin McKinney states in his introduction, loving or even knowing the famed rock opera is not an important ingredient to enjoying this story. Everyone knows someone who has had college or just plain institutional experiences like the one McKinney covers here, right? A bunch of forward-thinking and determined faculty members teaming up with enthusiastic young students to change the course of a school and a town’s fortunes. Okay, maybe not. But I think we all wish we did.
Jesusmania! reveals everything that is great about the spirit of a generation willing to dream and achieve a goal that begins with passion and ends in triumph. The hometown cooking McKinney brings with true pride to the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania milieu is part of the book’s charm, and his finding the voices of all those who participated in one of the first and only organic productions of the famed rock opera, before it became a Broadway hit and a theatrical institution, is paramount. These are mostly amateurs, barely familiar with the material they must conquer under a crushing deadline, dealing with church and school parameters, record label legal shenanigans and each other. McKinney takes us there every step of the way – the inspiration, hurdles, rehearsals, staging, musicians, and performers, all swept up in this one-time moment of creative achievement.