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Not even the son of God could save the Philharmonic’s Wednesday night roadshow performance of “Jesus Christ Superstar” from a poorly calibrated sound system.

Despite a divine show-stopper of a performance from Ted Neeley in the title role and timeless music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, few in the audience were able to appreciate the Tim Rice lyrics or sample the charms of Corey Glover’s Judas Iscariot. A far-too-loud orchestra seemed determined to blast the actors off the stage in an effort to push every single note to the far corners of the performance hall.

Sadly, Wednesday night’s performance wasn’t anywhere near an adequate representation of the true emotion that can be wrung from the machinations of Jesus and the disciples.

The entire first act, from overture to betrayal, was a solid wall of sound that muffled the performers, sliced the emotional impact of the scenes to ribbons and essentially ruined the show. Attempts to ameliorate the problem after intermission met with some success, but most of Act II’s numbers sounded as if the volume was being adjusted on the fly, the noise level going up and down the scale like a drunken elevator operator playing a polka at the controls.

The staging concept is akin to a rock opera set piece, with Jesus a moody “superstar” battling the bratty Judas back and forth across a stage dominated by a iron scaffold bridge. The austere set is meant to resemble a rock concert with banks of lights and an over-active fog machine. Scene changes arrive courtesy some spectacular lighting design, although how the cast didn’t wilt under the glare of eight or more spotlights at times is beyond me.

“Jesus Christ Superstar,” the original Webber/Rice collaboration depicting the last seven days of the life of Christ, originated as an album in 1970 before moving to Broadway in October of 1971.

The show opened to protests and mixed reviews before closing just 18 months later. After nearly four decades, the show has become a cultural phenomenon and is usually ranked alongside “Cats,” “Phantom,” “Gypsy” and others as one of the Great White Way’s classic musicals.

“Jesus Christ Superstar” packs an emotional wallop. Yet, there is more than the obvious “God sent His only begotten son” lesson here.

Especially as seen through the prism of the turbulent era in which it was created, “Jesus Christ Superstar” is far more than a “religious” musical.

The heavy, throbbing rock and classical-tinged beat is meant to underscore the political and interpersonal struggles between the tragic figure of Judas Iscariot and Jesus; the former can’t accept the latter as divine and is slowly disintegrating. Simmering within the subtext are messages about faith, humility, acceptance, loyalty and more.

It’s a pity the sound was so poorly managed, because there is an excellent group of voice disciples on stage to spread the word of God via the pen of Rice. Glover, known for his Grammy-winning work with the band Living Colour, delivers a moving performance as Judas, while Tiffini Dodson (Mary Magdalene) fought the orchestra for every note of her big “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” solo. Aaron Fuksa turns in a nicely done bit of comedic work as Herod.

Despite sound issues that would drive a saint to the bottle, Neeley owned the stage. The towering “Gethsemane” number, where Jesus questions God on the necessity of his death, brought the house down. Neeley’s volcano of a voice captures every nuance of weariness, longing, anger and love. It’s beset by sadness and confusion while calling, questioning, demanding answers of a father sending him to die. It is a stunningly well-crafted piece of work — one he performs night after night.

Neeley gives a master class in acting on the Philharmonic stage. His voice is pure sonic pleasure and his second-act show-stopper is transcendent. He’s got a fine supporting cast and of course that Andrew Lloyd Webber music.

Alas, poor sound quality remains the Judas among these disciples.

Love it? Hate it? Got religion? E-mail me at csilk@naplesnews.com.