It’s hard to see it and not have all the grief.” The story of his life was the story of suffering. A lot of that came up when you saw the suffering in this play. “Henry, of all the students I’ve met, of all the people I’ve met, lived the life of Christ. “It was very triggering for me,” Esposito said, his eyes red from crying at the end of the show. Less than a year later, he would be in the hospital fighting for his life. Almost a decade before that in 2009, he played Jesus on Co-Op’s College Street stage, christening it before he graduated from high school. Green, a multi-talented actor, son, brother and friend who was known and loved in New Haven as “Renegade,” died on July 22, 2018, eight years after a gunshot wound to the abdomen when he was walking home from work. For Esposito and a group of Cooperative Arts & Humanities (Co-Op) High School grads seated in the mezzanine, it became a chance to collectively remember Henry Green, a fallen member of their own cast whose Christ-like gentleness, steady spirit and belief in others defined his time here on earth. Sunday evening, that scene came to the Shubert Theatre during the North American tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, which stopped in New Haven Friday through Sunday. Already, Esposito knew who was missing from that stage-and could feel the tears coming. In the mezzanine, educator Rob Esposito watched as Judas (Elvie Ellis) made his way onto the stage, a blood-curdling cry trapped somewhere between his gut and his throat. Only after a moment did it reveal itself as a glowing, giant crucifix set on its back. On stage, Emma Cook raised her hands, limbs pliant and electric, her body bouncing up and down a platform. Lights came up, the low and hazy purples of a bruise. Robert Esposito Photo.Ī shock of electric guitar undulated over the Shubert Theater, bathing the house in something sharp and voltaic. Bottom: Henry Green in Jesus Christ Superstar at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade, Courtesy of the Shubert Theatre. Top: Jack Hopewell and the company of the North American Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Lucy is Lost by Ed King