Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Introduced in 1970, it highlights the political and interpersonal struggles of Judas Iscariot and Jesus, and is told largely from Judas' irreverent point of view. The action takes place within the last week of Jesus's life, beginning with the entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. Twentieth-century attitude and sensibilities pervade the lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout.
The opera was first heard as an album before being staged—in London's West End and later on Broadway. (The same pattern would be followed by Rice and Lloyd Webber's second great musical hit, Evita.) On the original album, the part of Jesus was sung by Ian Gillan and that of Judas by Murray Head. The future Gary Glitter had a one-liner as a priest. None of the album's cast appeared in the West End show.
The show opened on Broadway in 1971 to mixed reviews. Many religious groups protested outside the theatre, claiming that the show sacrilegiously portrayed Jesus Christ as a mere man. The show starred Jeff Fenholt and Ben Vereen. Carl Anderson stepped into the role of Judas when Vereen fell ill, and the two performers later took turns playing the role.
The movie, directed by Norman Jewison and filmed on location in Israel in 1973, failed to achieve the success of the stage show. The title song, sung by Judas, and the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him", sung by the Mary Magdalene character about her relationship with Jesus, were both big hits. On the other hand, the movie was also controversial, causing a religious group to bomb a theater in South America at which it was playing. The film starred Ted Neeley as Jesus and Carl Anderson as Judas. Only two of the album's cast, Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen (Pontius Pilate), made it into the film version.
One other member of the film's cast went on to an unusual film career. Philip Toubus, who played Peter, found himself struggling as a mainstream actor. But three years after appearing in Jesus Christ Superstar, and having changed his name to Paul Thomas , he began a long and successful career performing in adult films.
By the turn of the century, the furor over the play had died down so greatly that it is now often performed by church groups, who appear to appreciate it simply as a secular play concerning Jesus, with excellent music.
There was a North American touring revival of "Superstar" in 1992. That same year saw the London brief production on its 20th Anniversary and the highly acclaimed Australian concert cast starring John Farnham as Jesus and Jon Stevens as Judas. In 1996 the show was revived in the West End and started touring Europe, which eventually led Gale Edwards to restage the show for a video starring Glenn Carter as Jesus and Jerome Pradon as Judas. This "new" interpretation of the show was revived on Broadway in 2000 again starring Carter, but a last minute change made Tony Vincent, who had played Simon in the video, step into the role of Judas. It opened to mixed reviews and closed quickly. In 2002, a national tour was begun starring 1980s rock star Sebastian Bach as Jesus, Carl Anderson as Judas (reprising his film role) and Natalie Toro as Mary Magdalene.
In April 2003, following a disagreement with the director, Bach was replaced with Eric Kunze . Carl Anderson died of leukemia on February 23, 2004. According to the Los Angeles Times, Anderson had been planning to appear in a worldwide tour that was to open at Vatican City in the fall of 2004. Lawrence Clayton is currently playing Judas in the touring production.
The show has become a cutural phenomenon and has been produced around the world many times. Notable casts include the 1976 Japanese cast, starring Takeshi Kaga of Iron Chef fame as Jesus. Germany has also produced the show several times, such as the 2001 live recording.
Evan Grubbs, web owner of evangrubbs.com and jesuschristsuperstar.net previously owned 72 recordings of the show and hosted them for free on his website. He had to take them down, however, when RUG and Universal sent him a cease and desist letter.
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Last updated: 08-13-2005 23:27:50
