Jesus Christ Superstar is 33

Jesus Christ Superstar is 33 years old this year. The rock opera composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, then 21 and Tim Rice, 26, based on the Passion of Christ was born in 1970. The young aspiring Rodgers and Hammerstein of London’s West End had previously worked on Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for a children’s choir in a school in London. It was not at all surprising that they found it difficult getting financial backing for their next project. Aside from being relatively young and inexperienced, what they were offering up was Jesus Christ Superstar.

It was not a Passion play but it tells of the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The Passion of Christ has all the elements that would make a good motion picture or stage play. The only difference lies in how it is presented. There is drama, comedy, pathos and the most interesting characters ever written, a strong but sympathetic hero, a sexy leading lady and a villain who comes to a violent end. And that is not to forget all those other guys like Pilate, Peter, Caiaphas and others whose presence greatly enhance the story-telling.

There have been many stage presentations and a number of films made about the Passion but Jesus Christ Superstar dared to be different. Webber and Rice present the story as seen from the eyes of Judas and worse, had everybody including Jesus, singing rock music. London was less than lukewarm to the work but the rock music worked in its favor. The first rock opera Tommy by The Who from 1968 had already enjoyed a great degree of success. So Webber and Rice thought that since there is a huge market out there for rock music Jesus Christ Superstar, can still be recorded, although it might never make it on stage.

The hippie generation however, did not at all mind that Jesus Christ Superstar is being presented in the classic rebel mode. They also liked the fact that He has acquired a human face and is now a God torn between His Divinity and the demands that the redemption is making on Him. They admitted that it was racist. Why is Jesus white and Judas black? But it was also nice to find a sympathetic spin on the bad guy. Judas was merely destined to fulfill the promise of a Savior. Best of all they loved the music. The recorded album turned out to be so successful that theater groups started staging their own versions even before Webber and Rice could get their own on Broadway.

This finally happened in October 1971amidst much controversy. The opera was described as blasphemous, an affront to the Christian Church, an encouragement to anti-Semitism. Even the famous Rev. Billy Graham came out to decry what he saw as the show’s concept of Jesus as a mortal with delusions of divinity. Other things were said that could have sent Lloyd-Webber and Rice to the hills. Thankfully though, a greater number of people immensely enjoyed the musical and even derived some religious experience out of it. A year later, the Jesus Christ, Superstar bandwagon was moving at a fast and smooth clip. Aside from other stagings in various countries, the release of new London and Broadway cast soundtrack albums, concert versions, a movie directed by Norman Jewison was also in the works.

Jewison was then also at work on another musical, the lavish production of Fiddler on the Roof. But as it turned out, he was also the right man for the job. Starring Ted Neeley as Jesus, Carl Anderson as Judas and Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene, the movie brought all of the magnificence of the musical and more to the film version. Shot in natural settings in Israel including the desert, ruins of old temples, caves and gardens with a young cast in make-shift hippie-influenced costumes, the movie instantly drew the rock fans to the theaters. They loved it. Soon older viewers joined the crowd eager to say their piece about the "rock abomination" only to have their fundamentalist attitude crumble in the face of the beauty they came face to face with.

Jesus Christ Superstar has since become a classic. I noticed copies flying off the shelves in video outlets last week. There will be more playing in video machines this week. It is sad that this only happens during Holy Week when this is a musical that can be appreciated any time of the year. But one week a year saved for this major work is still better than what West Side Story gets. So indulge yourself with this one. It is as gripping as ever as brilliant and as beautiful as a dramatic and religious experience should be.