Logo courtesy of ASU Gammage

The National Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ted Neeley opened last night at ASU Gammage. The classic rock opera will continue through this Sunday, April 11 and promises to justifiably pack the house nightly.

Jesus Christ Superstar was the first work by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to reach Broadway. The musical began its life as an enormously popular “concept” album. Under the visionary, Fellini inspired direction of Tom O'Horgan, it made a seamless translation from discs to stage. Lloyd Webber's rock opera debuted on Broadway on October 12, 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Despite receiving a decidedly mixed reception from the critics still uncomfortable with the theatrical sound of rock, the theater going public immediately embraced the musical and kept it running for nearly two years. Jesus Christ Superstar closed on June 30, 1973 after 711 performances.

HAIR and, most particularly, Jesus Christ Superstar were instrumental in legitimizing the sound of rock for Broadway. Lloyd Webber and rock music came to dominate the musical theater for the next decade.

Ted Neeley and company. Photo: © 2006, JOAN MARCUS

The 1980's became known as “The British Invasion.” Soon to follow were Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Song and Dance (all Lloyd Webber), Les Miserables and Miss Saigon (the latter two by Schoenberg and Boulbil...okay, technically French but brought to the stage by Brit Cameron Macintosh).

Last night, from it's opening notes, Jesus Christ Superstar had the unmistakable sound of rock. This is the fresh sound of a young Lloyd Webber, a voice that was still original and firmly his own. Evita followed the same path as JCS, first as another “concept” album and then a full theater production by the legendary Hal Prince. In retrospect, Evita capitalizes too much on what made Jesus Christ Superstar work so well and truly suffers by comparison. Judas in Superstar is used as a narrator, sort of a Greek chorus. Che's role in Evita is used in much the same way but to a far lesser effect. Che had no real contact with Evita Peron while Judas was very much a part of Jesus' life on earth (we all know that story). Evita's ultimate success was the result of Prince's brilliant, uncompromising, dynamic vision and, of course, Lloyd Webber's score.

Co-author Tim Rice has always rested unfairly in the shadow of his collaborator. His contribution to Jesus Christ Superstar is staggeringly brilliant. After all, where would this show be without Rice's lyrical words, filled with satire and such dramatic irony? 

Ted Neeley and company. Photo: © 2006, JOAN MARCUS

Jesus Christ Superstar has always been among my favorite Rice and Lloyd Webber collaborations. I was sadly disappointed with it's original Broadway staging. My expectations simply did not mesh with O'Horgan's over the top vision. Last night, the current National Tour corrected that initial disappointment. Under the able hands of director Dallett Norris and choreographer Arline Phillips, Jesus Christ Superstar was magnificently resurrected. This new production finally gave me the vision I had always imagined for this great work. Superstar is redeemed and now possesses the fluidity and simplicity that was, for me, the authors' original intent. Gone were the pyrotechnics and lamé jock straps of O'Horgan! Scenic designer Bill Stabile and costume designer Fabio Toblini have given the visual production a spectacular simplicity. 

James Delisco and the Soul Singers. Photo: © 2008, G CREATIVE

Ted Neeley and Jesus Christ Superstar continue to be unmistakably, forever joined as one. There is a touching humanity to Neeley's dramatic and vocally powerful performance. His Jesus is a man trying to do God's work but frustrated by the limitations of his very humanity and the looming end to his existence on earth, so beautifully illuminated in his Gethsemane.

Neeley is supported by a wonderfully talented ensemble. John Twiford is simply brilliant as Judas. From his entrance singing Heaven on Their Minds, Twiford takes hold of the audience and keeps them in his firm grip. One of the evenings many highlights is his powerhouse delivery of the shows title number at the close of the show, backed by three female singers I will call the Judettes. This scene, as envisioned by Norris and Phillips, is an affectionate nod to the wild abandon and imagination of Tom O'Horgan's original staging.

Sarah Hanlon's Mary Magdalene is breathtaking. She brings to I don't know to love him a painful touching, reality, filled with Mary's uncertainty and confusion at her unrequited love for Jesus. Andrew Hartley's debauched and dizzy Herod is another highlight. While the rest of the ensemble is mostly clothed in somber black or neutrals, Herod is amusingly and colorfully dressed with a more contemporary, fashionable flair. His King Herod's Song is a delightful 11 o'clock, vaudevillian throwback, more reminiscent of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat than the serious rock sound that dominates Superstar.

Ted Neeley and James Delisco. Photo: © 2006, JOAN MARCUS

The closing orchestral piece John 19:41 is an exquisite requiem, beautifully illustrating Lloyd Webber's classical roots. The visual tableau is stunning as the crucified Jesus is seen to rise, body and soul, to Heaven while his burial shroud falls to earth.

Hurry! You only have till this Sunday to experience the wonders and joys of this most entertaining, revelatory production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

If you would like to read further about the remarkable Ted Neeley, here are links to The Examiner interview we had:

Click HERE for part one

Click HERE for part two

All production photos by Joan Marcus and G Creative courtesy and ASU Gammage.