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Jesus Christ Superstar | Introduction

Jesus Christ Superstar, a two-act rock opera, gave opera a radical facelift through its use of vibrant rock music for a solemn topic. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) created a new kind of Jesus a prophet / rock star whose appeal stems as much from the crowd’s energy as from his own inspirational message. The album of songs, released a year before the first stage production of the play, created a market for the dramatic version, which opened to sold-out audiences who were already familiar with its songs. The play is a baroque fusion of styles, rock rhythm with ballad narrative, dramatic characterization with rollicking choreography, and operatic star performances that together paradoxically succeed in communicating a humble theme of love and acceptance. Sacred themes are fused with ancient political history and modern sensibilities into an entirely new form of theater art. To some critics the mixture was balanced, taut, and spectacularly successful, but to others, it was a travesty. Leaving out the Resurrection was considered both blasphemous and brilliant, bringing picketers to the streets to protest the play, while critics raved its genius. Jesus is portrayed as having human qualities, doubts, and faults, yet his crucifixion becomes all the more poignant for it. The play was unique in its genesis as well, having begun its life as a record, thus putting initial emphasis on musicality over plot and staging. The first Broadway musical to have started in this way, it remains an innovative work of drama and music that has weathered well, with a production nearly always taking place somewhere in the world.

Jesus Christ Superstar Summary

Act I
The play opens with the actors arriving in a desert, laden with their costumes and props. In the film version, a battered bus slowly makes its way across the desert into the foreground. The actors ready themselves, slipping into costume and character, preparing to give a performance of the last seven days of Christ’s life, as much for their own sakes as for the pleasure of the audience. The largest, most awkward piece to unload is the heavy wooden cross. Judas observes these preparations from afar, edgy and already aloof from the rest of the group.

Act I: Heaven on Their Minds
As Judas watches the others, he begins to formulate and to articulate to himself just what is bothering him about Jesus: his superstar status, his moving from a vehicle of God’s message to a show in and of himself. The followers think ‘‘they’ve found a new Messiah,’’ and Judas worries about their anger when they discover Christ is just a man. Meanwhile Jesus shares his peaceful message to an adoring crowd.

Act I: What’s the Buzz
At the house of Simon the Leper, the apostles press a tired Jesus to tell them where their group will go next, to begin a political and religious revolution, demanding, ‘‘When do we ride into the Jerusalem?’’ The apostles fail to notice that Jesus needs to withdraw and rest, but Mary Magdalene offers solace, saying ‘‘Let me try to cool down your face a bit.’’ Christ tells them that only Mary knows what he needs.

Act I: Strange Thing Mystifying
Judas cannot stand that Jesus lets a former prostitute (‘‘a woman of her kind’’) attend to him, but Christ hurls back, ‘‘If your slate is clean, then you can throw stones / If your slate is not,... » Complete Jesus Christ Superstar Summary