Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It has appeared as an album, Broadway show, and in movie format twice (once in 1973, and again in 2000).

Everything about Jesus Christ Superstar. It seemed blasphemous to call Jesus a "superstar", as if he were no more important to the world then some flash in the pan celebrity.

The libretto of the rock opera was consistent was the view that Jesus did not have to die and that Jesus was not God Himself, two ideas which have been bedrock Christian theology since c. 400 A.D. By humanizing the characters in the Gospel story, it introduces or supports idea that Jesus was trying to bring the Kingdom of God in his lifetime but was thwarted by the various failures of his disciples.

Characters

The story follows the Passion of the Christ, focusing on the relationship between Judas and Jesus, and Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Jesus is portrayed as a very human figure, filled at times with doubt and the desire to just be "normal", but knowing that no matter what he feels at any given moment, it is his duty, his destiny to fulfill God's wish of him.

Mary, portrayed here as the prostitute, feels a normal love for Jesus... the love of a woman for a man, yet knows he does not and cannot reciprocate because of who and what he is. She learns to accept this, as she learns to accept his role as Son of God.

Judas is perhaps the most compelling of the characters, portrayed here not as a villain out to kill Jesus, but as someone convinced that Jesus is misguided and might bring further harm to the Jewish people and therefore should be stopped. Judas' death here is not due to madness, nor the destruction by evil forces as the Bible suggests, but instead hangs himself out of guilt for what he has done to his friend.

Touring Company

Jesus Christ Superstar almost continuously tours around the world, usually with Ted Neeley playing Jesus. He played this role in the 1973 movie.