Jesus Christ Superstar (11 Apr. 2001)

A rock musical version of the Passion Play seen from the point of view of Judas.

Directors:

Gale Edwards, Nick Morris

Writer:

Tim Rice (book)

Stars:

Glenn Carter, Jérôme Pradon, Renée Castle

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Carter	...	Jesus of Nazareth
Jérôme Pradon	...	Judas Iscariot (as Jerome Pradon)
Renée Castle	...	Mary Magdalene
Fred Johanson	...	Pontius Pilate
Rik Mayall	...	King Herod
Frederick B. Owens	...	Caiaphas
Michael Shaeffer	...	Annas
Tony Vincent	...	Simon Zealotes
Cavin Cornwall	...	Peter
Pete Gallagher	...	First Priest (as Peter Gallagher)
Michael McCarthy	...	Second Priest
Philip Cox	...	Third Priest
Matt Cross	...	Apostle / Ensemble (as Matthew Cross)
Kevin Curtin	...	Apostle / Ensemble
Paul Vickers	...	Apostle / Ensemble

Storyline

The Passion of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. This popular rock musical is based on the 1996 London/2000 Broadway revivals of the show, directed by Gale Edwards. Re-orchestrated and set to modern times, it is not the Superstar of the 70's but rather one for the 21st Century.

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Plot Keywords:

rock | rock musical | passion play | based on the bible | martyrdom | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Musical

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

The Really Useful Group

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 2001 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Really Useful Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jérôme Pradon (Judas) admitted in an interview that he did not have the voice for the part of Judas and that he would not be able to play Judas in a real stage production.

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Quotes

Pontious Pilate: Where are you from, Jesus? What do you want, Jesus? Tell me. You've got to be careful. You could be dead soon, could well be. Why do you not speak when I hold your life in my hands? How can you stay quiet? I don't believe you'd understand.
Jesus: You have nothing in your hands. Any power you have... comes to you from far beyond. Everything is fixed and you can't change it.
Pontious Pilate: You're a fool, Jesus Christ! How can I help you?

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Connections

Featured in The 100 Greatest Musicals (2003)

User Reviews

Super Superstar

When I saw the 1973 version of JCS, I felt it made a mistake by removing the show from the stage and putting it in a desert. This 2000 version has made up for that, and has confirmed my feeling. The show definitely works better as a show. However, I must set the score right in reference to the some of the other posters who seem to believe that this 2000 version invents the focus on Judas. Jerome Pradon does a smashing job as an extremely moving Judas - the best I've ever seen although his voice is more expressive than actually beautiful - but Judas IS in fact the main character of JCS, and was so even in the original version, as Mary Magdalen's rival for Jesus' love. And even in the original stage version, we were supposed to sympathize with him. That was how Rice wrote it: the Gospel according to Judas. JCS is Judas' tragedy, not Christ's, and that is the original angle that separates this story from so many others on the same subject. Apart from Pradon's Judas, I found Tony Vincent's Simon Zealotes - his quirky boy band singer turned political maniac was powerful - better than the original version's Larry Marshall. So thumbs up for the 2000 version's setting (a studio), its Judas and its Zealotes. So what do I miss from the dusty old 1973 version? Mainly the singing. I don't believe Carl Anderson's voice or phrasing can be improved, and Ted Neely's "Gethsemane" surpassed top performance. And one more thing: Although I didn't fall for Norman Jewison's many movie gimmicks, even in the 1970s, such as the arrival of the entire cast in a Jesus bus, the nauseating zooms and countless other examples of violation of film aesthetics that so mar productions from that decade, the 1973 version had one masterly cinematic stroke of genius in the montage of crucifixion images that cut into Christ's "Gethsemane" ("Watch me die"). What the 2000 version gets right all the way through is the choice of telling this very personal story of passion mainly through close-ups. The 1973 was to keen on showing us the entire desert in every shot. But that's only my opinion.