Broadway's second coming: 'Jesus Christ Superstar' is back

"Jesus Christ Superstar" has been revived on the Great White Way with updated sets and costumes, though the music remains the same

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 3:14 p.m. EST (1914 GMT)

From Cynthia Tornquist
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The first production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" ran on Broadway for 720 performances and launched the careers of the young songwriting team of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Now, 30 years later, the musical has been revived for the Broadway stage.

The new show, which first opened to great reviews and crowds in Great Britain, also revives memories, composer Webber and lyricist Rice say. Each thought he'd made a huge mistake in 1971 when "Jesus Christ Superstar" bowed in London's West End.

Webber remembers thinking that he "hated" the production. And Rice said the pair didn't know what they were doing at the time.

Perhaps not, but history vindicated them.

The musical attracted not only blockbuster crowds, but Tony nominations for best musical score (Rice and Webber), supporting actor (Ben Vereen), scenic designer, lighting and costume designer.

"We somehow made it by mistake -- created a piece that, for all its faults and all its naivete, struck a chord," Rice says.

Guns, graffiti ... The Supremes?

The revival, which opened in New York in late March, also aims to tap viewers' sentiments, combining old and new elements. It's aimed for a young audience.

The music and lyrics for this latest "Jesus Christ Superstar" are the same. But the set has been marked with graffiti and the costumes changed. Christ's followers carry guns, King Herod wears a tux, and his backers bear more than a passing resemblance to The Supremes.

Taking chances with the show is preferable to replicating what already has been done, says Glenn Carter, who plays Jesus of Nazareth and also performed in the revival in London.

A classic, resurrected

"I think if we were doing a safe production -- a production that was just, you know, pretty, nice, very happy, conformist -- there would absolutely be no point in doing it," he says.

Webber, who dreaded the debut of his show three decades earlier, admits he looked forward to the revival. "What I think people will be thrilled by is the fact that here is clearly a great classic musical interpreted for our time," he says.

Yet critics on Broadway, where the play opened at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, did not give the new "Superstar" the enthusiastic reception it enjoyed overseas.

Still, the show will go on, a Webber spokesman says. Tickets for dates through December remain on sale. A national tour also is in the planning stages, as is a film version.

From Broadway to Hollywood, Tim Rice is back in tune
April 4, 2000
Classical singers, popular sales
August 20, 1999
Elton John's friendships still standin' when it comes to 'Aida'
May 26, 1999
Webber's first musical in five years opens with standing ovation
July 2, 1998

Official 'Jesus Chris Superstar' site
The Really Useful Theater Group

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.