Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

A busload of "hippies" travel to the desert to re-enact the story of Christ's last days in song and dance. In the early 1970s, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR was the coolest, most radical musical ever. But like another "rock" musical of the era HAIR, viewed today it seems rather kitschy and self indulgent. Lyrics (by Tim Rice) like "What's the buzz, tell me what's a happening" now seem as quaint as "Beat me daddy, eight to the bar"! It doesn't help that with three exceptions, the performances are right out of community theater. The exceptions being Carl Anderson as Judas, Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene and Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate. All the director Norman Jewison could do was keep it simple and move it along which he does. As portrayed in the film, Jesus and his apostles come across as stoners living in a commune and Ted Neeley's high pitched Jesus seems so sanctimonious that one begins to have a perverse sympathy for Judas! I remember loving it when it opened in 1973 ..... sometimes, you just can't go home again. The music is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Las Vegas style choreography is by Robert Iscove. With Bob Bingham, Josh Mostel and Larry Marshall, quite dreadful as Simon Zealotes.