Jesus Christ Superstar as an NBC Live Musical for Easter 2018

Exactly right.

 

Which you can find on the original brown album from 1970 and the 1973 movie soundtrack.

 

I only saw the last hour. I didn’t care for Dixon’s performance. He seemed like he was lip syncing some? And a little pitchy here and there near the end.

 

I liked it alright. The original album is always my reference and preference. I saw Alice Cooper last week and after he introduced the band, he said, “The role of Alice Cooper was played by King Herod!”

 

Judas has the best role in JCSS.

 

I know this material inside out and thought it was excellent, especially for a live performance. The production was modern with only small but tasteful alterations from the original. I like that they didn't try to reinvent the wheel with this version. Maybe that's because Webber and Rice were involved.

 

What a SCREAM.

 

I know the music is actually the star here, but this was an excellent adaptation. Yes, Gillian, and Elliman, and Murray Head nailed their parts 45 years ago, but tonight's performance was (IMNSHO) just as good in its own way.

 

And when those guys nailed it decades ago they didn't have to perform it live on network TV while dancing around in front of cameras and a studio audience. Legend et. al had only one shot to get it right!

 

Actually, "Could We Start Again, Please" made its first appearance in the Broadway production of 1971. It was not yet written when the original concept album was released.

 

I'm glad it was included tonight. Its a very fine song.

 

I like the song but it feels out of place to me, probably because I'm so accustomed to the original double LP sequence.

 

Totally forgot this was happening. Look forward to watching it in the coming days. Seems people like it!

 

You're right. But when I burned my original lp to cd, I added the two songs from the film soundtrack (CWSA is one of them) to the mix. I'm kind of used to it now.

 

We thought it was an excellent production.
Powerful.

 

I am REALLY enjoying this!
It's refreshing that they didn't try to make the score's musical vocabulary sound "modern".

Yes, the crowd (who probably has never heard the music before) is annoying though.

It's a testament to the score that even though the original LP has it's own iconic vocal identity and production quality, this is very good and stands on it's own.

 

Yes, it's a great score and I thought it was very well done. I really enjoyed it. I'm glad the crowd calmed down after they were very loud at the start.

 

Clips of the show are posted on NBC's YouTube page. The full concert is not available yet:

NBC

 

Alice Cooper was great!
Since he has a special interest in the story, he played Herod to the hilt!

 

I caught parts of the show, maybe an hour of it. I was quite enthralled by it. I thought it was well done.

 

Just finished watching the entire production, and was pleasantly surprised that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very well done!

 

I thought Alice was the weak point. Dixon was AMAZING! I've never seen Hamilton, but now I understand why secondary market tickets can reach four figures.

 

I enjoyed what I saw of it. I love that they’re doing Live theater on network TV once a year. This one seemed the least technically challenging with the essentially static set. Hated the cued audience. Thought most of the performances were strong. John Legend is certainly a talented guy and strong singer but thought he was really out of his depth as an actor, especially when he wasn’t singing.
It’s a really tough gig though, so hats off to all.

 

I enjoyed most of it. The vocal mix for the first half sounded awful, but maybe that's due to my old TV and old ears.

Legend was good--out of his depth, but I don't blame NBC for adding a household name. Dixon was amazing. Bareilles left me cold. I don't mind her style, but I didn't find it suited to this music. Alice was a highlight for me--anyone else catch the "we are not worthy" bows from the cast?

I find these NBC productions pretty uneven but will always watch them without fail, because nothing beats a live performance in my book.

 

I enjoyed it as well. Very well done.

And yes Alice Cooper was fantastic.