12 October 1971: the Broadway premiere of Jesus Christ Superstar

On 12 October 1971, the Broadway premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar took place at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York. The show was directed by Tom O'Horgan, Jeff Fenholt played Jesus, Ben Vereen played Judas, and Bob Bingham played Caiaphas.

The authors did not succeed in getting support for a theatrical production right away, so in 1970 they released the score as a concept album. It quickly became popular and led to the Broadway debut. On the original recording, Jesus was sung by Ian Gillan, Judas by Murray Head, and Mary Magdalene by Yvonne Elliman.

How the rock opera works

This is a rock opera in which the action is conveyed entirely through music and singing, with no spoken scenes. The plot loosely draws on the gospel accounts of the Passion and focuses on the psychology of Jesus and the other characters, and is largely shown through the eyes of Judas, who is disillusioned with where Jesus's ministry is leading.

On Broadway the show ran until 30 June 1973, 711 performances in all. Reviews were mixed: The New York Times critic Clive Barnes wrote that what caused disappointment was not the music but the very concept of the production. The musical was nominated for five Tony Awards but did not win any. Lloyd Webber was recognized with a Drama Desk Award as the most promising composer, and Ben Vereen received a Theatre World Award.

The London production opened in 1972 at the Palace Theatre: Paul Nicholas played Jesus, Stephen Tate played Judas, and Dana Gillespie played Mary Magdalene. It stayed on stage for more than eight years, from 1972 to 1980, and until 1989 remained the longest-running West End musical, until Cats surpassed it. By 1980 the musical had grossed more than 237 million dollars worldwide.

Controversy around the musical

The production and its later versions were condemned by religious groups. Christians found blasphemous Tim Rice's words that the authors see in Christ not God but simply a man who happened to be in the right place at the right time; they were also troubled by the too-sympathetic treatment of Judas. Some Jewish organizations reproached the musical for supporting the myth of the collective guilt of the Jews. In South Africa the show was banned as "non-religious", and in the Hungarian People's Republic for "spreading religious propaganda".

Image: Dietmar Rabich CC BY-SA 4.0 · License

Image: Jef a Tino Kratochvilové CC BY-SA 3.0 cz · License

Translation editor: Ловушкин А.