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OT: Last night's TV version of Jesus Christ Superstar...

BBrown

BBrown

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Jul 27, 2001
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Did anyone watch it?
I thought it was really well done.
I always thought Judas had the best songs and Brandon Victor Dixon was phenomenal.
He blew away the title song, although (Damned for All Time) is probably my favorite song from the musical.
John Legend was ok, he had the look but I didn't think his voice was that strong but overall I thought he did ok.
The other standouts, for me, were Alice Cooper as Herod, Norm Lewis as Caiaphas was also very good.
Eric Gronwall as Simon Zealots was another stand out for me.
 
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Something I learned today. Alice Cooper recorded a version of that song in 1996. And it actually sounds a lot better ("better" meaning, more Alice Cooper-ish) than what he did last night
 
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BBrown said:
Did anyone watch it?
I thought it was really well done.
I always thought Judas had the best songs and Brandon Victor Dixon was phenomenal.
He blew away the title song, although (Damned for All Time) is probably my favorite song from the musical.
John Legend was ok, he had the look but I didn't think his voice was that strong but overall I thought he did ok.
The other standouts, for me, were Alice Cooper as Herod, Norm Lewis as Caiaphas was also very good.
Eric Gronwall as Simon Zealots was another stand out for me.
Click to expand...

Crap!! I missed it. Got back from Florida last night around midnight and forgot to set the DVR. Really wanted to check this out - great cast, but John Legend worried me (I've been planning a broadway revival in my head - dream cast is Jared Leto as Jesus, Donald Glover as Judas, and actually, Sara Bareilles is fine as Mary). Will have to see if I can find it online...
 
I thought all of the main characters in the movie version were better singers and more fit for their part. However last night's Judas was very good. He was the strength of the show.
 
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Midnighter said:
Crap!! I missed it. Got back from Florida last night around midnight and forgot to set the DVR. Really wanted to check this out - great cast, but John Legend worried me (I've been planning a broadway revival in my head - dream cast is Jared Leto as Jesus, Donald Glover as Judas, and actually, Sara Bareilles is fine as Mary). Will have to see if I can find it online...
Click to expand...

John Legend was ok, I always considered "Gethsemane" his best song from the musical and his version was just ok.
Hope you can find it on you tube or maybe On Demand. I think you'll like it.
I never saw the stage play before but it did incorporate the scaffolding and look from the Movie version.
 
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A
BBrown said:
Did anyone watch it?
I thought it was really well done.
I always thought Judas had the best songs and Brandon Victor Dixon was phenomenal.
He blew away the title song, although (Damned for All Time) is probably my favorite song from the musical.
John Legend was ok, he had the look but I didn't think his voice was that strong but overall I thought he did ok.
The other standouts, for me, were Alice Cooper as Herod, Norm Lewis as Caiaphas was also very good.
Eric Gronwall as Simon Zealots was another stand out for me.
Click to expand...

Alice Cooper had a good look for the part, but his singing(?) was strained and weak. Could say the same about John Legend to a lesser extent. Overall a good production. Watched the whole show.
 
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Ugh. It was a mess vocally. John Legend doesn’t have a big enough voice for the role (or stage in general). It’s a very nice voice, but it’s not a stage voice.

And Alice Cooper had more stage presence than John Legend—that was a problem. So did the guy playing Judas.

The opening number was good, but it started going downhill after that. The second half of the show was mostly screaming, not singing. Just bad.

The production values were good. Costumes and set. The production design for the crucifixion was fantastic. Best part of the show.

But the singing just completely devolved into a mess.
 
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BlueBand said:
Ugh. It was a mess vocally. John Legend doesn’t have a big enough voice for the role (or stage in general). It’s a very nice voice, but it’s not a stage voice.

And Alice Cooper had more stage presence than John Legend—that was a problem. So did the guy playing Judas.

The opening number was good, but it started going downhill after that. The second half of the show was mostly screaming, not singing. Just bad.

The production values were good. Costumes and set. The production design for the crucifixion was fantastic. Best part of the show.

But the singing just completely devolved into a mess.
Click to expand...

INMO, Judas does have the best songs in the play and do over shadow Jesus.
I liked it and thought they did a really good job.
 
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I thought it was spectacular. Having been a choral guy back in high school (don’t hate, the chicks out numbered the “males” 8-1) I was really impressed with Norm Lewis who played Caiaphas. But the rock band/orchestra was phenomenal. The crucifixion act was really moving and I’m not a religious guy.
 
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In my humble opinion, way too many commercials, and Ben Daniels, who played Pontius Pilate sang poorly. That being said, I did enjoy the show. After the first half hour I dvr'd it and watched another show. Came back later so I could fast forward through the advertisements.
 
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ILLINOISLION said:
Easy to be overly critical but don’t forget it was LIVE. LIVE!

No way should last night be compared to a movie filmed over several weeks or months.

All the credit to those who planned this, put it together and participated. Kudos!
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I’ve seen plenty of live theater, on Broadway and elsewhere. But I don’t need that to recognize screaming instead of singing. ;)
 
Surprised so many people are raving about Caiaphas and not mentioning Annas. I thought Annas (don't know the performer's real name) was better . . . and that Sara Bareilles did a nice job.
 
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Omar81 said:
Surprised so many people are raving about Caiaphas and not mentioning Annas. I thought Annas (don't know the performer's real name) was better . . . and that Sara Bareilles did a nice job.
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She did a nice job, but not a great job. Her solo numbers lacked enough emotion. But they were nicely sung. She was one of the few actually singing the whole way through.

Norm Lewis (Caiaphas) can hit those low notes, but it’s not where his voice is best. But that was one of the flattest performances I’ve seen from him. Jin Ha (Annas) did a good job, I agree. I wasn’t familiar with him before.
 
Omar81 said:
Surprised so many people are raving about Caiaphas and not mentioning Annas. I thought Annas (don't know the performer's real name) was better . . . and that Sara Bareilles did a nice job.
Click to expand...

I thought both of them were very good.
 
BlueBand said:
Ugh. It was a mess vocally. John Legend doesn’t have a big enough voice for the role (or stage in general). It’s a very nice voice, but it’s not a stage voice.

And Alice Cooper had more stage presence than John Legend—that was a problem. So did the guy playing Judas.

The opening number was good, but it started going downhill after that. The second half of the show was mostly screaming, not singing. Just bad.

The production values were good. Costumes and set. The production design for the crucifixion was fantastic. Best part of the show.

But the singing just completely devolved into a mess.
Click to expand...

IAN GILLAN at your service...
 
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Thought it was very well done - except for constantly being interrupted for the commercial breaks... the worst was the 2 minute break after the play was over and the curtain call...
 
It was good not great.

Judas was very good. People need to remember, even though its called JESUS Christ superstar, it is told from Judas' point of view, and Judas actually has more "lines" than Jesus.

Jesus wasn't very good imo.

Caiphas and Annas were very good.

Interesting that people liked Simon Zealotes. I thought he was over the top. Didn't care for him.

Alice Cooper... Disappointed that he recited the intro.
I've listened to the original Broadway soundtrack 7342 times... Nothing compares.
The movie version sucked
 
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