History Trivia / JesusChristSuperstar

** The 2014 revived touring production was going to have ''Music/JohnLydon'' as Herod, [[Music/{{Incubus}} Brandon Boyd]] as Judas, [[Music/DestinysChild Michelle Williams]] as Mary Magadalene, and [[Music/{{NSYNC}} JC Chasez]] as Pontius Pilate, before being abruptly cancelled by the promoter. Oddly enough (or not) the promoter also happens to be the one behind ''Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark''. The promoter is currently being sued for breach of contract by Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

** The 2014 revived touring production was going to have ''Music/JohnLydon'' as Herod, [[Music/{{Incubus}} Brandon Boyd]] as Judas, [[Music/DestinysChild Michelle Williams]] as Mary Magadalene, and [[Music/{{NSYNC}} JC Chasez]] as Pontius Pilate, before being abruptly cancelled by the promoter. Oddly enough (or not) the promoter also happens to be the one behind ''Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark''. The promoter is currently being sued for breach of contract by Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Both the movie and the musical were quite big in 1980's USSR. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Yeah, you heard that right]].

** As both Vereen and Anderson happened to be black, the film's director Norman Jewison didn't want a black Judas, fearing accusations of Unfortunate Implications. But he was won over by Anderson's audition (which was a simultaneous one for Neeley as Jesus).

* DawsonCasting: Ted Neeley, now in his seventies, continues to make appearances as Jesus, who was 33 when he died.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The 2018 concert has disappeared from digital retailers, and Universal no longer sells it on DVD.

** Music/AliceCooper was Herod on the cast recording of the 1996 London revival (though not the live shows) with Steve Balsamo as Jesus. In 2018, he played Herod again for a televised live show with Music/JohnLegend as Jesus.

* FakeShemp: During the recording of the original album, part of a single line in “Pilate and Christ” (“Who is this unfortunate?”) was accidentally taped over. Barry Dennen (Pilate) was unable to re-record, so Murray Head (Judas) filled in doing a hilariously nasal impression of Dennen on only the last two words.

* DenialOfDigitalDistribution: The 2018 concert has disappeared from digital retailers, but Universal still sells it on DVD.

* RecycledSoundtrack: Part of the melody to "Jesus Must Die" ("Good Caiaphas, the council waits for you...") is used in Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat during "Who's The Thief?" ("Joseph started searching through his brothers' sacks...").

** As both Vereen and Anderson happened to be black, the film's director Norman Jewison didn't want a black Judas, fearing accusations of UnfortunateImplications. But he was won over by Anderson's audition (which was a simultaneous one for Neeley as Jesus).

* OldShame: Not the work itself, which is one of Creator/AndrewLloydWebber’s proudest achievements, but the 1971 Broadway production, an intensely abstract mess that reportedly brought him to tears with fear that it would be the last anyone cared to hear of the score. Enter Australian director Jim Sharman and designer Brian Thompson, whose reinvention for a Down Under staging set a show-saving standard they exported to London.
* ProductionPosse: Was in fact the origin of much of the gang behind Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow and Film/ShockTreatment. Creator/RichardOBrien met director Jim Sharman while starring as an apostle (and for one disastrous night, Herod) in the London production and eventually pitched his own idea for a rock musical B-movie satire. Sharman enthusiastically accepted the project and brought Thompson along to design the sets, while also suggesting a tap-dancer named Laura Campbell- eventually known to pop culture history as Little Nell- whom he’d seen busking outside the theater where Superstar was playing, for the role of Columbia. With a few more additions, all of them would stick together through Rocky’s original stage production, the film, and the pseudo-sequel Shock Treatment.

* NamesTheSame: Contrary to popular belief, the Herod who ordered the slaughter of Jewish babies, forcing Jesus's parents to Nazareth, and this particular Herod are two different people. Herod the Great (ruled 37-4 BCE) was responsible for the Massacre of the Innocents, while Herod Antipas (4 BCE-39 CE) ordered the execution of John the Baptist and mocked Jesus.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Ted Neeley met his future wife during the production (she's one of the background dancers in the "Simon Zealotes" segment). They've been married for nearly 40 years. Lyricist Tim Rice fell in love with Elaine Paige after the two met when she was a chorus member in an early production; they had a 12-year affair, but never married as Rice was (and still is) married to his estranged wife.

* OldShame: Not the work itself, which is one of Lloyd Webber’s proudest achievements, but the 1971 Broadway production, an intensely abstract mess that reportedly brought him to tears with fear that it would be the last anyone cared to hear of the score. Enter Australian director Jim Sharman and designer Brian Thompson, whose reinvention for a Down Under staging set a show-saving standard they exported to London.

* NamesTheSame: Contrary to popular belief, the Herod who ordered the slaughter of Jewish babies, forcing Jesus's parents to Nazareth, and this particular Herod are two different people. Herod the Great (ruled 37-4 BCE) was responsible for the Massacre of the Innocents, while Herod Antipas (4 BCE-39 CE) ordered the execution of John the Baptist and mocked Jesus.

** Jeff Fenholt, the first Broadway Jesus, became a born-again Christian and later televangelist because of the role.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The 1973 film is true 1970's glory, though that wasn't intended at the time.
** This is the curse of any production that chooses to set it in the modern day. Simon's frosted tips, for example, makes it clear that the 2000 version was, well, [[ShapedLikeItself filmed in the late 90s/early 2000s]].