This is not symbolic.
Every time I look at you I don't understand
Why you let the things you did get so out of hand.
You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned;
Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? ''
''If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation—
Israel in 4 B.C. had no mass communication!
...
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ! Who are You? What have You sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, Superstar, do You think You're what they say You are?
A
Rock Opera and (subverted?)
Passion Play by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was filmed as a major movie in
The Seventies, again sometime around 2000 for PBS and lives on in stage production and tours to this day.
Inspired By certain sections of
The Bible. Perhaps Andrew Lloyd Webber's best work. It's sort of a sequel to
Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, though this took a bit more liberty with the source material.
Depending on the production, the actors and settings in the show are portrayed with blends of modern and biblical-era clothing and motifs, running with the idea of Jesus being a rockstar-like figure (something not always appreciated by the
Moral Guardians), the Romans dressing in black leather and having shades of
Big Brother Is Watching and so on
We open with the
Overture. The
Framing Device in the film is that this is a play being held in the middle of nowhere. (Hey, it makes the anachronisms easier to understand.) So we get to see everyone disembark and get in their roles.
Cut to, and then slowly zoom in on, Judas Iscariot, who is sitting all by himself on a cliff, far from everyone else. He sings "Heaven on Their Minds"—or, in story terms, he warns Jesus about bad things happening if He and his disciples keep following the direction they're on. The disciples worship Him as
God, but Judas doesn't believe Jesus is God and is afraid of what the Romans will do to him- already breaking with the traditional depiction of Judas.
"What's The Buzz?" Jesus is teaching; his disciples are eager but not really comprehending. Mary Magdalene becomes a disciple. Judas has rejoined the proceedings by now and objects to her becoming a disciple because she is a prostitute. Jesus objects to the objection: "Who are you to criticize her?"
Mary Magdalene tries to comfort Jesus, washing His feet and anointing Him with expensive perfume. Judas objects to this, too—the perfume could've been sold, the money given to the poor. Jesus rebukes him: "There will be poor always, pathetically struggling; look at the good things you've got! Think while you still have Me, move while you still see Me..."
Cut to a meeting of the priests of Jerusalem—well, in this film, Caiaphas first takes the time to convince Annas that they need to convince the council that Jesus is dangerous, but that's not in most versions of the play. The council starts wondering what to do about Jesus as he rides triumphantly into Jerusalem. The decision: "This Jesus must die."
Crowds sing joyously as Jesus enters Jerusalem, and Jesus Himself is joyous, too—at least until the end of "Hosanna, hey-sanna..." Then comes another worship song (formally called "Simon Zealotes"), with disciples singing Jesus's praises and Simon urging Jesus to start asking the disciples to
attack Rome so the Jews can take Israel back and regain their former power and glory. Jesus refuses Simon's request and reminds him that no one on earth knows really understands these things or the fate of Israel itself ("My Poor
Jerusalem").
We see Pilate for the first time; he's just had a very bad dream...
Jesus enters the Temple, which has become a bazaar in which almost everything is for sale. He ends up clearing it. He muses that He's almost finished. Then, when he leaves the temple, sick people come up to Him for healing. He tries to heal them all for most of their song, but there are too many of them. "Heal yourselves!"
Mary Magdalene soothes Jesus again, and after He's asleep she sings "I Don't Know How to Love Him", which is about
just that.
"And if I help you, it matters that you see/ This sordid kind of thing is coming hard to me..." Judas
betrays Jesus, with much angsting, thinking it'll keep Him out of worse trouble. He gets paid for his efforts—against his will.
Next, the Last Supper, complete with
Heroic BSOD and a confrontation between Jesus and Judas.
Then, "Gethsemane." After that, Judas turns Jesus in, and Jesus calls Peter off. After that... well, what happens to Jesus isn't
quite Gorn, but it isn't pleasant, either. Judas
hangs himself in the middle of this.
After the last temptation/final production number, Jesus is crucified. Then we return to the Framing Device...
There was also a 2000 British filmed production of this play. It uses different visual metaphors...
Tropes:
