FAQ

As mentioned above, in addition to the material added for the stage which carried over to the film, one new song was added, “Then We Are Decided,” written specifically for the film. As Tim Rice put it in his autobiography, “…Andrew and I did expand one of the High Priests’ scenes in a futile bid to quash further anti-Semitism charges at the pass.” Because it was written specifically for the film, it has not appeared in many stage productions — a few, but not many.

A good deal of the “rock” or rhythm-oriented tracks were derived, in whole or in part, from the original album, which featured a rock band (and cast) consisting of musicians from Joe Cocker’s Grease Band, Screaming Lord Sutch, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, The Big Three, Juicy Lucy, The Merseybeats, Gracious, Plastic Penny, and Nucleus. As for any stuff not present on the original album, according to information derived from Norman Jewison’s papers housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, all of the arrangements and orchestrations of a more symphonic nature were done by André Previn, who conducted the 70-piece London Symphony Orchestra as a supplement to the previously recorded material, while the new rhythm tracks (as needed) were performed by a five-piece rock combo incorporating three musicians featured on the original concept album, and of course new vocals from Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, etc. (See the movie soundtrack’s page in the Discography section for more info.)

Although Ted Neeley refers on the special edition DVD commentary to members of Deep Purple being present in the studio during the recording of the film soundtrack, Deep Purple — to our knowledge — has never been directly connected with JCS, except, of course, for lead vocalist Ian Gillan, who played the role of Jesus on the original concept recording (he would have been in the film, save for the events outlined in the answer to an earlier question).

Ah, we knew this puzzler was coming. For those who lack context, the soundtrack to the 1973 film, at least in cassette, CD, or digital formats (the jury is out as to whether or not the vinyl release sounds different; it was purportedly sourced directly from the film reels, and this choice’s effect on the sound is currently undetermined), flat-out sucks in terms of sound quality.

Peruse the reviews at Amazon, and you’ll see statements from consumers like the following: “The reason I rated this CD so low is that the audio quality is so poor. It really does sound awful. I heard some reviewers claim that it sounds like they are singing down a barrell (sic) and I can say they are not wrong.” Another critic opines: “This is the poorest recording of this production I have ever heard. I can’t believe I spent this much money on it. I would have been musically better off ordering the DVD instead of the MP3. The sound quality is horrible. It sounds muffled and tinny, like it was recorded in a box. It’s pretty bad when the sound quality of the original vinyl, scratches and all is preferable to the sound of a digital recording.” Obviously, the question is what the hell happened in the transfer to digital media. We’ll do our best to answer it, but we fear you may remain as befogged as before. 

First of all, back then and even to this day, when a film is made, it is common that the dialogue (or singing, in this case) recorded on set is almost never used in the final product. This is usually a welcome safety net in the event of unwanted background noise; say, for example, that the director got the perfect take on the scene in visual terms, but an airplane flying overhead ruined the sound. No worries — Hollywood has a process called automated dialogue replacement (ADR for short) where they re-dub the voices afterward and get a “clean” recording. Simple enough for a film relying on spoken dialogue, right? But imagine directing a film musical like JCS where everything is sung. Try getting a live take on a song with a lot of people moving around a great deal, using only the overhead “boom” microphone. The distance between the singers and the mic would constantly vary, especially in a dance number; the vocal would “come” and “go” accordingly. Or let’s say your big romantic number is near a waterfall and you’re trying to capture it live. The sound of the waterfall is constantly competing with the voices. Would you want to be at the mercy of these elements? Usually, Hollywood errs on the side of caution and engages in prerecording, and the 1973 film of JCS was no exception. The cast recorded their performances in the studio prior to shooting the actual film, to which they would lip-sync during filming; when they were on set, large speakers would be used to play back the original recordings for the actors to sing along with, giving the visual performance that realistic, “full-on performance” look. Sometimes, if a scene turns out differently from the prerecording due to acting choices or the sync just wasn’t good enough, the actors may be called back in to re-dub certain segments in ADR, something which Kurt Yaghjian (Annas) confirmed was done by almost everybody in the cast, the better to improve the film’s overall quality and realism. (And, to return to the waterfall example, if you have the clean vocal and actually want to hear the realistic background, you can then put the waterfall back in as a sound effect, with the benefit that the filmmaker retains total control over the sound.)

Bearing this in mind, the question now is why the soundtrack (not the literal sound track heard in the film, but the commercially released soundtrack album) sounds so bad in spite of these efforts. It hardly needs repeating that there are unnecessary gaps between tracks (particularly noticeable in the dramatic transitions between “What’s The Buzz” and “Strange Thing, Mystifying,” and the “Trial” and “Superstar”), and at times alternate takes on specific moments (“Not one — not one of you!” at the end of “Strange Thing, Mystifying” comes to mind) are used which some deem weaker than the final product. Aside from these alternate aesthetic choices (stuff like this actually crops up fairly frequently on movie musical soundtracks from the era), even the more charitable fans of the film have said the film album sounds like it was recorded with tin cans and some twine. The mix is wildly inconsistent, and audio issues often result in the music overpowering the vocals. (Compounding the issue is that subsequent releases of the film on DVD and Blu-Ray have sound troubles of their own, oddly enough the opposite problem to that of the soundtrack; those paying close attention, while noting that the film sounds much clearer than its soundtrack album, will also spot that the vocals are cranked higher in the mix compared to the orchestra.)

In the case of a remaster, usually an album subjected to such treatment sounds better, generally from working with the original tapes. Consequently, the supposition that “if remastered editions of the JCS soundtrack are this bad, the original tapes must not be around anymore” has been a popular theory, borne out by a notation in the booklet for the 1993 CD release: “This compact disc contains program transferred from analog tape and therefore may contain some tape hiss and other anomalies that exist with analog recordings.” (This notation, or something similar, was fairly commonly used on CD releases of albums for which the original masters no longer existed and one had to create a dub for CD from other sources.)

Taking the theory at face value, the question of what happened to the soundtrack’s original masters remained a mystery until recently. Rumors ran the gamut from the original tapes being lost in a Universal Studios vault fire, to deliberate destruction, even to having been stolen. Universal never officially confirmed or denied any of these allegations, but according to several sources, when it came time to release the 30th anniversary DVD of the film, the reissue team had to resort to using the original film reels once more (as the label purportedly had with the soundtrack’s original vinyl release) because the original master tapes were “missing.”

Thanks to the research of Frank Munoz, screening tour and live concert promoter for Ted Neeley, who had hoped to set the creation of a proper remaster in motion, it can now be stated with some degree of certainty that assuming the masters do still exist (we rely here on the knowledge of where documentation says they’re supposed to be), they are split between Universal’s storage at Pinewood Studios in London and California, and three reels of them (containing the material from “This Jesus Must Die” through the leper sequence) were unfortunate victims of the much-publicized June 2008 vault fire at Universal. The cost-prohibitive measures of getting the tapes together, preserving them through shipping, and ensuring they survive the treatment that leads to a markedly improved remaster are indeed so cost-prohibitive, and Universal reportedly utterly uninterested in chipping in, that it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever hear an actual remastered version of the soundtrack, or at least anything better than the current audio quality.

Yes, he appeared in the chorus of the original Broadway production, and was credited in the Playbill as a “Leper/Reporter.” He was also Jeff Fenholt’s understudy in the role of Jesus. Following this production, Neeley and Carl Anderson were selected as the leads for a national tour (in which they co-starred with Hair alumnus Heather MacRae), which opened June 28, 1972, at the Universal Studios Amphitheater, a (then-)outdoor venue located on the Universal backlot. Although it opened to mixed reviews, it enjoyed a successful run in Los Angeles throughout the summer. (It was during this run that Neeley and Anderson were cast in the film; the tour, with some replacements, eventually took in Washington, D.C.; Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis; Milwaukee; Indianapolis; Boston; Chicago; and Minneapolis.)

Some people have asked what was up with all the anachronisms in the film, though a few have admitted they recognize they are in the minority when they ask. It’s important to note that everything about the 1973 film is strategic, and some of the overt political implications to the film’s choices have blurred with the passage of time. Directors or designers don’t make choices for no reason, unless they’re bad directors or designers. In addition to serving as easily recognizable symbols of occupation and oppression to a generation that had lived through the war in Vietnam, Kent State, etc., the tanks represent the enormity of Judas’ dilemma, his feeling of being pushed toward an outcome he is not really happy with (e.g., the betrayal), and being totally unable to fight it. As for the jets, the screenplay (more about our access to that in the answer to another question) describes them as flying off into the distance and we hear the soft sound of explosions (i.e., they’re bombing the areas they’re flying over). With that context, one can say, “Oh, well, that’s easy. The bomb is dropped. The seeds for destruction have been laid. Judas did it, and now he has to live with it.” But… we don’t hear explosions in the film, at least not the easily discernible sort. So, your guess is as good as ours!

You’d be surprised how often we get this question. First, let us offer a little context: the 1973 film has an overarching framework in which the story is told by a group of young players reenacting JCS in modern times (circa 1973), in the actual setting in which the story took place. The film’s main action is bookended by our performers arriving by bus and unloading all the accoutrements (props, costumes, etc.) that will be used in the course of the film at the beginning, and the same troupe reloading and departing on the bus at the end. Those with keen eyes can spot all of the leads making ready to assume the roles they will portray in the main storyline; those very same viewers will note that the actor playing Jesus does not get on the bus at the end, and may well be curious as to why. To hear Ted Neeley tell it, this was no literal crucifixion of an unsuspecting young actor by his bedraggled hippie comrades, as some have joked (or feared). Rather, this was symbolic in nature; he and Norman Jewison apparently thought it essential that as soon as that young actor stepped off the bus, he “became” Jesus, and because he assumed this role and attempted to assimilate the essence of this being, he would never be getting back on the bus as the same person who exited it. They chose to portray this literally to reinforce the point being made.

This one is another well-told tale in JCS film lore. Sharp-eyed viewers have long noted that right at the end, as the bus jerks away and the actor who played Judas looks off into the sunset, the camera pans to the empty cross, silhouetted in the fading sun. There appears to be some movement across the bottom of the screen, which becomes more clearly discerned as it moves into the line of sunlight as a shepherd walking across the desert, followed by his flock. Over the years, some Christian viewers have chosen to interpret this as symbolic of the Resurrection, and supposed that it was a deliberate artistic choice. However, to hear Ted Neeley (among others) tell it today, “It was not planned and we only knew about it once we saw the reel. […] It was truly unplanned.” (Jewison backed up this line at a Q&A at a recent screening of the film, claiming specifically that a Bedouin wandered onto the set even though it was blocked off and they decided to keep rolling.) Spooky, right? Couldn’t be spookier if it was a line cooked up by a Hollywood publicist… 

In truth, there is little mystery about the shepherd’s appearance. First, two separate drafts of the original screenplay have become available to the fan community through scans of copies obtained from eBay and ScriptCity, and both drafts mention not just a shepherd but also other people (not present in the final product, obviously) at the foot of the cross. Secondly, movies made on a Hollywood scale cost a boatload of money, and, as an average day of shooting on location ain’t cheap, if a certain area in which one is shooting is blocked off, you can bet that nobody who isn’t supposed to be there (ruling out potential supernatural origin) will be able to wander through a set unnoticed during a shoot and risk losing a day’s work and running up production costs. In short: it was likely planned.

As for the actual identity of this mysterious shepherd, someone closely connected to the film claimed to more than one fan in the Nineties that he personally felt it important that the film reference the Resurrection in some way, and so he made a point of wandering around with the sheep without the knowledge of Jewison or his crew in hopes it would be used in the final take. This same person, of course, now tells only the “mysterious” version of the story and has been known to spin a tall tale now and then, such as a joke about the ownership of the bus on the DVD commentary that later had to be corrected in IMDb’s trivia section. However, since the shepherd (when viewed either on the big screen or on Blu-Ray in hi-def) is similar in size, build, and movement to this person, and given their increasingly spiritual leanings as reflected in interviews and elements of subsequent live productions in which they’ve appeared, the author of this particular answer is inclined to believe that if anyone involved in the film was “the shepherd,” it was this person.

But this, of course, is only speculation, so we won’t name this person and, by so doing, possibly shatter anyone’s illusions. The astute JCS fan who reads this will probably be able to read between the lines anyway. They know what they did (if they did it), it’s one more layer in a film that is filled with them, and really it doesn’t detract from anything that came before it anyway. Believe what you like.

When the original movie hit cinemas in 1973, it was showed in its original English form in most parts of the world. However, the movie got a French dub when it was released in France the same year. The cast who performed the dub was the original 1972 French cast, including Daniel Beretta as Jesus, Farid Dali as Judas, and Anne-Marie David as Mary. (Bob Bingham, who played Caiaphas in the original Broadway cast and in the film, was also a member of the original French cast, and therefore is the only cast member in the film who performs his own dub. According to Jewison’s papers, Barry Dennen also recorded a Pilate vocal for the French dub, relying on dialect coaching and his memories of high school French, which was ultimately deemed unusable by the person responsible for supervising the dub. The whereabouts of Barry’s track are not known; likely it has either been lost or languishes in a Universal Studios vault.)

Members of the cast have reunited onstage at various times in the show’s history, but never all of them at once.

• In 1976, Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Yvonne Elliman appeared in a production in Santa Barbara, CA, to benefit the California Youth Theatre organization. Ted and Carl would reunite again (with original Broadway Herod Paul Ainsley) a year later in another CYT benefit production.
• In the early Nineties, Carl and Barry Dennen reprised their film roles (opposite Sam Harris as Jesus) in a regional production which toured California.
• Starting in December 1992, Ted and Carl reprised their film roles of Jesus and Judas once more in a North American touring revival, later nicknamed the “A.D.” or “Anniversary” tour. (Co-stars included Dennis DeYoung of Styx as Pilate, and Irene Cara of Fame fame — and later R&B recording artist Syreeta Wright — as Mary.) Originally expected to run for three to four months, the tour ended up running for five years and grossed over $100m.
• Following the tour’s closing in January 1997, the cast — including Ted and Carl — reunited for three concert performances the following year to benefit the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, CA. (This benefit also included a return appearance from Paul Ainsley.)
• In 2003, Yvonne and Barry appeared in a concert production presented by the UTEP Dinner Theater in tribute to Tim Rice.
• For a very brief period in 2003 before the untimely death of the former, Carl and Barry (this time playing Herod) appeared together in a national tour of JCS which drew stylistically from the 2000 video and the productions which it replicated.
• In 2006, Ted, Yvonne, Barry, and Richard Molinare (an apostle in the film and onstage) reunited in a one-night-only concert performance of JCS (alongside original Broadway Judas Ben Vereen, and stage and screen stars Clint Holmes and Jack Black) to benefit a proposed national expansion of the CYT program, to rave reviews and rapturous audience response.
• Since 2013, the cast — including at various times Ted, Yvonne, Barry, Josh Mostel (Herod), Bob Bingham (Caiaphas), Kurt Yaghjian (Annas), and Larry Marshall (Simon) in select cities — and key creatives, such as director Norman Jewison and choreographer Rob Iscove, have embarked on a U.S./Canadian tour of special in-person anniversary screenings of a new digitally remastered print of the film, incorporating elements such as a Q&A with the audience, a singalong, and a costume contest. This particular venture has led to a direct-to-consumers documentary release, SUPERSTARS: The Making and Reunion of the Film, and — most recently — a “quarantine” Zoom reunion of the film’s original cast, Tim Rice, unit photographer David James, and others which was broadcast to the Internet.
• Following Ted’s joining the Italian/European tour of JCS produced and directed by Massimo Romeo Piparo, Barry and Yvonne reprised their roles opposite him in three Italian cities on the 2014 leg, and appeared as special guests (as part of a post-curtain call tribute to the late Carl Anderson) during the tour’s appearances in early May 2017 at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam.

Yes, both officially and unofficially. The Santa Barbara run in 1976 was recorded as a keepsake for the cast and circulated through local record stores as well (see the relevant Discography page for more); the 2006 benefit in Hollywood was reportedly professionally filmed and recorded, but owing to issues allegedly stemming from a leaked audience clip of Jack Black’s performance as Herod, release (and possible TV broadcast) was stonewalled (we’re not holding our breath, and neither should you); and portions of the screening tour Q&A’s, as well as Ted, Yvonne, and Barry’s special tribute to Carl Anderson in May 2017 at the Ahoy in Rotterdam and the recent film cast Zoom reunion, have all popped up on YouTube.