JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR slated to tour North America in 2019

https://ustour.jesuschristsuperstar.com

Wonder if this would be a restaging of the NBC Live production or the Open Air production, which will also be playing in Chicago.

jacobsnchz14 said: "TheSassySam said: "Wait, the Open Air production is playing in Chicago? Since when?!"

I believe it will be part of Lyric Opera’s upcoming/current season."



I need to pay attention more. I just discovered that The Wolves will be playing at Goodman next month. Can't wait to see both!

Unless it's some variation of the NBC Live version, with stars to stack the deck, I don't see this selling. I wonder how the hell RUG thinks anyone will pay Broadway prices for a national tour next year when JCS has never gone away in this hemisphere (I count 53 amateur productions this year in North America alone -- which includes Canada and Mexico, lest we forget), constantly being produced in places where one can see it for pennies on the dollar, and -- in my opinion -- probably get something better than what will be on display.

(Too cruel? Facts is facts: any American professional production with Webber's sanction or tacit approval over the past couple decades can't even get arrested. The 2000 revival was in and out in six months, the national tour that followed from 2002-05 sold well in its first six months and then bottomed out shortly thereafter [word on the street is it only ran so long because contracts got busted down to SETA levels way before anybody ever started complaining about tiers], the Stratford Festival transfer that Webber basically tried to keep his hands off of while quietly approving shuttered in even less time than the last Broadway revival, and the American leg of the much-feted arena tour couldn't even get off the ground due to poor sales.

The problem? Webber keeps trying to push "his vision," which changes from production to production, without realizing that nobody really cares what he wants, partly because he always casts for the "opera" side of the equation, forgetting that it needs to "rock" in order to work. American audiences want their Jesus and Judas in particular to be willing to cough up a lung for them in the course of the show. If they can't sing it, it doesn't matter how well-acted the show is, it won't pass muster. We don't want depth, we don't want tone, we don't want over-acting; we want raw power, we want scream range, we want naked emotion. Give me an Ian Gillan type over a Michael Crawford wannabe any day.)

Updated On: 1/11/18 at 03:49 AM

very surprised the production from UK never made it to Central Park!