Jesus Christ Superstar Farewell Tour with Ted Neeley

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 2:11am

I ran a search and couldn't find anything.

Has anyone seen the new JCS tour starring Ted Neeley and Corey Glover? It started in September. The last tour I saw was with Eric Kunze and the late and great Carl Anderson. Is this another leg of the same tour?

Any thoughts? Depending on the feedback, I might buy tickets when they go on sale tomorrow for the Vancouver stop.

JCS Farewell Tour

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 2:36am

Evidently it works when you DON'T run the search for "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Ted Neely" on the OT board. Sorry.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 10:58am

Corey "Cult of Personality" Glover?

[lovelyspotlight]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 11:02am

I'm seeing it December 3rd.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 1:41pm

I hated it... but you may find some enjoyment if you don't get an u/s for Judas.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 1:48pm

Isn't Ted, like, more that twice as old as Jesus ever was? Oy!

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 1:48pm

It's very good overall, although there were a couple of scenes that I didn't particularly like how they staged them. However, I mean, who could pass up the opportunity to see Ted Neeley in that role?! :) I loved it and he was great, which is pretty amazing considering he's 63.

[zoom]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 2:10pm

When is this thing saying "farewell"? This show has been out forever! it's like Cher.

[jaybrrd]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 2:11pm

One of my dear friends is in the cast, and I saw it last month. It reminded me that JCS is a terrible, terrible show that can showcase some teriffic performers. Corey Glover (Yes, of 'Cult of Personality') had a horribly off night but redeemed himself by Superstar. I've heard he's actually teriffic in the role.

Neeley needs to give it up, already. And something about his portrayal of Jesus just screams "D-I-V-A!" I'll give it to him, though -- he can still pull off Gethsemane at the age of 63.

Ensemble is awesome. Sadly, though, for all their talent, they couldn't save the show from being Jesus Christ Superstar. That's not their fault though.

For me, the far more entertaining performances came from going for karaoke with the cast afterward...

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 4:27pm

All right Tiff . . . I am finally writing that review.

I went to see JCS on November 11th in Columbia, SC for the 2pm show. When I walked in, there was no curtain, so the stage was there for all to see. The first thing that struck me was how minimalistic the set was (it made RENT look like a lavish production).

Now to the actual show:

Once that electric guitar started in the Overture, I got chills. To me, Webber is one of the best writers of overtures (along with Richard Rodgers). The first thing that happens on stage is during this overture, when the "Jews" come on stage and they have a hand to hand slow motion battle with the "Romans." It sounds corny, but I thought it was done in a neat way. The only problem I had was that the guy beside me was explaining to his wife who was who and what they were doing (Come on lady . . . even those that never read the Bible know what is going on).

When Ted Neeley walked on stage, the first reaction I had was, "God, he looks old." But, the first person that sings is Judas (which most of you know is my all time DREAM ROLE) and I was severely disappointed by Cory Glover's vocals, who sounded very hoarse. When he was in his lower register, he was fine but when he tried to hit the high "glory" notes, he screeched severely off key that made everyone around me (including me) gasp. When I heard "Heaven on their Minds" I thought to myself that I am in for one lousy evening. The only song that he sounded pretty good on, was "Superstar" but by the time, I was wishing that the man who played Peter would have done the role of Judas.

But, in "What's the Buzz," the very beautiful Christine Rea-Briskin (Mary Magdalene) comes on stage and opens her mouth to sing, I knew it would be okay. I am not joking when I say that she has the best vocals of any Mary I have heard (and I have heard many). Every time she sang, I wanted to stand and give her a huge applause.

Ted Neeley came on stage and started singing and he sounded exactly like he did in the film version of JCS, but a little less intense. He really didn't get started until "The Temple" when he sings "GET OUT!!!" and holds that high note. Automatically everyone jumped to their feet. And his "Gethsemane" was VERY intense and at the end of the song, he was given a well deserved 2 minute or so standing ovation. And might I add that when I am 60 . . . whatever he is, that I am that fit and able to fall, be thrown on the ground, tossed in every direction, and still be fine enough to hit super high notes.

The other person I need to give a shout out to, is Larry Alan Coke (Caiaphas). When he started singing, I swear that everyone in the theatre moistened their seat. Talk about a true bass, GOOD LORD!

The direction and set was kind of a let down. All they did was walk up stairs and back down them and then up them and then down them. When they were on the ground, they just pretty much walked in circles. The only time the direction got pretty good was towards the end when Jesus is beaten, Judas hangs himself, and Jesus is crucified (Again, I have to give props to Ted for being 65 and going through all that).

The costumes were better than the the gay club romp that is the the newer dvd version. And it is also better than the disco bell bottoms of the major film release. If I was to do a movie version of the show now, I would use pretty much what was done in the tour (more of a time period look).


All in all, I loved this show. Again, there were a few missteps (Judas, some of the direction, the set). But the good (Ted, Christine, Larry, and the supporting cast) outweigh the bad and made this a very fun trip to the theatre.


*** 1/2 out of *****

Updated On: 12/1/06 at 04:27 PM

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 4:43pm

spider~ is this the Gayle Edward's directed version like the last disaster on Broadway and the tour or are the RENT people still in the building? I am hoping for a little miracle.

I'm covering it in May, hopefully.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 4:46pm

No . . . this is not like the Gale Edward's version (THANK GOD) I think it is much better.

" or are the RENT people still in the building?" I don't understand what you are asking. haha.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 4:59pm

Gayle's version had the apostles dressed in GAP shirts and leather. Tell me that's changed.....please!

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 5:12pm

Oh yeah. Like I said in my review, it is more of a traditional look (not exact traditional).

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 9:46pm

BUMP for Tiff!

[TLKfan]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 2:02am

TheatreDiva, I thought the same thing when I saw the poster. I was thinking my gosh he's a really old Jesus, he is definately not 33 or even close to that.

[harris007]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 8:25am

seeing it sun night

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 1:09pm

Tell us what you think of it Harris.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 1:50pm

spiderdj82, how far back from the stage were you? I was second row and I want to know if maybe the fact that I could see facial expressions and such made me dislike Ted Neeley more.

Also I can't help but think the only reason people were so impressed was because he was so old...

[harris007]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 12:42am

overall liked it spider few qubbles with it, read your pm

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 10:20am

JustChillin--I was in the middle .


Harris--What quibbles did you have?

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 3:14pm

Im in the Boston area, so I wanted to see this up at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Turn's out there's only single seats left, so I got tickets to see it at the Capital PAC in Concord, NH. Although reviews have been mixed, I'm pretty excited to see Neeley in a role he was born to play.

Anyways, I know Neeley was the original Jesus understudy, and then played the role in countless following Equity productions. So did he quit the union to do this tour? Or did he just not pay his dues and get kicked out?

EDIT: The not paying thing sounds silly now. What i meant to saw was did he somehow let his membership run out.
Updated On: 3/31/07 at 03:14 PM

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:00pm

Equity contracts can have a clause that includes working in an occassional non-equity show, if you follow Equity guidelines when doing so.

[Dancin Thru Life]

Posted: 4/1/07 at 1:55pm

Well...fear not!

Whatever Ted Neeley does will be FAR BETTER than that Sebatstian Bach trainwreck we were exposed to a few years back!!!

I've known and loved every lyric of JCS for as long as I can remember. I've seen and/or performed in a number of local and regional productions. Only watching Sebastian Bach, did we laugh when we were expecting to cry, and cry when we were expecting to be entertained! HE WAS AWFUL!!!

The only redeeming quality of the show, for me, was getting to see Carl Anderson as Judas.

According to Ted Neeley's website, the current "Farewell Tour" could be called the "LONG GOODBYE", as it is booked through 2008! Hopefully they will replace Corey Glover before it comes back around my way again!

[RedFraggle]

Posted: 4/6/07 at 3:47am

So...back in the mid 90's (1995?)I saw Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson in the stage version of JCS. I enjoyed it (because I LOVE the music) but the production was really bizarre. I was not a fan of that aspect of it. I even vaguely remember Herod wearing pants that showed his butt cheeks.

The new production isn't like that is it??