NBC's next NEXT live musical... — Page 4

Luke Evans as Jesus. He was the best part of the recent Beauty and the Beast flick.

This is a board where we are to discuss the passions of theatre, no? It seems to me a strange thing strange (mystifying) for some of you to seem to be be so personally hurt or annoyed or whatever by g.d.e.l.g.i.'s passion for Jesus Christ Superstar. No worse than the elementary school kids who attack other kids for liking different things than they do..

Personally, I don't care if they get "rocker" voices or "Broadway" voices (Is there even such a thing as a rocker voice anymore? Is there still such a thing as a rocker?) I just want great voices, and great actors. Is it too much to ask for both? These live TV musicals are terrible, but I may tune in for this one, because even bad JCS is pretty good.

I don't know the score too well, does everyone rock out? If so, how about Lena Hall for Mary? She's not a big enough name for an event like this, but she has a very solid fan base. Maybe she can be one of those theater people whom they can justify by casting bigger names for other parts.

Honestly, Lena Hall can play ANY part in this, and I'll be happy

Constantine is doing Judas at the Muny in St Lewis this June. Good warm up.

Well said!

It's likely that ALW will have a big say in the casting of the key roles. This is one of his most admired musical scores! But he has been open to casting from out of the box -- so it will probably be a good surprise for us!

After the 1996 revival, and considering casting choices made since then, Webber's involvement doesn't fill me with confidence.

" I remember reading not too long ago that they had approached ALW to write an original musical for them."

Has ALW ever done that for anyone? The only piece that I have read about that he has written as a commissioned piece ( more like a gift) was a musical about CRICKET which was played for the Royal Family ( not sure if it was for the Queen's Birthday or for the Royal Couple because of a landmark anniversary). I think that was the time when Prince Edward worked for RUG for a brief time...And if I remember right, some songs eventually became part of ASPECTS OF LOVE. I've always thought ALW drew from his own inspirations ( sometimes the subject does not even seem to fit a musical) when he composes a musical score. I could be wrong, of course.

And then there was that score for the Noah's Ark attraction at a Disney theme park that came to naught. Wonder which project recycled those tunes.

In on-topic news... early logo revealed today. Wrong shade of brown; this does not bode well.

Updated On: 5/14/17 at 08:27 AM

Can we get JC Chasez instead of Timberlake?

Speaking of brown, I'd love to see mostly actors of color in this. How about a black, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern Jesus? And someone convince Bruno Mars to play Judas.

So... I realize I made a lot of noise about rockers, and then didn't exactly share what kind of voices I might want to see in JCS.

It's tricky to pick out a dream cast, especially for something like this; the common problem is that people make some good choices, but then undermine those good choices by creating a cast that doesn't fit together as a unit. As Michael Shurtleff (who incidentally cast the original Broadway and road companies, and the 1973 film, of JCS) once put it, "...there has to be a balance in casting -- the parts must fit like a jigsaw puzzle -- and there are times when the best auditioners don't 'fit.'" We also can't expect a host of Broadway names, because 1) ideally they're not looking for them; this isn't a typical Broadway score, and 2) look at NBC's past choices for leads. Given the choice between Broadway and a "name" that will serve as ratings bait, they'll take the "name."

So, taking into account vocals, acting ability, and what kind of voices best fit together, and the nature of NBC musicals of late, here's who I would cast and why:

Jesus of Nazareth…………Bruno Mars
I picked him partly because I think it'd be kinda cool to flip the '73 film on its head, and do a white Judas and black Jesus. Not only is it a nice poke at Hollywood's racially motivated casting practices, but it adds deeper subtext. I like the thought of Judas entering the scene the very picture of the classic Renaissance image of Christ, bearded, blonde, with watery blue eyes and a serene countenance, which is something Hollywood, and consequently the public consciousness, has never gotten away from (historically and racially accurate casting is grist for another program entirely), and then the real Jesus (in the case of my idea, a black Jesus) shows up, and who you think is Jesus in the beginning is really Judas, and hence maybe the Antichrist, because it says in some interpretations of the Bible that the Antichrist shall be taken for Christ. Mars has a nice range, and while he's not quite the rocker sound I'd like for Jesus, he's definitely got the range and he'd bring in the ratings.

Judas Iscariot…………Reeve Carney
He's got the voice, he just did Rocky Horror so he's a recognizable face to TV fans; all he'd need to tie in with my casting idea above is a saintly Jesus-y look.

Mary Magdalene………Sara Bareilles
Obviously NBC is gonna go with a pop tart instead and emphasize the hooker thing, even though historical research suggests Magdalene was by no means a "whore with a heart of gold." But I'd like to split the difference: someone who may indeed have lived a hard life, but has a little soul, a little stride in her step thanks to Jesus, an earth mother type. Further, I was reading an interview about the recent Polish (English-language) production, in which Emilia Klimczak, who played Mary, was quoted as saying something like, "Initially there was a certain amount of trepidation, as to how would I manage to find my way through the totally new musical & vocal content. But then I realized that I was lucky because Mary Magdalene does not have rock vocals, she is the soothing element, she sings very lyrically." Emilia brings up a very valid point: the role of Mary is not something we get nearly as worked up about in the JCS fan community as, say, Judas or Jesus. This isn't a role that calls for a belter or even a particularly strong actress. While it shouldn't be bland, it doesn't need to be a bravura performance requiring top-flight vocals and a lyrically beautiful voice. She just needs to fit. And Bareilles does.

Pontius Pilate…………Trent Reznor
An imposing authoritarian presence, a penchant for creepy balladry, what more do you need?

King Herod…………Stephen Colbert
As I said previously in the thread, he loves the show, and in an NPR interview he expressed love for this song in particular. He's the right fit for the comic relief, if CBS will let him do it.

Simon Zealotes / Peter…………Billie Joe Armstrong
"No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!" First with American Idiot and now more than ever, Billie Joe represents the disenfranchised youth: exuberant, militant, full of youthful idealism. Also, Simon doesn't do nearly the vocal acrobatics other roles in the show require. Perfect fit. You will note, however, that the listing says both Simon and Peter. Why? Well, one thing NBC has always done is make changes to the shows, and while it would be foolish to change JCS too much, this is one idea that I think wouldn't particularly annoy anyone. Simon's sole major appearance is in Act One, following which he is relegated to the background, while Peter is in the background for Act One and then makes his few major appearances in Act Two; in both cases, this happens without much set-up or any real follow-through. Without changing a word of the libretto, NBC could create one useful character arc out of two thankless ones and have one actor play both roles. (The few brave curious Christians in the viewing audience could simply infer that Simon Zealotes became Peter, just like the real, hot-tempered St. Pete used to be called Simon in the Bible. Just picture Jesus telling Simon he doesn't get it, and then Simon, now Peter, realizing he really doesn't, after one moment calling on his master to overthrow the Romans, and the next denying he even knows him to save his own skin.)

Caiaphas…………Terrance Zdunich
He's not super-known, but he’s the face of 21st century rock opera (what with Repo! The Genetic Opera and the Devil's Carnival saga), he's a baritone with a really great bass-end (listen to "21st Century Cure" from Repo!), he's the textbook definition of a good fit type-wise, and... he's a really huge JCS fan. Like, he geeks out over it so much that he cast Ted Neeley and Barry Dennen (and Ted's wife and daughter even!) in the Devil's Carnival sequel. This would be his dream role.

Annas…………Paul Stanley
I wanted to go deliberately against the grain here in terms of casting for age, because the show has long taken on a shape of its own that kind of departs from the Bible, and one key fact most productions ignore is that Annas was not only older, he was a former High Priest (sort of like a professor emeritus) advising Caiaphas, who was his son-in-law. Getting his son-in-law installed as High Priest effectively continued his control of the priesthood. This background information isn't necessarily explicated in the show, but one can see echoes of it in "Then We Are Decided," the song for Caiaphas and Annas that was added to the 1973 film. The song, taken at face value, is about Caiaphas trying to convince Annas that the council should take a firm stance on the Jesus issue and Annas attempting to dissuade his son-in-law's seemingly unsupported fears [until Caiaphas pulls the last card he has up his sleeve: "What about our priesthood?"], essentially a dialogue between a younger reactionary and the old guard who seems to want to let the matter die until he is reminded that they have others to answer to if he's wrong. So I needed an older rock singer who could both theoretically pull off the vocal of a "rock" Annas like Brian Keith on the concept album and not the countertenor of later renditions, and bring age-appropriateness as Caiaphas' father-in-law. I went with Paul Stanley partly because I didn't have a better idea, and partly because he's done Webber's work before, but I'm open to better ones.

Updated On: 5/16/17 at 01:51 PM