Posted: 3/20/16 at 10:10pm
First lets agree that that was not a musical... a pageant of some sort? Like an very edited Easter pageant? Like lets ignore the priests, and Herod, and well most of the story... and lets throw a concert-ish thing, and some music videos, and a neon cross... my lord... next time lets save the money, and do what Jesus might have...and help some people.
Posted: 3/20/16 at 10:18pm
It was definitely not a "musical." I agree with live televised Easter "pageant"
Posted: 3/20/16 at 10:24pm
Well, if the ratings were good, maybe next year we'll get a live JCS. Honestly, Daughtry could come back for that- he'd be better than a few of the leads in the 2000 and 2012 filmed versions.
Posted: 3/20/16 at 10:30pm
It was definitely misleading advertising. Was hoping for something more along the lines of Jesus Christ Superstar or Godspell. The storytelling didn't even seem interesting.
Posted: 3/20/16 at 10:51pm
Here's what THR thought about it.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/passion-tv-review-876960?utm_source=twitter
Posted: 3/20/16 at 10:56pm
My best friend showed up at my apartment so I bailed at like 8:30 lol she would not have enjoyed it (from what I saw of the beginning). I didn't see from then on but looks like I didn't miss much. From the ads it actually did seem kind of interesting, too bad there wasn't even live singing and most of it was filmed previously. Kind of defeats the purpose of doing it LIVE, huh?? Look at Fox trying to cheat for ratings.
Posted: 3/20/16 at 11:02pm
That was beyond awful and pandering. Oof.
Pulling out Katrina to get people to feel sympathetic? Beyond awful.
Daughtry can sing whatever he wants.
But what's the point of them having ear pieces and microphones when they were so obviously lip synching?
And why would anyone wanna see LIVE narration of the Bible? Boring. Snore.
Posted: 3/20/16 at 11:19pm
Ironic that Fox gave us the best live musical so far and now it's given us the worst live musical so far.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 12:00am
Seems like nobody from the west coast is watching...enduring...this.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 12:19am
I ended up watching until the weird Seal as Pilate part.
It was a hot mess that was completely unsatisfying as a telling of the Passion. I would have enjoyed it more if they had REAL ACTORS and eliminated the singing aspect altogether. As a live stations of the cross with various aspects of the story happening all over the city actually being acted out as opposed to being narrated by perry it could have at least made sense.
As a religious person I thought it was tacky and definitely pandering, without much sincerity honestly.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 1:20am
"I ended up watching until the weird Seal as Pilate part.
It was a hot mess that was completely unsatisfying as a telling of the Passion. I would have enjoyed it more if they had REAL ACTORS and eliminated the singing aspect altogether. As a live stations of the cross with various aspects of the story happening all over the city actually being acted out as opposed to being narrated by perry it could have at least made sense.
As a religious person I thought it was tacky and definitely pandering, without much sincerity honestly."
This is exactly how they advertised it and what I was expecting. They should have either been more upfront with what it was or just done it like this. This and pretty much any "Christian" tv show, movie or anything these days is "pandering," thanks to the success of the History Channel's "The Bible." I thought it was hilarious how EVERY commercial was desperately pandering --Ben Hur this, local gospel concert that, This Christian movie staring Sabrina the teenage witch, that Christian documentary starring Morgan Freeman, even the commercial for Empire had a Christian slant.
All this coming from the network that also has a tv show starring the devil. Like shameless. LOL!
P.S. whoever said Grease Live was the best of the live musicals, no.
Updated On: 3/21/16 at 01:20 AM
Posted: 3/21/16 at 8:15am
^ from an EXECUTION standpoint, compared to the three nbc disasters, it absolutely was the "best."
Posted: 3/21/16 at 9:28am
I only watched the first half and give them a lot of credit for trying something new and different.
In this year of trump rally and black lives protests, It was heartwarming to see a mostly young and diverse crowd alot of them with tears streaming down their cheeks enjoying the show live together.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 11:01am
Well, apparently it was a ratings disaster so we don't have to worry about them rehashing the idea.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 11:03am
I'm actually shocked it didn't do as well as Grease.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 11:06am
Link/info re: it being a ratings disaster — https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/FOXs-Live-Musical-THE-PASSION-Takes-Ratings-Nose-Dive-From-GREASE-LIVE-20160321
Posted: 3/21/16 at 11:08am
I didn't even see it advertised.
Maybe they were focusing on Christian markets.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 11:15am
I noticed the CD is #1 on Amazon and they are now sold out of it. HAMILTON was #3 when I looked.
I think this was marketed more to the Christian audience...and they appreciated it from what I've read about Twitter reactions. It didn't work for me...but it's interesting that a lot of the reviews I've read single out "You'll Never Walk Alone" as the emotional highlight of the show.
Updated On: 3/21/16 at 11:15 AM
Posted: 3/21/16 at 12:10pm
This entire show just felt very random.
They sold it more being a musical and presented a live narrative.
The cast also struck me as being completely random. Off all the possible performers, why dig up Seal?
Posted: 3/21/16 at 12:49pm
Saw the last 45 minutes. Found it interesting. It wasn't a musical but more like a popular, rich, Christ-believing entertainer wanting to tell the Easter story in a unique way. Don't think it's fair to compare ratings with this and Grease. This was something that Christians and those seeking to get an idea of the story for the first (or the fortieth) time might tune into (and stay tuned into).
Posted: 3/21/16 at 12:51pm
Random is exactly what it was.
I really do think it could have been something meaningful if they had taken a different approach. The procession and the Jesus narrative were completely isolated from each other and the coverage of both was so vastly different that paired together both seemed half-ass. It was almost like a news coverage for the procession and an awards show or something for the Jesus part.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 12:57pm
VintageSnarker said: "This is less of a live musical and more of a sermon crossed with a church play (like a nativity play). Too much narration for me. And I love Trisha Yearwood but she's no Whitney Houston. All the music choices are giving me a Glee vibe."
The article BroadwayConcierge linked to regarding ratings said Adam Anders was the music producer. He produced the music for Glee, so you were correct in feeling that vibe!
Posted: 3/21/16 at 1:30pm
he was also one of the two guys who took over AMERICAN IDOL three years ago when ratings were in the tank and they tried to reinvent it. not very successfully, I might add.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 1:58pm
I'm going to propose a theory, and bear in mind this is based purely on clips and articles, the description, the outline, and so forth:
They couldn't get the rights to Jesus Christ Superstar, so they really (shamelessly) ripped them off blind, in a somewhat neutered fashion that ensured they wouldn't get complaints from the Jewish lobby (fair is fair where the characters of Caiaphas and Annas are concerned, at least in the stage version) or the general public.
They should be ashamed.
Updated On: 3/21/16 at 01:58 PM
Posted: 3/21/16 at 2:09pm
This show was based on a format originally created in the Netherlands by Eye2Eye Media. The Dutch version has been produced annually since 2011. Eye2Eye co-produced this for Fox with dick clark prod
