Why Jesus Christ Superstar Failed

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 9:56pm

Article frm Toronto Star- Kinda funny as he'd been a chief cheerleader.
Jesus Christ Superstar: Five reasons it flopped on Broadway

Jun 20, 2012
They don’t know how to love him.

The sad news from New York City Tuesday was that the Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of Jesus Christ Superstar would end its run there on July 1, far shorter than anyone had expected.

It means that a show that played to record-breaking houses in Canada is going to close on Broadway after only 116 performances, many of which had attendance close to only 50 per cent.

How could the belle of the Canadian ball become a wallflower once they started playing that Broadway melody?

It’s unfortunately very easy. Let’s look at these five fatal factors.

1) No buzz: Despite an energetic marketing campaign that concentrated on the fresh, hip quality of the company and even featured a deluxe layout in Vanity Fair, nobody in New York was really that thrilled about the show coming to Broadway. “There was just no excitement over Superstar opening,” said Michael Riedel, theatre columnist for the New York Post. “Everybody’s seen it on tour or at their kids’ high school, or in the last Broadway revival. If it had knocked it out of the park, people might have sat up and taken notice. But it didn’t.”

2) No star: Although the whole point of bringing the show from Stratford was to highlight the ensemble nature of the quality company, that doesn’t matter in Gotham these days. Except for shows that have rave reviews or tremendous word-of-mouth, you need stars. Take Evita, that other Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice show being revived on Broadway. Its reviews were about the same as those for JCS, but it’s been playing to between 25 and 40 per cent bigger houses. Why? Part of it is that it’s never been revived in New York since its original 1979 production and the second is the presence of Ricky Martin in the role of Che. He sells tickets. Lots of them.

3) No Brent: It’s hard to blame the failure of a production on the defection of a single actor, but when Brent Carver (Pontius Pilate) decided not to go to Broadway and director Des McAnuff replaced him with Tom Hewitt, something vital changed in the equation. Not only was Carver brilliant in the role, he brought Tony Award-winning cachet to the cast, but McAnuff replaced him with a non-Stratford actor whose last original Broadway credit was as the lead in McAnuff’s disastrous 2004 musical of Dracula. That sent out the wrong signals on a variety of levels.

4) No reviews: Reviews are vital in New York these days, especially if you don’t have an exciting-sounding production or a box-office ready star. And once Charles Isherwood in the New York Times announced that, “I have to confess to finding the show alternately hilarious and preposterous. . . . If a musical were to be judged by the amount of time its characters spent gazing meaningfully into the audience, this production would be trumps,” you knew its days would be numbered, despite some more favourable notices. When shortly after, Hilton Als in The New Yorker ended his review with the description “God-awful,” there was surely trouble in paradise.

5) No bling: It’s ironic, in the end, that what probably most clearly caused the early demise of Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway was what made it such a success in Canada. At Stratford, the creative tension between the flamboyance of McAnuff’s physical production and the sincerity of performance he demanded from the cast made for a fascinating mix. In New York, they always prefer it if every performer brings the house down. That’s why Josh Young’s Judas (performing as directed) was the one to find the most favour with Tony nominators and New York critics alike. Also, while Canadian audiences had likely seen Paul Nolan and Chilina Kennedy turn in moving work in The Grapes of Wrath the same season, increasing admiration for their versatility, all that the Americans saw was what was on the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre. And when Ben Vereen introduced the segment of JCS on the Tonys as coming from the “Stanford” Festival, well that was really the last straw, wasn’t it?

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[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:08pm

He forgot;

6) No Chemistry between the leads,

7) A Judas who couldn't deliver a course rock score. Or really act tormented by his conscience.

An actress playing Mary was only slightly more interesting then drying latex paint.

Don't blame Pilot! I would have washed my hands of this production too!

Updated On: 6/20/12 at 10:08 PM

[timote316]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:11pm

I think a large chunk of the blame also has to fall on the production just not being very good. I can honestly say that I actually felt embarrassed for the performers far more often than I was impressed.

Also, the author of that piece realizes that Brent Carver won his Tony almost twenty years ago and that Hewitt has done a heck of a lot more Broadway of late than Carver, right?

[Kalimba]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:25pm

I blame Josh Young and Chilina Kennedy. This production sucked big time and the performance on the Tony Awards just reiterated that.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:32pm

I blame Jesus for being borrrrring

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:38pm

Holy Crap! I didn't see the Tony performance and I just watched it on Youtube! WTF were they thinking? I surprized it didn't close the very next day! Perhaps the WORST rendition of the title song ever! Ghost called and they want their projected dancing chorus members back.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:40pm

It seems we're also being asked to judge performers by performances we haven't seen. If we're to make judgements based on performances in THE GRAPES OF WRATH, do THE GRAPES OF WRATH. Lord, Canadians bother me.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:40pm

Where was "the flamboyance" of Des' production? The whole thing looked blocked (run across the stage here, move that bleecher around), I thought there was a total lack of any direction.
I didn't see Carver but Hewitt was a real highlight of this production, I can't imagine anyone being better.
And though the ensemble is important (and strong), I don't see this as an ensemble piece. The three leads are featured every other minute.
This guy just wants to blame NYC for some reason.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:43pm

So true about there being no hype... No hype and no names is not going to work unless the reviews are great, and even then that sometimes is not enough.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:44pm

The thing is, there WAS buzz among the very people who went out early and saw it. Alas, they did not return buzzing so the buzz did not build.

I like the part in the article where he laments, "all that the Americans saw was what was on the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre."

Don't you HATE when that happens?

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:44pm

justtoldbill: Wow you are ignorant!

[justoldbill]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:47pm

If you mean I don't argue with my fellow Americans about something as basic as my country's offical language, ignorance is bliss.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:50pm

Namo, I missed that in first reading. Made me laugh when I reread! He is looking to blame the NY audience for not seeing the brilliance of the piece.

[landlocked_mermaid]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:58pm

Sometimes shows are a hit and sometimes they're not...it's all just Monday morning quarterbacking at this point.

Evidently I'm in the minority here, but it was the performance at the Tony Awards that made me want to see this show.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 10:58pm

Simple question cause I don't know the answer. I would assume that they are charging a lot more for tickets here then they did in Canada. Anyone know?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:06pm

This production was actually the one that finally made me "get" why this show is so popular. I've literally slept through any other version I've ever seen. Chilina Kennedy bored me, but Josh Young and Paul Nolan I found to be really great in this interpretation of the show. Yes it was a busy staging at times, but I also loved how quick this show moved.

PS I HATED the Tony performance and I knew its days were numbered after that.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:24pm

I've said it before - the marketing is to blame. From that awful poster, to that ridiculous video clip of the Title number, to doing that number AGAIN and not as well, during the Tonys and finally that tacky press release announcing its closing. I wonder if they hired Broadway (American firm) to handle their show or if they did this through Stratford.

Another critical error was that they believed their own "local" hype. Anyone who saw the show in Stratford knew that while there were some good pieces in the show, there were elements (simplistic dancing, cheap looking costumes - except for the random spandex blue suit, and an ensemble that looked inexperienced) that were just not going to be well received in New York. I had hoped they would take stock and fix/change things for New York, but they were too busy reading their own raves to make changes.

[B-maniac]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:24pm

Well, I was in New York last week.

The Tony perfomance made me see this show 2 times, just to catch Josh Young as Judas. In the first time Judas was Jeremy, who was better in the role, but I needed to see the Tony perfomance live.

Glad I did it.

Updated On: 6/20/12 at 11:24 PM

[NotAnotherSN]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:31pm

As an aside, the Tony performance should have been Heaven on their Minds, much better use of Young's voice.

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:33pm

justtoldbill: They don't fight over the official language. Quebec has a lot of French influence and adopted the French language and Canadians except that. But being ignorant isn't very shocking for an American.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:33pm

f you mean I don't argue with my fellow Americans about something as basic as my country's offical language, ignorance is bliss.

¿Qué es lo que intenta decirnos???
¿Que eres ignorante? Ya sabíamos!

Ostie!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:36pm

First off, I just want to say j'adore Canadians and have physically demonstrated my love in such cities as Montreal, Quebec City. Toronto and Vancouver.

Second, sabrelady: is the writer you quoted the same one who said you could see the American audiences listening to this Superstar production differently than the Canadian audiences? I love the things that guy concocts!

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:43pm

It just wasn't good. On pretty much every level.

I already sat through it. I don't see the point in wasting any more time by discussing the reasons it failed.

[Tag]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:46pm

Broadway Joe: A top price ticket in Stratford is about $120. But that varies to under $100 depending on what day of the week it is.

A major reason for all the hype in the first place is because of the author of this article.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/20/12 at 11:48pm

*sigh* Actually Namo, to be fair, no, that was the Globe & Mail critic, J Kelly Nestruck. Ouzanian practically had an orgasm over this show in Stratford . He is a bit of a starf*cker and Des McAnuff qualifies in his book. I think he is quite put out that the rest of the world doesn't share his personal opinion of the show and hey! the rest of the world got it wrong.
On the whole, I liked the show but feel that a stronger performer as JC would have helped. Not everything has to be ensemble work.

Updated On: 6/20/12 at 11:48 PM