Half a century later, Jesus Christ Superstar remains a popular, passionate musical yyc
It paved the way for other mega-hit, sung-through musicals such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Miss Saigon, and Cats plus Rice’s own subsequent collaborations – Evita with Lloyd Webber, Chess with Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and Aida with Elton John.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
“A lot of producers were worried about the subject matter. They didn’t think theatre audiences would be interested in anything religious.”However, Rice and Lloyd Webber had a major fan in their manager who Rice recalls “thought the show was great. It was his idea to produce a concept album. That record was a huge and immediate success. We started producing concert versions in stadiums in America and their popularity led to a Broadway opening in 1971.
Even as the Broadway production was floundering, producers in Australia, Sweden, Denmark and France quickly mounted their own versions. It was the Australian version directed by Jim Sharman that proved the most impressive, so he was hired to direct the London version at the Palace Theatre which ran for eight years.Article content
“Superstar holds a very special place in my heart because it was written so quickly. The bulk of the show was written in just three months. Andrew and I had nothing else to do. We didn’t have families. We didn’t go out clubbing. We were broke. Writing was our whole life back then.”Article content