Putting aside the theological questions for a moment, let me
first say that I think the original record album of Jesus Christ Superstar is a stunning musical achievement. Andrew
Lloyd Webber was only 22 years old when he composed the work with lyricist Tim
Rice, who was equally young at age 26. The 1970 rock opera was a ground breaker
in the way it seamlessly blended such disparate genres as rock, pop, folk,
Broadway and classical into a pastiche that transformed musical theatre for
years to come. And for maximum impact, the composers chose as their subject
matter nothing less than the Greatest Story Ever Told.
I devote a few pages to Jesus
Christ Superstar in my new book, From
Mountains High, in which I acknowledge the rock opera as part of the
“perfect storm” in the early 1970s that had an impact on the Catholic
liturgical music that emerged in that seminal decade. Other influences included
Jesus rock (“My Sweet Lord,” “Put Your Hand in the Hand,” and other secular radio hits), the Charismatic
Renewal, and the Jesus movement championed by earnest young Christians who were
sometimes known as “Jesus Freaks.” You can read more about this in my book when
it’s released this summer. It helps give a cultural perspective that I feel is
helpful to understand the emotional impact that Jesus Christ Superstar Live TV Concert had on my generation when it
was broadcast on the evening of Easter Sunday 2018.
Jesus Christ Superstar
is very definitely a work of its times. Emerging at the crossroads between the protesting
social consciousness of the 1960s and the Me Decade focus of the 1970s, the
opera managed to somehow make a connection between the excessive popularity of
rock music and the celebrity status that Jesus endured, as portrayed in all
four Gospels. In the Seventies, the music industry devoured itself with records
that went platinum before they were even released (c.f., Elton John’s 1975
album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown
Dirt Cowboy), and bestowed godlike status on emerging artists who had yet
to prove themselves (c.f., Bruce Springsteen’s simultaneous TIME and Newsweek
covers in October 1975). How different was that from the trajectory of an
itinerant miracle-working preacher in first century Palestine who eventually
got himself killed at the height of his popularity? There is a reason why the
composers attached “Superstar” to the revered name of Jesus Christ.
The young singers and dancers who starred in the NBC television special performed excellently and injected new life into the 48-year-old musical. They also most likely have no idea of the controversy that Superstar generated upon its first release. I was a Catholic high
school senior at the time and I remember the priests and nuns who chastised me when
I confessed how much I enjoyed the recording. Charges of blasphemy were
commonplace, and the weekly Catholic newspaper of my archdiocese ran a series
of apologetic articles that outlined the biblical errors of the rock opera,
line by line.
Christian leaders of all denominations lambasted Superstar for its sympathetic treatment
of Judas, and the irreverent way it portrayed Jesus as an insecure leader of
rabble rousing revolutionaries. Most insidious of all was the fact that the rock
opera has no Resurrection scene! (Never mind that the Stations of the Cross devotion
also does not end with the Resurrection.)
These criticisms missed the point. Webber and Rice merely
wanted to pose the question of the place of Jesus Christ in 1970s society. They
succeeded. Young people were talking about Jesus like never before. How well I
remember the deep discussions on Jesus with friends and classmates. Is he God?
Is he just a man? Is he both? I went to Charismatic prayer meetings, prayed in
tongues, and witnessed faith healings. I listened to and performed Jesus rock.
I eventually studied liberation theology and considered ways that Jesus’
message could change the world.
All this is probably lost on today’s young people who enjoyed
the Easter Sunday telecast and respect Superstar
as a venerable and proven theatre piece. I have to wonder if they asked
themselves the questions that Judas posed in his signature song:
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ Superstar,
Do you think you're who they say you are?
I can only answer those questions for myself and pray that
my witness might inspire others.
Who is Jesus Christ? For me, he is the Son of God. As I slowly
but surely advance into old age, I am more convinced of that than ever before.
Jesus is my Lord and Savior who gives meaning to my life.
What has he sacrificed? Jesus gave his very life on the
Cross, in obedience to his Father’s will. He restored the intimate relationship
between God and humanity that was destroyed by sin. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, I
look forward to joining him in eternal life when my time on Earth is through.
As for the final question of the song, I do not think it
matters to Jesus what HE thinks other people say of him. As he did with his
apostles in Mark 8:29, he prefers to turn the question around to the person
asking.
“Who do YOU say that I am?”
From Mountains High: Contemporary
Catholic Music 1970 -1985 by Ken Canedo will be released in Summer 2018 by
Pastoral Press. It will be available on www.ocp.org and on Amazon.
Posts
We were trying to give our some perspective on the controversy that surrounded the musical. In the midst of al of that the story itself hit me and the essential narrative did not change. I was left thinking, "How can any actor enter into this story and not be changed." Joseph Campbell said that of all the religious myths, the story of Jesus is the most compelling. It really is the greatest story ever told. Occasionally I will read a gospel in its entirety and do such from a "scholarly" stand point. But every time I do this, my scholarly mind checks out and the power of the betrayal/crucifixion narrative over takes me. That's what happened on Easter night when I watched the musical. Lights. Staging. Character choices. Questionable theology. None of it overshadowed the power of the story itself.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Robert. I have friends who have played roles in various Jesus Christ Superstar productions over the years. They have consistently told me how much the experience of portraying Jesus or Judas or other characters changed their lives.
DeleteI was a college seminarian when the original came out and it was very popular on campus. I remember playing it over and over. I loved how the work humanized Judas and showed the human side of Jesus as well, making the whole story more accessible to young adult me. I think the concert setting worked very well (aside from the annoying applause at inopportune times). I also very much loved the ending of the piece, raising the cross up toward heaven and using light to create a sort of resurrection scene.
ReplyDeleteI, too, played the original record non-stop until I wore it out. There seemed to be a time at our college when you could hear it constantly in the dorm hallways.
DeleteSo I was in 6th grade at a Catholic School here in San Antonio when JCS came out. And for junior high students at a Catholic Elementary school that was wrapped in the changes of VII, it was monumental. The good Sisters who taught us had "modernized" their habits that very year: we actually got to see their legs! We actually sang "radio music" at Mass: Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" and Glen Campbell's "Try A Little Kindness" among many others. So it was no small wonder that we sang these songs as a part of our music class, and even in Mass! What I do remember is that, when we sang these songs from JCS in Mass, they were more of a reflection of the sermon, or a part of the sermon. And we were asked the questions that a particular piece questioned. We were actually taught to think and try to work this out. Personally, I think it worked. As I approach my 60th birthday, I still wonder at the friendships that I have maintained from that grade school experience, and how many of them are active Catholics today. We have no fear of questioning the "authority" of priests in our parishes, and many of us work in various ways with our parish communities. I had dinner just last night with one friend whom I've known since kindergarten. And just yesterday afternoon, I saw my first grade teacher, now retired but living at the convent, at the grocery story, in her habit... and we had an incredible conversation in the vegetable aisle about organic and Laudato Sí and the Spanish Choir that I now direct at my parish! JCS did make an impact. And I thought Sunday's performance was classic reminding us of our journey, and bringing new people into it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, John. Sounds like you had a very enriching Catholic school experience. Easter blessings!
ReplyDelete