Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE

mjbphotos

mjbphotos

Moderator
Just watched/listened to the OnDemand of this past Sunday's live presentation. Overall, I think they did a good job. There were a few places where mics weren't quite loud enough when they were brought up for certain parts, but they adjust fairly quickly. Instrument mix suffered more than the vocal mix. John Legend did very well in the lead, certainly has a vocal range. The guy doing Judas' range was really too high, think they key-changed some of his songs. Alice Cooper - best he could do for a 70-year-old. Wonder how he makes it through his current shows. Certainly doesn't have a lot of strength left in his voice.
I was a big fan of the original recording, but not the movie version.
Saw the 1971 traveling rock show version, then a 'theater in the round' version in 75 with Mark Volman ('Flo' of Flo & Eddie) as King Herod.
 
I'll have to watch that!

As one who does of mix of home recording and live theatre I need to say that you can't really compare the two. Even with all the rehearsals in the world, every actor is slightly different on every performance. Working with digital I set my scene presets to the best average I can get--but have my hands hovering over the faders to tweak things by ear. No matter how quick you are, there's always a slight lag.

On top of that, in live theatre you have to watch out for the dreaded feedback--you have things adjusted to be as far as possible from that but you can't stop an actor from standing under a speaker instead of on his mark.

Finally, I can't count the number of times actors have accidentally skipped 5 pages then ad libbed their way back--all you can do is your best!

Obviously, productions for TV don't have all the same problems but even there live is different from studio stuff.
 
mjbphotos said:
Saw the 1971 traveling rock show version, then a 'theater in the round' version in 75 with Mark Volman ('Flo' of Flo & Eddie) as King Herod.
Click to expand...

Coincidentally @ 1973 ...I saw Flo and Eddie once when they did a tour with Alice...Quite entertaining rascals....oddly the song that sticks in my head 40+ tears later in one that most have never heard called "You wanna boogie"
 
Yeah, I saw it in the early 70s in LA. As a kid it was interesting in an audio/visual sense, but as an adult the story line doesn't hold together all that well (in an interesting echo of 1 Corinthians 13:11). The London cast album is cool for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Ian Gillan as Jesus. That could be one reason I liked Deep Purple so much just a few years later.
 
TAE said:
Coincidentally @ 1973 ...I saw Flo and Eddie once when they did a tour with Alice...Quite entertaining rascals....oddly the song that sticks in my head 40+ tears later in one that most have never heard called "You wanna boogie"
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw that show (Billion Dollar Babies tour) as well. Boston Garden (the old one, horrible sound). Quite the spectacular stage set up Alice had.
 
I thought Legend was terrible. He didn't have the range to hit the high notes, without going that soft, weak falsetto.

Even the lower stuff seemed forced, like h isn't used to belting out like that.
 
Farview said:
I thought Legend was terrible. He didn't have the range to hit the high notes, without going that soft, weak falsetto.

Even the lower stuff seemed forced, like h isn't used to belting out like that.
Click to expand...

I've heard only good things about his performance, so it's interesting to get a differing opinion. I recorded the show on DVR when it aired, but haven't watched it yet. I'm a huge fan of the original album, hated the movie, and haven't heard any of the other versions. I'm actually kind of reluctant to watch this, because every little difference from the original is going to stick out to me like a sore thumb.
 
^^^You won't like the guy who played Judas then. He sings in a higher register. Not sure if they changed the keys for his songs or not. There were 2 added songs not in the original, not sure if they were in the movie.
 
That's another thing. I prefer the Ted Neely to Ian Gillan. Ian wasn't angry enough in Gethsemene. Ian has a softer, almost whiney approach to the part. I prefer the big, angry screaming Jesus.
 
The very first time they did this, radio mics were not an option, so the cast were all miked up with cables, and the choreography was designed to not get them tangled up. Shure 4 channel mixers, loads in a big frame - for the time it was really something - the first real rock musical at rock volumes. Truly ground breaking. As a show, I've done it far too many times, and rather hate it - but this was a pretty decent version, and Alice Cooper did better than many names they used for the character - some were truly dire! I liked the crucifixion scene. I was also impressed with the costumes. Sound? I didn't notice, so it must have been good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top