![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
J. C. Superstar
Someone posted about the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. The OP mentioned buying a version that has Alice Cooper playing the role of King Herrod. I found it on iTunes and he definitely lends his signature to it!
I learned something that I didn’t know before: the first incarnation of this Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was a studio album (which are often made to raise interest in a show). This version features different voices and musicians—including Murray Head ("One Night in Bangkok" singer)as Judas and Ian Gillan (of Deep Purple) as Jesus. The sound was more raw than the later incarnations of the musical due to the musicians they hired for the studio album. From Wikipedia: “and the playing of well-known rock session musicians such as guitarists Neil Hubbard and Chris Spedding, bassist Alan Spenner and drummer Bruce Rowland.”
Fortunately, the actor who plays Pontius Pilate is the same for the studio album, the OBC and the movie soundtrack: Barry Dennen. He’s kind of the Alan Rickman of the Seventies. His voice and demeanor is perfect for Pilate! (Roz will find this amusing: he had a relationship with Barbara Striesand and, according to answers.com: “His autobiographical book, My Life With Barbra: A Love Story (1997), deals with their relationship and with his gradual realization that he was a homosexual.”)
One more interesting note: the role of Herrod has had interesting actors play him. In the original motion picture, Herrod is played by Josh Mostel— Zero Mostel’s son. In a later film version (2000), Herrod is played by Rik Mayall (of “The Young Ones” fame)!
I love Herrod's song: let's face it, those familiar with that song can't help but do the Jumping Jack chair dance when they hear it!
no subject
no subject
We just saw the original on TV; I've got it all stuck in my head now.