"Great Performances" Jesus Christ Superstar (TV Episode 2000)

"Great Performances" Jesus Christ Superstar (TV Episode 2000). 1h 47m | Unrated

“As a fan of JCS for almost thirty years, I hadnu0026#39;t expected to see as moving, deft, or gorgeous a production — especially not on film — as this. Aesthetically, at least, the work seemed locked in its time, as much imprisoned by late 60s guitar music as by the dusty, overwrought 1973 film by Norman Jewison and the various traveling productions that clunkily preserved the erau0026#39;s design fetishes. For the longest time, the best way to approach JCS has been on your stereo. Which is a pity; itu0026#39;s a musical, for chrissakes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo Gale Edwardsu0026#39; version is a surprise, and a right nice one. Sheu0026#39;s correct to design and stage this for the post-MTV generation, a decision that pays off hugely in scenes that imagine Caiaphas and his priests as corporate boardroom cutthroats or Simonu0026#39;s beseeching of Jesus to u0026quot;add a touch of hate at Romeu0026quot; while the crowd heedlessly and joyously lofts machine guns. If itu0026#39;s flash, itu0026#39;s intelligent flash, keen takes on the themes of revolt and its repercussions. Itu0026#39;s witty, too: her Herod doing gay burlesque is the best visualization to date for Webber and Riceu0026#39;s memorable set piece. Some will feel Edwardsu0026#39; gambles in the last quarter of the work – discomfortingly blending bloody realism with the mordantly surreal and the leeringly profane – are reaching, and they are, somewhat, but they donu0026#39;t betray the production. This isnu0026#39;t giddy u0026quot;Godspell,u0026quot; after all; itu0026#39;s a story about political murder.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe performances by the principles are superb. JCS is really Judasu0026#39; story, and here Jerome Pradonu0026#39;s skulking, wincing, exasperated Judas is always watchable, and his singing good, although the limits of his range occasionally show. Rene Castle as Magdalene is fine enough to make you forget Yvonne Elliman; her shift between erotic spell and damaged idealism is something to see. Glenn Carter as Jesus, looking something like a youthful Robert Plant and sounding not unlike him, too, conceives his role as a troubled, unsure savior, an interpretation vastly better than those of his many predecessors in the role who relied on know-it-all saintliness (something the playu0026#39;s text doesnu0026#39;t support, anyway). Other standouts: Fred Johansonu0026#39;s stalking fascistic Pilate, and Rik Mayallu0026#39;s hilarious Herod.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJudging from the ongoing appeal of Christianity, the Greatest Story Ever Told doesnu0026#39;t need revitalizing, at least not in the eyes of its adherents, but JCS did. Edwardsu0026#39; many grace notes are perhaps not as important as her best gift to the story: locating it convincingly in a dark and ferocious political world and reminding that the official tolerance for justice, mercy, and charity is no greater two millenia later. Future messiahs, beware.”