'Jesus Christ Superstar,' and the actor who plays him, have evolved
over the decades
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_14847443?source=most_emailed
By Doug Pullen
04/09/2010
EL PASO -- Jesus is a Texan.
Actually, the guy who's played the title role in "Jesus Christ
Superstar" for the better part of the past 38 years is from Texas.
Ted Neeley -- who grew up in tiny Ranger, Texas, and now makes his
home in the Houston area -- said a sense of humor is vital to his job.
"I need all the jokes I can get," Neeley said by phone. "If you can't
have a sense of humor doing what I'm doing, you might as well get out."
That's not something he's been able to do. Neeley under studied the
role when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's first hit opened on
Broadway in 1971.
He played the title character in its first national tour a year
later. And he starred as you-know-who in Norman Jewison's film
version in 1973, receiving a Golden Globe nomination.
Though he revisited the character only sporadically from the late
'70s to early '90s, the 66-year-old starred in it again in tours that
ran from 1992 to 1997 and the current so-called "A.D. Tour," which
launched in 2006. It comes to NMSU's Pan American Center on Monday.
Neeley also has sung the part in concert versions, but he's done
plenty of other things, including recording solo albums, producing
and arranging for other artists, and creating several roles for the
theater. He played Billy Shears in a theatrical touring version of
the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road" and
the title roles in stagings of the Who's "Tommy" and "Rasputin,"
which he helped put together.
But there's no other role with which Neeley, who started his career
as a rock drummer in the 1960s, is more closely associated.
It's led to some interesting conversations with the play's fans and
critics over the years.
"I talk to people from every possible root of philosophy --
believers, people who believe nothing, people who are not sure,
agnostic, on and on and on," Neeley said.
The musical, which is based on Christ's last seven days, strikes a
chord deep in the hearts of many people who see it, he believes.
"They all come from from the same place, which is what I believe to
be a universal spirituality," he said. "It has nothing to do with
religion in any way, shape or form, nothing to do with the kind of
organized crap that says, 'Send money.' "
That's been one of the biggest surprises for a guy who grew up in a small town.
"Where I grew up, in north-central Texas, the Southern part of the
Bible Belt, Jesus was a stained glass window. I accepted what was
taught by the ministers and the Sunday school teachers," he said.
His views have changed since then, though Neeley said he's still
infused with the idealism and anti-war sentiments that were roiling
when "Jesus Christ Superstar" debuted as a rock opera album in 1970,
with Deep Purple's Ian Gillan singing the role.
Neeley started playing in bands in Texas, when he was a contemporary
of El Paso rock legend Bobby Fuller and worked clubs in Texas and New
Mexico, including El Paso.
He was based in Los Angeles when he landed a part in the chorus for
the first Broadway production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 1971.
Those were scary times, he said, mostly because the notion of a
musical that depicted Christ as a man, set to the devil's music no
less, led to protests, pickets and charges of blasphemy from some
Christian groups.
"When we first did it in New York, we were picketed literally every
night in front of the theater, and backstage they tried to stop us
from going in," Neeley said. "They thought of us all ultimately as
blasphemous."
The play still gets some protesters today, but Neeley said time has
been good to "Jesus Christ Superstar." It's just as likely to be
staged by a church group as a professional touring company today.
Neeley said it's evolved into a "spiritual 'Sesame Street.' "
"They look at us as a learning tool for children to find the
spiritual element of life," he said of modern audiences. "Now, these
groups who were protesting are the most strongly supportive. They use
it in their sermons."
Neeley does some sermonizing of his own, criticizing what he calls
"the brainwashing that organized religion has become," and speaking
out about the evils of war whenever he can.
"Sorry, I'm preaching," he said.
Local theater veteran Greg Taylor, who is a friend of composer Tim
Rice, said Neeley was "fantastic" in a production he saw in the '90s
at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.
Taylor, who has staged the musical in his capacity as director of
UTEP Dinner Theatre, believes its enduring popularity is no mystery.
"I don't think the popularity of the show will ever go down," he
said. "It's Jesus. It's a story, obviously, for all time, and I think
the fact that in the time period they wrote the show, the late '60s,
using rock music and the operatic format was considered blasphemous.
"This was Jesus for young people. It's been 40 years since, and it's
still Jesus for youngish people."
Playing Jesus for a living has had a profound effect on Neeley,
professionally and personally.
How could it not?
"I had a deeply religious background as a child, so it was an easy
bridge to cross," Neeley said. "I had no idea it would have the depth
of interest it would have for me, or the range of education. It
allowed me to do what I'm doing now."
--
Doug Pullen may be reachedat dpul...@elpasotimes.com; 546-6397.
--
make plans
What: "Jesus Christ Superstar."
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Where: Pan American Center, NMSU, Las Cruces.
How much: $29, $39, $45 and $55, plus service charges (some children
and group discounts available), on sale at the box office and
Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticket master.com and 800-745-3000.
Information: 575-646-1420, panam.nmsu.edu.
.
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