Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature

Martina Hejčová

The Rock Opera – Analysis of the Critical Reception Over the Decades Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph. D.

2016 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. for his valuable advice, sincere guidance and encouragement. Also, I would like to thank my partner and my family for their support. Table of Contents

Introduction...... 1

The Greatest Story Ever Told...... 2

Authors...... 4

Album...... 6

Broadway and West End...... 8

Film...... 9

Controversy over the Decades - “He Is Dangerous”...... 11

Analysis of the Critical Reception - “The Things They Say of You”...... 15

Jesus Is Viewed through the Eyes of the Devil - “I don´t Like What I See”...... 17

Relationship with Mary Magdalene - “I Don´t Know How to Love Him”...... 19

Absence of Resurrection Scene - “John 19:41”...... 20

Insult to the Jewish People - “King of the Jews”...... 22

Jesus Is Confused and Powerless - “Now I´m Sad and Tired”...... 24

Jesus Is a Man - “He´s Just a Man”...... 26

Unexpected Support from Vatican - “I´m a Captive Fan”...... 29

Conclusion...... 31

Works Cited...... 35

Summary...... 39 Introduction

The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, by Sir and Lord Andrew

Lloyd Webber, is a four-decade phenomenon. With millions of albums sold, successful productions in more than forty countries and an Academy Award nomination for the best screenplay adaptation, the musical has left an indelible mark on the global history of musicals. Variety called it “the biggest media parley in showbiz history,” a double album of the rock opera became the biggest selling album of 1971 and the musical was praised by audiences across generations worldwide. A biblical story seen through the eyes of modern man and presented as a rock musical was an instant success. Thanks to its unexpected approach to the biblical story it stirred up a degree of controversy in some religious circles and Jesus Christ Superstar remains “the most protested-against work in the history of musical theatre” (Sweet).

My thesis aims to analyse the protests which have been raised against Jesus

Christ Superstar over the last forty years. The first chapters of this paper introduce the storyline of the musical, which varies from its Biblical precursor in several key aspects.

I intend to present the authors of the musical, the history of its origin and problematic reception on the stage and in the cinema, which was accompanied by a series of protests led by several religious organizations. I will try to find aspects that these protests had in common – firstly, I try to identify the protesting churches and secondly, I try to find the common elements of their protests. Furthermore, by comparing the libretto of the musical and the Bible I can provide detailed analysis of the main reasons for the most frequent complaints and accusations against the musical that the churches cite as the justification for their protests. Based on these findings, I intend to find a major reason

1 why this musical is considered so unacceptable in certain religious circles. I will also include an analysis of the papal attitude towards this issue.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Although the musical is based on the story of the last seven days of Jesus

Christ, the story presented differs from that in the Bible in several aspects. First, the story is more based on personal interactions between the characters, interactions that the

Bible does not mention. Secondly, some of the characters in the musical have much more space given to them than in the Bible i.e. Mary Magdalene and Judas (who is even considered the guide of the story) and thirdly, the authors have changed the finale of the story, which does not end with a “happy-ending” - the resurrection.

The musical begins on the Friday before the traditional Jewish holidays, when Jesus and his followers are heading to Jerusalem to participate in the celebrations.

Judas warns Jesus of imminent sacrifice, of his growing fame and the influence that is getting out of Jesus´s hands. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus talks to his disciples, who want to know his plans, and he convinces them that what matters is the present, not the future. Mary Magdalene is taking care of Jesus, she rubs his face with a fine ointment, which causes another fight with Judas. Not only does he accuse her of wasting precious ointment, Judas sees her as a threat to their mission and teachings. According to him

Jesus should not have forgiven this woman of fallen morals nor kept her in his vicinity.

Jesus defends her and stays by her side. Meanwhile, the council of high priests in

Jerusalem comes to the conclusion that Jesus, his teachings and growing fame are a threat to Rome and that he needs to be silenced. Jesus and his disciples enter triumphantly into Jerusalem, welcomed by the enthusiastic crowd. Simon the Zealot,

2 ardent disciple of Jesus is trying to persuade him to take advantage of the situation and the enthusiastic crowd, to add some anti-Roman agitation into his sermons and lead a revolt against Rome. Jesus realizes that even his closest followers do not understand the true meaning of his mission. Jesus visits the temple of Jerusalem, he expels merchants and money-changers from its premises and then faces a crowd of sick and cripples who ask for miraculous healing. Jesus is taken aback by their number and furiously tells them to heal themselves. Mary Magdalene comforts the tired Jesus and urges him to sleep. She is confessing her love to him and thinks about how much her life changed on meeting him. On Tuesday, Judas out of fear of the future decides to betray Jesus and hand him over into the hands of the high priests.

Thursday evening, Jesus meets with his disciples for the Last Supper, where he predicts his own future, the betrayal, the denial. After a heated argument with Jesus,

Judas leaves the company and goes to get the Roman soldiers, Jesus is praying to God in the Garden of Gethsemane and expresses fear, uncertainty and doubt about his fate.

Judas returns, betrays Jesus with a kiss and hands him over into the hands of the Roman guards. Jesus' words are fulfilled, Peter denies him three times. Jesus is sent to Pontius

Pilate who, doubting his guilt, sends him to King Herod. Herod asks Jesus to prove his innocence by some form of a miracle or amusing trick but, disgusted by his silence, sends him back to Pilate. While Jesus' disciples recall the first days spent with Jesus,

Judas realizes the impact of his crime and commits suicide. Pilate partially yields to the coercion of the raging crowd and of the Roman priests, and despite his obvious sympathy for Jesus he lets him be flogged with 39 lashes, and then condemns him to death. Judas again enters the story, this time in the role of timeless guide and asks if

Jesus's death actually made sense and whether it was worth it to become the Superstar.

3 On Friday, Jesus Christ is crucified.

Authors

Lord is now undoubtedly considered to be the most successful of musicals worldwide. He is the only composer in the present, who has up to three shows simultaneously playing on Broadway and in the West End in

London. It has been more than 50 years since he wrote his first musical (Likes of Us, created together with Tim Rice in 1965, but never officially released until 2005). His ten-year collaboration with Tim Rice began with the musical Likes of Us during his studies at Oxford University, where Lloyd Webber studied the history of art. The oratorio Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with the Old Testament theme followed, which was just a step away from the rock-opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The musical achieved worldwide success in 1976 with the theme of the brilliant and tragic fate of Evita Peron, wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron. Its theme song “Don´t

Cry for Me, Argentina” reached number one in the charts even before the musical opened on stage. The cooperation between Lloyd Webber and Rice ends with Evita.

Lloyd Webber achieved further success on the musical scene in the 80´s - since 1981 the musical has been played worldwide (composed and based on the verses of the

American-British poet T. S. Eliot), and the Phantom of the Opera, written directly for his wife and based on the famous literary work by Gaston Leroux, has been on stage since 1986. Lloyd Webber´s most important musical of the 90's Sunset

Boulevard tells the story of an aging silent film star who longs to regain her former glory. He won numerous Grammys, Tony and Olivier Awards for his musical work, including the Golden Globe Award and Academy Award for the Best Original Song

4 “” from Evita. In 1992, he was knighted by the Queen and in 1997 he was created a life peer as Baron Lloyd-Webber of Sydmonton in the County of

Hampshire.

Sir Tim Rice has been considered as one of the top librettists and lyricists since the 1960´s. He gained popularity as a presenter for the British TV and radio station the BBC. During his studies, he teamed up with Andrew Lloyd Webber and their collaboration led to the making of four musicals including Evita and Jesus Christ

Superstar. After the end of his cooperation with Lloyd Webber, he started to work with members of the pop group ABBA and together they showed in London the musical

Chess, taking place between players of this royal game in the time of the Cold War.

Chess can be considered as his biggest success in the world of musicals without Andrew

Lloyd Webber. His collaboration with Elton John for The Walt Disney Company was very important too, as it earned him two Academy Awards for the songs from and (besides the one for “You Must Love Me” from Evita). He was knighted in 1994.

Both authors were in their early twenties when they decided (after the success of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) to create a new musical.

They were searching for a suitable subject in the history books, thinking about characters like Kennedy, Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart. Eventually, they found their story in the Bible. As Kučera mentions, Lloyd Webber said that “every musical must rely on a strong story, of which the Bible offers plenty, but the strongest of them is the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth” (6). They decided, however, to choose quite a different approach than the one previously used by other

5 musical authors - they decided to tell the story only through the songs without interrupting it by the spoken word (Kučera 7), which actually made it more of a rock opera than a musical. Another significant feature of the nascent rock opera was that the story of Jesus's last days should be seen through the eyes of modern man. Rice and

Lloyd Webber never intended to tell the real Biblical story but instead an alternative story of famous events. In connection with the rock opera with a biblical theme, the issue of the faith of both authors was discussed later on. Describing his religion, Rice has stated, as described in Spartanburg Herald-Journal: “Technically I'm Church of

England, which is really nothing. But I don't follow it. I wouldn't say I was a Christian. I have nothing against it.” David Scaer in Springfielder comments later in 1971:

One student remarked that it was too bad that a Christian had not written

this contemporary religious sensation. That's right, it is too bad, but then we

would not know how the unbeliever feels. This is just the way we all would

have acted, if God had placed us in that history instead of the present.

It was quite clear that a conservative and uptight England would receive a musical with this controversial view of the biblical story with great difficulty. Theatre professionals and producers therefore recommended to the young authors that they produce the musical first as an album and eventually stage the story if the music received positive feedback from critics and listeners.

Album

Before the release of the complete album, Judas´s title song “Superstar” sung by singer Murray Head was released as a single in 1969. Although the song was relatively successful, it did not make it to the top of the charts. The double album of the

6 rock-opera Jesus Christ Superstar was released almost a year later in October 1970 and met with great success. According to The Billboard Charts the album spent close to two years in the charts, including three weeks at No. 1 in 1971. The album sold fast – in

1971, it was named biggest-selling album of the year. The recording of the song “I

Don´t Know How to Love Him” by Yvonne Elliman released as a single in April 1971 made the top 30. The second release of the single “Superstar” by Murray Head in 1971 made it to the top 15.

The album was presented as a rock-opera. Indeed, it does not correspond completely with typical musical characteristics - as already mentioned, it contains no spoken parts, the music sounds more rock than pop-musical, it is rough and based on guitar riffs. In addition, the part of Jesus was sung by Ian Gillan, lead singer of the rock band Deep Purple. Tim Cain suggests that the musical form of the album is the key reason for its success:

Attracting the interest of a youngster is difficult for opera. It's often sung in

a different language, the excellent singers are doing things difficult for the

average listener to imagine or replicate, and the stories are sometimes over

the heads of the listeners. But a Bible story? Sung in English by rock

singers, led by the lead vocalist for Deep Purple? Now THAT was

something youngsters could grasp.

The use of rock music for presentation of the biblical story aroused certain disagreement among some critics. The Christian Century observed in 1971 that "the music often sounds like howls from Hell!" Scott Miller argues for reasons for choosing rock music, he claims that “Jesus himself was a major rebel of his time; he fought against the

7 establishment, the high priests, the Pharisees, and the government. What better way to tell his story than with the musical language of rebellion?” According to him, Jesus

Christ Superstar doesn't seem nearly as controversial because rock and roll is now the music of adults, and guitars are now allowed in mass. “There's no reason why people should not celebrate their beliefs in the language and music of their lives.” Many critics also recognized the importance of albums for strengthening religious values, for example as quotd. in Miller, Thomas Willis in the Chicago Tribune considered the rock opera “the most important religious music of the year.”

Broadway and West End

The premiere of the musical on Broadway was held in the Mark Hellinger

Theater on October 12, 1971. Due to the controversial nature of the musical, Tom

O'Horgan who enjoyed the reputation of a well-known provocateur, was chosen as director. It starred Jeff Fenholt in the role of Jesus, with Yvonne Elliman and black actor Ben Vereen appearing in the roles of Mary Magdalene and Judas. Following the advice of producers, the authors abandoned the noble title “rock opera” (which could discourage a traditional Broadway audience) and started to use the word musical while talking about Jesus Christ Superstar (Kučera 9). O'Horgan´s musical rendition was amazing, full of dazzling effects, fires, laser beams and basically resembled a circus show. The audience was thrilled, critics and church organizations poignantly less so.

The show was protested against nightly, but paradoxically these protests gathered the attention of all the media and created overwhelming interest in the production and brought hundreds to witness this original musical. In total, 720 performances were held on Broadway. Even after 40 years, this performance of Jesus Christ Superstar was

8 voted as one of the Top 10 Most Controversial Shows on Broadway by the website www.newyork.com. (Broadway revivals in 2000 and 2012 did not inspire any major protests).

In London, the show opened in 1972 and ran for eight years and 3,358 performances, breaking all then West End records. Directed by Jim Sharman, and starring Paul Nichols (Jesus), Stephen Tate (Judas) and Sylvie McNeill (Mary

Magdalene), this performance met the aims of Lloyd Webber and Rice much more than the Broadway performance. Kučera describes it as “more intimate”, “without spectacular effects” and “according to authors more dignified” (11) compared with

Broadway.

Film

Two years later, in 1973, a film version of the musical was produced.

Directed by Norman Jewison, it starred Ted Neeley as Jesus, Carl Anderson as Judas and Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene. She was the only person who participated in the record, the musical performance and the film. Both male actors were nominated for

Golden Globe awards the following year for their parts in the film and the fílm itself received an Academy Award nomination for the best adapted screenplay. Also the reviews for the film were generally favourable. Jewison presented his film as the story of a group of young artists, who arrive amidst some ruins in the authentic Israeli desert to play the story of the last seven days of Jesus Christ. Although the time of the film´s creation ranks Jesus Christ Superstar among the so-called Jesus films, unlike them, this is a film with a small number of actors, without crowd scenes or hundreds of extras.

The film also offers interesting visual concepts. Jewison mixed images

9 from various periods of the past and the present day, which is represented in the film by the 70´s and the era of flower children. Ancient ruins can be seen in contrast to the modern bus, the historical storyline is accompanied by military fighter planes and tanks,

Judas and his soul girls are dressed in futuristic costumes in “Superstar”, Jesus´ fear and uncertainty is accompanied by paintings of Renaissance and Baroque painters depicting the crucifixion and disciples sitting by the table in the garden of Gethsemane freeze for a moment in the positions of the painting The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. The viewer has the impression that this story stretches through the entire history of mankind and therefore becomes immortal and timeless. Mark Goodacre points to another interesting use of visual depiction:

The tortured suffering of an agonized, human Jesus is depicted by means not

only of the imaginative lyrics, the musical contrasts and Neeley's forceful

performance, but also by the striking use of camera angle, peering down on

Jesus throughout. The viewer is given God's perspective as Jesus tries to

reach him to wrestle with him, climbing higher and higher.

Norman Jewison was fully aware of the problems and controversy that his film might cause. Miller remembers Jewison´s statement: "My hope is that audiences will take this for what it is – an opera, not history. These kids are trying to take Jesus off the stained- glass windows and get him down on the street. Some people are not going to like that."

Of course, the film, like the musical versions from Broadway and the West

End, received negative reactions from Christian fundamentalists, but also from Jewish and black organizations. The review from a critic in a major Christian newspaper The

Christian Century, who “to [my] absolute amazement, [I] found the film to be

10 compelling, moving and visually stunning,” was therefore a pleasant satisfaction.

Controversy over the Decades - “He Is Dangerous”

Positive critics, however, were rather the exception in the seventies. The first negative reactions occurred immediately with the release of the rock opera double album. Rev. Austin Meekins, pastor of Valley West Baptist Church states in 1971 that

“The whole opera is filled with misquotes, false quotes and complete distortions of the person and work of Christ” (Deseret News).

Protests against the musical have continued on a larger scale since Christian fundamentalists assailed its world premiere on Broadway in 1971. The premiere unleashed many protests from several different church organizations, there were

Catholics, Protestants and even Jewish organizations piled in front of the Mark

Hellinger Theater. None of them had seen the show. Right there the crowd was handing out protest leaflets. Dennis Miller, young minister of Calvary Baptist Church was interviewed right in front of the theatre:

The play represents a confused and commercial portrait of Christ – a Christ

that does not rise from the dead. Of course, the Christ the authors present

would not have risen from the dead. They are not men of faith, and their

statements only serve to undermine the scriptures. I have not seen the show,

and my objections are based on what friends who have seen it tell me.

(quoted in Miller)

Bulletin by Frederic Brussat distributed by the United Church of Christ characterises the show with the borrowed quote from J. D. Salinger “Old Jesus probably would´ve puked

11 if He could see it” (Sweet).

With the enormous success of the musical, new productions were taking place worldwide in the seventies. At the same time, however, protests also came from around the world. In 1972, members of Bible Publicity League, organization run by the

Christadelphian Church in Melbourne printed out 60 thousand copies of leaflets entitled

“Jesus Christ – whose Superstar” to be distributed outside the Festival Hall, where the premiere took place. “It is not only a distortion of the Bible narrative, but it makes a complete and profane mockery of the character of Jesus revealed in the Bible” (Sydney

Morning Herald). There were two nuns from the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary leading pickets in London at the premiere night at the same year, singing hymns and waving placards with inscriptions “Jesus is NOT a Superstar” and “This is NOT Our

Jesus” (Argus Press). Violent protests accompanied the musical rehearsals in Buenos

Aires, Argentina in 1973. A small band of religious extremists threatened the actors with guns, while others set fire to the theatre by lobbing Molotov cocktails from the balcony. As one of the then actors, Charles Greys, pointed out, “Argentina was not ready for Superstar”, so the rehearsals were ended and the production did not take place there (The Pittsburgh Press). The premiere of the show in New London had to deal even with a bomb threat and protest, this time led by young Catholics (The Day). In

1978, pickets were protesting even in front of the Gulf Comprehensive High School in

New Port Richie (Florida) for two nights, where a drama class prepared their own production of Jesus Christ Superstar, with almost 500 children performing. The peaceful protest was organized by five baptist churches in the area who called the musical “perversion of the Biblical and historical Christ” (St. Petersburgh Times).

12 The Norman Jewison film from 1973 has attracted mainly Jewish protesting organizations. Although the shooting of the film in Israel was supported by the Israeli

Film Centre, Orthodox Jews raised opposition in the Israeli Parliament to a Christian production being filmed in a Jewish country. Most of them protested against the portrayal of Jews as those who killed Christ. As Rev. Gerald S. Stober (author of the analysis for American Jewish Comitee, bible scholar and Presbyterian) points out: “Its

[Jewish council] members are portrayed as satanically evil: contemptuous, callous, sadistic and bloodthirsty” (The Milwaukee Journal).

Due to the fact that in the 80´s there were few premieres held, when the protests occur the most, there are no records of major protests from that time.

The Czech Republic was one of the countries where the musical introduction was accompanied by protests. It was in 1994, when members of the

Missionary Department of Unity of Constance were standing near the front gate of the

Prague Holešovice Exhibition Grounds handing out leaflets protesting against the very first musical production of the musical in the Czech Republic. The text titled “The

Christian Opinion of the American musical Jesus Christ - Superstar” was written by a member of Unity, sister Basilea Schlink:

So how could we ever be able to watch such a musical or even endorse him

and applaud it? After all, we applaud the traitor Judas possessed by the

devil. Here, however, he is depicted as a hero who had good reasons to send

Jesus to death... He is celebrated, the audience applauds. And our Lord is

again in front of thousands of viewers around the world presented as a fool,

13 impostor, someone we regret that he himself caused a wreck1 (Kučera 21).

In the new millennium, the number of protests against the musical dropped. Although religious organizations still express their disagreement with the musical (according to

Sweet, in 2008, a Texan Baptist declared: “Every born-again Christian should readily recognise the evil of Jesus Christ Superstar, and should shun it like the plague.”), active protests when the church leaders come out to the streets to demonstrate were recorded mainly in Belfast in 2011 and 2015, when the Free Presbyterian Church positioned themselves against the musical. In both cases, protests were led by Rev Brian McClung,

Minister of Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church & Administrator of

Newtownabbey Independent Christian School. The Jesus Christ Superstar tour of

Ireland in 2011 was picketed by more than 20 Presbyterian ministers who denounced it as “an utter blasphemy” and a “seriously corrupt aberration and shameful misrepresentation of the Christian message” (Belfast Telegraph). A Free Presbyterian protest was held outside the Grand Opera House in Belfast on Saturday afternoon 5th

November 2011. The same group of protesters held the protest against the new production of Jesus Christ Superstar four years later in 2015. This time protesters prepared an F. P. C. leaflet “highlighting the slanderous attack upon the person and work of Jesus Christ, contained in this 'rock opera'” (McClung) and they were handing it to the visitors of the premiere night. The church turned their anger against the authors too, it called them “two sinful, blinded, benighted sinners”, and considered their views unimportant, because “The truth relating to Christ is found alone in the Holy

Scriptures”(McClung).

Jesus Christ Superstar saw multiple performances banned in 2012. The

1 Translated from Czech by the author of this thesis

14 Belarusian Orthodox Church first allowed “the rock opera into the country for a tour in a number of cities – but almost all shows (in Gomel, Mogilyov, Homel and the capital,

Minsk) were cancelled after “outraged” church members complained of the perceived blasphemous nature of the story” (Christian Post). As Echo recalls, an “even louder international outcry soon followed, as the banning was decried as religiously motivated censorship.” Confusion still surrounds who ordered the ban – the theatre suggests that government officials told them they could not stage the show, while authorities have apparently said the St. Petersburg Theatre decided it was best to cancel the show and not cause further strife with the Orthodox community.

The analysis of these protests and protesters shows some common features.

The Baptist Church and the Presbyterian Church are the ones who are protesting most often and most loudly. Protests have also been raised by Christian fundamentalists,

Jewish organizations and many minor churches of various denominations.

Fundamentalists opposed the story´s treatment of the relationship between Jesus and the sinner Mary Magdalene. Catholics protested vigorously the work´s treatment of Christ as a totally human character, subject to monumental doubts and weakness. Jews, too, took exception to the portrayal of Jewish leaders and priests as power-hungry Christ- killers. Small churches were mostly satisfied with the general statement that the musical was blasphemous and offensive towards Christ, without explaining specifically what exactly offended them. In this type of protest, it is possible to sense a certain desire for visibility, as these protesters were almost always minor churches.

Analysis of the Critical Reception - “The Things They Say of You”

The libretto of the musical, which describes the last seven days in the life of

15 Jesus Christ differs from the same events described in the Bible and the words of the musical do not correspond with the verses of the Bible. This was only one of the facts which the musical was accused of. Not only were the events and words changed, but also the characters themselves, their nature, relationships and motivation. Some of these changes have bothered some religious groups so fundamentally that the members felt impelled to come out into the streets and demonstrate in front of the theatres that staged this musical. Often, many protesters have stated that they themselves had not seen the opera, but they had all the information from their friends.

There are several recurrent themes that resound in all the protests and during the whole 40 years since the opening. The main and the most frequently mentioned problem seems to be the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene – in the musical they have a very close relationship and Jesus acts as her protector. Mary´s relationship to Jesus is clearly given, the former harlot loves him with sincere love and she is totally devoted to him, which is presented in her love song “I Don´t Know How to Love Him.”

The denial of Jesus's divinity seems to be an equally fundamental problem.

The opera presents him as an ordinary man whose teaching, fame and glory had got out of his hands; it presents him to the viewers as indecisive, doubting and having fear, which is certainly very far from the image of the Son of God, as known from the Bible.

The problematic view of Jesus' divinity includes also the fact that Jesus Christ

Superstar completely omits the scene of the resurrection and ascension, which is the cornerstone of Christianity.

A fact worth mentioning is that Jesus is seen as a man primarily by Judas, who is not only a symbol of treachery in the Christian religion, but a symbol of the

16 Devil himself “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John

6.70) . The unofficial subtitle of the rock-opera The Gospel of Judas (the story of Jesus as told from his point of view) must therefore literally wake up a fuss in certain religious circles. And, of course, racial motives cannot be ruled out: not only that Judas is played by a black actor in the stage performance as well as in the film (which gives the equation between the blacks, the sin and the Devil), but the rock-opera is criticized also for the view of the Jewish people, who are portrayed as the ones who had killed

Jesus Christ.

This thesis will further analyse all these problematic aspects in order to find the reasons for the controversy that has accompanied the rock opera for more than 40 years.

Jesus Is Viewed through the Eyes of the Devil - “I don´t Like What I See”

The basic idea of the whole opera is to have Christ seen through the eyes of

Judas Iscariot, and Christ as a man not as a god. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber conceived the entire opera as the story of Judas, even the unofficial title of the opera

The Gospel of Judas can be seen in many contemporary descriptions. Judas is the one who sees the story critically, he realizes the seriousness of the situation and understands that if the Jesus' fame becomes too great, it definitely will become an eyesore to the

Romans, and they would want suppress their movement “I am frightened by the crowd /

For we are getting much too loud / And they'll crush us if we go too far” (“Heaven on

Their Minds”). He considers himself as Jesus' friend and sees that things are getting out of his hand and the crowd admires him rather than his teachings “You've begun to matter more / Than the things you say” (“Heaven on Their Minds”). Judas´ view in

17 many ways corresponds with the view of the contemporary man, it completely avoids the signs of religious fascination of his followers. Tim Rice describes:

We made him a type of Everyman. Judas did not think of himself as a

traitor. He did what he did, not because he was basically evil, but because he

was intelligent. He could see Christ becoming something he considered

harmful to the Jews (quoted in Miller).

However, many disagreed with this human point of view. Reverend McClung (Minister of Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church and Administrator of Newtownabbey

Independent Christian School) in his article from 2011 is outraged that the opera presents “how natural man in his sinful and natural ignorance views Christ”:

If it is from Judas’ standpoint it is therefore from the devil’s standpoint.

Christ said of Judas: Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a

devil? John 6:70. He is called the: son of perdition, John 17:12. The

Scriptures speak of the devil entering into him, John 13:37.

Reverend McClung points out that virtually the entire opera has to be seen through the devil's eyes, because only the devil can see Christ die “in defeat and mental turmoil” and the whole of his life as a failure. In his distorted view, the devil ever seeks to denigrate, minimise and pervert the person and work of Jesus Christ. And with reference to the Bible, which counsels to abstain from all appearance of evil, he advises people to avoid the Jesus Christ Superstar, as that counsel “is well worth heeding”.

McClung´s sermons, however, had no significant effect, the attendance of the musical have not changed at all.

18 Relationship with Mary Magdalene - “I Don´t Know How to Love Him”

Some critics found the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene as portrayed in the rock-opera uncomfortably sexual. Her deep feelings “I don't know how to love him / What to do how to move him” and physical attraction to Jesus “I want him so / I love him so” (“I Don´t Know How to Love Him”) are strongly implied. “She wants to comfort Jesus and help him relax; the only way she knows how to do that is by soothing him physically. She bathes him in ointments and oils, rubs his feet, massages his head and shoulders” (Miller). Mary Magdalene is obviously portrayed as a former prostitute, a harlot, who found refuge and protection among Christ's followers who treated women almost equally as men. She herself admits that “I've had so many men before” (“I Don´t Know How to Love Him”), but it´s primarily Judas who repeatedly points out her dubious reputation “That a man like you can waste his time on women of her kind” and the inappropriateness of the relationship between her and Jesus “It's not that I object to her profession / But she doesn't fit in well with what you teach and say”

(“Strange Thing Mystifying”). This shows how Judas is aware of the situation, sees the threats and tries to protect the movement and their potential success. As Miller implies,

“Judas is the PR guy, and Jesus fooling around with an unmarried woman is not the public face they want to put on this movement”.

On the other hand, Jesus treats Mary with real respect, with genuine love, often acts as her protector “Who are you to criticise her? Who are you to despise her?

… / If your slate is clean - then you can throw stones /If your slate is not then leave her alone!” (“Strange Thing Mystifying”) and appreciates her efforts “She alone has tried to give me what I need right here and now” (“What´s the Buzz”). He clearly states that she

19 is his companion “She´s with me now” (“Strange Thing Mystifying”).

In the eyes of fundamentalists, that message is very clear. According to

McClung´s analysis, as the lover of Mary Magdalene, Jesus is an impure sinner. This accusation completely denies the essence of Jesus' teachings and his personality as described in the Scriptures: “Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7.26).

Surprisingly at the first glance, McClung stands for the character of Mary Magdalene too: “Nowhere in all the Bible is there is slightest hint that Mary Magdalene was a harlot. It is said that out of her the Lord cast seven devils”.

Absence of Resurrection Scene - “John 19:41”

The basic plot line of the story of Jesus Christ is a clearly stated sequence of events: Jesus preached, was betrayed, died on the cross and after three days was resurrected and sat alongside his father in heaven. The musical diverges from this story by not finishing it. Jesus Christ Superstar is presented as the story of the last seven days of Jesus Christ's life, that is just those last seven days, not the events after his death and resurrection. The resurrection scene is entirely missing, the story ends in death, which was one of the greatest objections from the religious critics. The absence of the resurrection is also another indication that in the story of the rock-opera, Jesus was really just an unusually extraordinary mortal man. According to Miller, “... Rice told an interviewer that he did not believe Jesus was the son of God, but for him, that made the story all the more amazing”.

After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, slow instrumental tones of the last song called “John 19:41” can be heard. The libretto quotes just this numbered biblical verse,

20 the viewer / listener must find the contents himself. “At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid” (NIV).

Rice and Lloyd Webber both felt the story of Christ, especially the

crucifixion, had been too much romanticized into a beautiful, graceful event,

instead of the brutal, savage act that it had been. To re-open our eyes to the

horror and tragedy of the story, they decided they needed to shock the

audience (Miller).

They really succeeded with this, since most of the contemporary reviews notes the shocking end with the crucifixion and absence of the resurrection (Times, The Christian

Century, Variety). The Times edition in 1971 dedicated four full-color pages, including pictures of Jesus in colourful garb on the cover to the musical premiere on Broadway.

According to a report from the opening evening describing the situation in front of the

Mark Hellinger Theater, the atmosphere was tense:

Simultaneously, religious groups, often from the same denominations as

those flocking inside, proclaim outrage at the show and lament that it does

not include Jesus´ Resurrection. YOU´VE GOT YOUR STORY

TWISTED! JESUS is THE LORD.

This for many Christians shocking end was successfully transferred to the silver screen, perhaps even more strikingly. A group of young actors ended their theatre performance,

Jesus is crucified, they pack their theatre props and leave the place while the song “John

19:41” plays. The final credits of the film can scroll in silence. At the end of the film,

Jesus is conspicuously absent, the actor Ted Neely cannot be seen among the actors

21 returning on the bus at the end. Mark Goodacre in his “Reflections of Jesus Christ

Superstar” finds this as “a bold move” and finds interesting difference between the film and stage versions:

... something of a contrast with the stage versions in which the actors

playing Jesus always return for the curtain-call, often dressed afresh in fine,

glittering costume. ... It is in many ways a bold move, leaving the film's

repeated questions ringing in one's ears.

Insult to the Jewish People - “King of the Jews”

The topic that has been widely discussed in connection with the new production of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway was the question of anti-

Semitism and insults to the Jewish people. According to some Jewish groups, the plot of the musical suggests that the main actors who are to blame for the death of Jesus Christ are primarily his Jewish followers themselves, who are asking Pontius Pilate for

Christ´s death “We have no King but Caesar! Crucify him!”(“Trial Before Pilate”), and then the Jewish High Priests and Annas “We must crush him completely / So like John before him, this Jesus must die / For the sake of the nation this Jesus must die”

(“This Jesus Must Die”). The Chief Priest wanted Jesus to be killed because he was challenging traditional beliefs and those who enforced them and because he thought that

Jesus´ followers´ claim that he was the Messiah was blasphemous. Therefore the High

Priests paid Judas his 30 silver coins for the betrayal of Christ.

The most passionate critic of anti-Semitic ideas in the musical was Marc

Tanenbaum, the director of inter-religious affairs on the American Jewish Committee.

In 1973, he issued a seven-page a line-by-line analysis of the musical´s libretto that

22 concluded that Jesus Christ Superstar was “a singularly damaging setback in the struggle against the religious sources of anti-Semitism” (Sweet) and that “...the show´s creators rival even the Passion Play of Oberammergau2 in blackening Jewish character and posing a threat to Christian-Jewish relations” (Time). Marc Tanenbaum continued in his struggle against the musical and for Jewish rights also after the premiere of the film version of the musical. He published the following text in the leading Christian magazine The Christian Century:

In this age dominated by the revolution of human rights, Universal Pictures,

Norman Jewison, and The Christian Century should have been among the

first to realize that, like all self-respecting peoples — black, brown and red

people among them — the Jewish people will not sit by passively and allow

an "entertainment" to be played out without criticism at the expense of their

dignity and their honor, not to speak of the risk to the very lives of their

brothers and sisters in many parts of the world.

Also, the visual aspect of the film did not escape the attention of the committee. As reported by the American Film Institute, “They furthermore objected to the images of modern army vehicles in the scenes in which Judas considers betraying Christ, which the Committee felt implicated Israel as a militaristic state.” (During the 60's and 70's the so called Arab-Israeli Wars took place, therefore hints at the military state were a thorny issue).

Even today, more than 40 years after the first musical stage performance,

Marc Tanenbaum´s widow Georgette Bennett insists on the veracity of her husband´s

2 Known anti-Semitic Bavarian Passion Play spectacle from 1634, approved by Adolf Hitler

23 view at the time. Even if she now considers Lloyd Webber´s and Rice´s rock-opera to be beautiful and artistic masterpiece, she still regrets that it uses “old, discredited, toxic stereotypes about Jews and Judaism” and “it presents Jews as Christ-killers.” “I just wish my people weren’t its victims,” says Ms Bennett in an interview with Matthew

Sweet.

Jesus Is Confused and Powerless - “Now I´m Sad and Tired”

Given that the authors are depicting Christ as an ordinary man, they are also emphasizing his "human" qualities, such as fear, doubt, indecision, confusion. The musical deals with internal doubts of the characters, the storyline adds scenes and dialogues, which are not described in the Bible, but complete the viewer´s idea of the motives of the different characters. The idea of the whole opera was not only to tell the story of Jesus and Judas, but to show the fact that Christ himself is truly confused and unaware of exactly what he is or what he is meant to do. “Can you show me now that I would not be killed in vain? / Show me just a little of your omnipresent brain; / Show me there's a reason for your wanting me to die; / You're far too keen on where and how, and not so hot on why” (“Gethsemane”).

Reverend McClung rejects this affirmation and with reference to the Bible asserts that

“Christ knew from eternity past the purpose of His coming into the world. He was well acquainted with the 'why'”.

Jesus is even protesting and challenging the will of his father, who wants to send him to the cross, a protest which is strongly influenced by his fear of dying. The strongest example is presented in the song “Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)” that

Jesus sings in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his arrest. Though Jesus has

24 some doubt in the biblical version of the story, those doubts are articulated so completely and so intensely in the show that they sounded to some like more blasphemy, namely i.e. Free Presbyterian Church called it “utter blasphemy”

(McClung).

“If there is a way / Take this cup away from me for I don't want to taste its poison”

“Why then am I scared to finish what I started?”

“Bleed me beat me kill me take me now - before I change my mind!”

James Likoudis does not mince his words and in his characteristics of Christ uses quite harsh words:

The Christ of Jesus Christ, Superstar is a pathetic, shrieking, howling misfit,

a weak, despairing, confused, self-centered and hysterical sort of witch-

doctor, though really quite a boring one at that (we wonder why all the fuss

is made over him). He is ignorant of his mission and destiny, and is also, by

the way, going through an identity crisis.

None of these characteristics could describe the Saviour, Messiah or the Son of God.

Thoughts like “I must be mad thinking I'll be remembered - yes, I must be out of my head” (“The Last Supper”) therefore legitimately cannot, from a Christian perspective, be considered other than as blasphemy.

One particular scene in the musical aroused great displeasure too. After

Jesus thrusts out the money changers and merchants from the temple of Jerusalem, the crowd of people infected with leprosy and other diseases begins to attack him and ask him to heal them with his miraculous touch. However, the people are too many, the

25 crowd is insistent and Jesus cannot cope with them, so he reaches out to them in a rage and despair: “There's too many of you -- don't push me / There's too little of me -- don't crowd me: / Heal yourselves!” (“The Temple”). As reverend McClung points out, this situation is in the strong contrast with the events in the Bible and it happened entirely conversely, Christ willingly healed all who came to him, no one was turned away, as it is described in Matthew 12.15: “Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill”.

In conclusion, McClung is accusing Lloyd Webber and Rice of breaking the third commandment of the Bible, which states: “You shall not misuse the name of the

Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name”

(Exodus 20.7). According to him, this third commandment forbids the peddling of falsehoods about the person of God, which is exactly what the opera, Tim Rice and

Andrew Lloyd Webber and all who play a part in any production of this opera are doing.

Jesus Is a Man - “He´s Just a Man”

The authors describe the rock-opera primarily as a story of two men, Jesus and Judas, that is narrated from the latter´s point of view. Judas sees Jesus as an ordinary man, who suddenly became an unlikely popular person, who at one point made fantastic claims and thought fantastic thoughts, a hapless religious utopian who was misunderstood by the credulous. “We need to humanize Christ, because for me, I find

Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels as a God as a very unrealistic figure” (Tim Rice quoted in Miller). Tim Rice suggest that the big point of Superstar was to show the way people react to Christ. Superstar shows both contradictory views - most people thought

26 of Jesus as a religious icon, but the people who lived and worked around him saw him as just another guy.

Jesus' behaviour really resembles a mere ordinary person in many cases and not the determined Son of God. His closest friends and supporters call him a man many times, Judas “I remember when this whole thing began /No talk of God then - we called you a man” (“Heaven on Their Minds”), “You sad pathetic man - see where you've brought us to” (“The Last Supper”), Mary Magdalene “He's a man, he's just a man /

And I've had so many men before / In very many ways / He's just one more” (“I Don´t

Know How to Love Him”) and even Pontius Pilate “I dreamed I met a Galilean / A most amazing man” (“Pilate´s Dream”). Even Jesus himself calls himself a man in his fervent prayer to God in his weakest moment in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Could you ask as much from any other man?” (“Gethsemane”).

Also many contemporary productions consider Jesus' humanity as a main aspect which needs to be addressed in the stage production. Gale Edwards, director of the London Jesus Christ Superstar production of 1996 explains:

There are many ways of interpreting Jesus Christ Superstar on stage. We set

out to illustrate man´s essential humanity … and where the tragic human

dilemma of the characters would become accessible to a modern day

audience who would hopefully recognize contemporary forces which

operate in our own world (quoted. in the Souvenir Brochure).

James Likoudis, an expert on Catholic apologetics compares the portrayal of Jesus

Christ in this rock-opera to modern rock stars.

Because that's what Christ was, a superstar of his time, widely popular,

27 complete with his own groupies who cared more about his star status then

about his message. He was thronged when he went out in public, and like

many rock stars today, he was considered dangerous and corrupting by the

establishment.

It is that ordinariness and humanity that gives the story resonance and life, but this lack of Divinity outrages Christians. According to Likoudis, this musical is an “attack on the

Faith itself”, “blatant undermining of the motives of credibility for belief in the Divinity of Jesus Christ” and “a caricature of the historical Christ of the New Testament”.

It is an impious caricature. All holiness, all majesty are not only absent, but

the very opposite is portrayed. It is blasphemy by definition. According to

the dictionary, blasphemy is "evil or profane speaking of God or sacred

things" (Likoudis).

This objection that the rock-opera attempts to separate Christ's humanity from the

Divinity by claiming "Jesus is just a man", is probably the strongest of all protests.

Christ´s human aspect is included or closely related to other reasons for Christian protests. Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene is basically sinful and very human, they are portrayed as a man and a woman. There is no resurrection scene, therefore the authors suggest that Jesus simply died, just like every other man. And so he is seen by the devil/Judas - like the common man. The main reason for the protests therefore seems to be that the protesters simply cannot accept the fact that Jesus is not presented as God.

28 Unexpected Support from Vatican - “I´m a Captive Fan”

However, reactions from religious institutions have not been all negative.

The opinion of the highest institution in this area - the Pope and the Vatican, had not been presented to the public until 1973, when a film adaptation of the musical directed by Norman Jewison was first shown. Actor Ted Neeley, who played the main character of Jesus Christ, described in an interview with Vatican Radio the director's concerns regarding the acceptance of the film. Given that the stage production on Broadway and a live version of the musical were accompanied by numerous protests, the director asked for a private audience with the Pope Paul VI to see the film.

The two of them sat down together and watched the film, and the Pope said:

‘this is a good film, I think this film will open the eyes to people around the

world’. He said that he felt that the music was so inviting and so spiritual

that it would spread the essence of Christ worldwide… so we got his

blessing to release the film (Neeley).

Despite this official approval of the film, some Roman Catholics demonstrated at the film´s opening anyway. The rock-opera made a real musical impression on Pope Paul

VI, as Jesus Christ Superstar is cited as his favourite recording in his biography

(Battell).

But it was more than two decades later, in 2000, when the musical received its second blessing from Vatican, when the Vatican rehabilitated the musical as an appropriate spectacle for pilgrims. A production by Massimo Romeo Piparo’s Peep

Arrow company was endorsed by the Vatican’s official 2000 Jubilee programme. The version approved by the Vatican was included in the official programme for the

29 Catholic festival held in Rome every 25 years and visited by more than 23 million pilgrims (The Guardian). Songs from the show were performed for John Paul II during the Jubilee celebrations. Vatican Radio has broadcasted excerpts of the show on multiple occasions, alongside comments from both Lloyd Webber and Rice alongside some from Catholic dignitaries. “Nothing like this has ever been broadcast on Vatican

Radio until now,” a spokesman from Vatican Radio was quoted as saying. “But we feel this is a work of considerable importance” (Alive Publishing). The second part of the official statement was very similar to that of 25 years ago expressed by Pope Paul VI:

“In the modern piece the suffering of Christ is seen with more human insight and the figure of the Redeemer is brought even closer to mankind than through the Holy

Scriptures” (Echo).

This unprecedented move raised more conciliatory response from other church leaders and theologians. For example, Gerald O'Collins, a professor of theology at Gregorian university in Rome, said in his interview for The Guardian: “Accusations that the musical demeaned or trivialised Jesus were misplaced. Christians have been depicting him on stage since the passion plays of the middle ages. This is no different."

The authors of the musical were of course very pleased with the support of the Vatican, even after so many years. Both were aware that their musical is not the standard view of the biblical story and that protests would follow, which was confirmed numerous times for the 40 years of Jesus Christ Superstar playing on many of the world

´s theatre stages. However, the authors expected protests mainly in Catholic countries, such as Italy and Vatican. “But oddly enough, it has been better received there than in some of the Church of England areas. We think that it must be that they have

30 heightened awareness of religious subjects – as opposed to what can only be described as apathy in England,” stated Tim Rice, as mentioned in Alive Publishing.

During the Jubilee in the year 2000, the Vatican issued yet another statement that while it directly does not apply to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, it applies to the rock music. As noted in The Guardian, on the eve of a May Day concert headlined by Lou Reed, Alanis Morisette and Eurythmics, the Vatican has announced that rock music is not diabolical. Fernando Charrier, the bishop in charge of the

Vatican's May Day celebrations proclaimed:

Do not be astonished. Rock is an expression of today's world, particularly

dear to the young. All forms of human expressions, when they have dignity,

command respect. I do not believe that there has ever existed a form of rock

that is diabolical.

It's an indication that the formerly so uptight Roman Catholic Church has changed its position and views and it is able to accept evolution in the world of music and adapt itself to the contemporary modern culture.

Conclusion

For the more than 40 years of its existence, the musical Jesus Christ

Superstar has become an absolute phenomenon on the world´s musical scene. Its unusual approach to the theme, often controversial rendition and combination of rock music and the biblical theme of the last seven days of Jesus Christ's life broke the then rules of the genre. After the success of the musical, its authors (both in their early twenties) solidified their position as renowned musical artists. Worldwide, audiences

31 acclaimed the musical, but in many countries it met negative reactions from certain religious organizations and it was often accused of blasphemy and desecration of Jesus

Christ.

The aim of my thesis was to analyse these protests and to find common reasons for the rock opera being a thorn in religious organizations´ sides, not only at the time of its creation, but also in the present. Each of the churches has found their own topic to protest against (fundamentalists opposed the relationship between Jesus and

Mary Magdalene, Catholics protested against the portrayal of Christ as a totally human character and Jews against the presentation of Jewish leaders as Christ-killers). The common characteristics of protesting organizations was their thoroughly orthodox and fundamentalist orientation. In many cases, however, a certain attempt to gain attention and make the church visible can be identified in these protests, because most of them are minor church organizations.

Common topics emerge from these protests against the musical: Jesus is entangled in a very close (to many almost sexual) relationship with Mary Magdalene; the story is seen from the perspective of Judas / devil; there is the absence of the resurrection and ascension scene in the musical; the musical offends the Jewish and the black community; Jesus is depicted as indecisive, confused and powerless; and above all, Jesus is presented as a man. This humanity and not the “divinity” factor that can be observed in every other of the above mentioned topics, can be perceived as a kind of red thread that pervades all the themes of protests and unites them in a single conclusion – the protesting religious organizations saw the main problem of the musical in portraying

Jesus as an ordinary man, and in not presenting him as God.

32 Although more than 40 years have already passed since the creation of the musical, the protests appear also in the present day (for example in Belarus in 2012), despite the fact that even the Vatican expressed its positive opinion on the musical.

With an official Vatican outlet giving credit to Lloyd Webber’s and Rice’s

work, it seems the religious world continues divided over whether to

embrace artistic freedom and modern takes on Biblical history, or to

dismiss them as blasphemous and inappropriate (Echo).

According to Vatican´s representatives, the musical is only the modern form of Passion plays, which have depicted the life of Jesus Christ for centuries. The musical represents a further and very suitable way in which it is possible to acquaint the public with the story of Jesus Christ and therefore to bring modern young people who otherwise never visit the church to Christianity and to God.

Jesus Christ Superstar is therefore part of a long tradition of dramatizing the

story of Christ from the middle ages to the present day. As an enormously

successful rock opera it appealed to a generation for whom music had been

a symbol and expression of youth culture and it worked, for the same

reasons, as a film in 1973. As a musical it has appealed to a larger and wider

audience than any of the stories of Christ and in re-opening the Lyceum it

combines this great theatre´s traditions of drama, music and dance to tell

what has been described as The Greatest Story Ever Told (Souvenir

Brochure).

Jesus Christ Superstar is a timeless work, as evidenced by the constant further and further productions worldwide, which are not afraid of setting Jesus's story in the

33 environment of the modern society (like newly showing production in Ostrava from

2016). Although the present criticism and protests against new productions are easing

(productions are not criticised so much for religious reasons, but rather for technical and theatrical treatment), we can assume that they will continue to occur in the future. The timelessness of not only the musical, but also of the story of Jesus Christ, guarantees that it will inspire passions and protests in the future, just as it inspired them in the time of the creation of the musical or 2,000 years ago.

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36 05 Apr. 2016.

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38 Summary

The aim of this bachelor´s thesis is to analyse protests against the musical

Jesus Christ Superstar by Sir Tim Rice and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and to find common reasons for the rock opera stirring controversy in some religious circles for 40 years.

A biblical story seen through the eyes of modern man and presented as a rock musical was released in 1971 as a double album, the Broadway production and the film version followed. Jesus Christ Superstar met an enormous success with millions of albums sold, successful productions in more than forty countries and an Academy

Award nomination for the best screenplay adaptation. Thanks to its unconventional approach to the biblical story it remains the most protested-against work in the history of musical theatre.

The analysis for this thesis showed that each of the protesting churches has found their own topic to protest against. The Baptist Church and the Presbyterian

Church are the ones who are protesting most often and most loudly. The common characteristics of protesting organizations is their thoroughly orthodox and fundamentalist orientation. In many cases, however, a certain attempt to gain attention and make the church visible can be identified in these protests.

Common topics emerge from these protests against the musical, such as

Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene, the absence of the resurrection scene, insult to the Jewish community and above all, the portrayal of Jesus as an ordinary man and not as God. Despite of the protests, the reaction from the Vatican was positive.

39 Shrnutí

Cílem této bakalářské práce je analyzovat protesty proti muzikálu Jesus

Christ Superstar autorů Sira Tima Rice a Lorda Andrew Lloyd Webbera a najít společné důvody, díky kterým tento muzikál vzbuzuje již 40 let kontroverzní reakce v různých církevních kruzích.

Biblický příběh viděný očima moderního člověka, který je představen formou rockového muzikálu byl nejdříve vydán v roce 1971 jako dvojalbum, následovalo představení na Broadwayi a filmová verze. Jesus Christ Superstar dosáhl ohromného úspěchu v podobě milionů prodaných alb, úspěšných představení ve více než čtyřiceti zemích a nominace na Oskara za nejlepší adaptovaný scénář. Díky svému nekonvenčnímu přístupu k biblickému tématu zůstává dílem, který vzbudil nejvíce protestů v historii muzikálového divadla.

Analýza v této práci ukázala, že každá z protestujících církví si v muzikálu našla konkrétní téma, proti kterému protestovala. Nejčastějšími a nejhlasitěji protestujícími byli baptisté a presbyteriáni. Společnou charakteristikou těchto církví bylo jejich veskrze ortodoxní a fundamentalistické zaměření. V mnoha případech je však za protesty možné vysledovat také určitý pokus o zviditelnění a získání pozornosti.

Všechny protesty proti muzikálu mají několik společných témat, např.

Ježíšův vztah s Máří Magdalenou, absenci scény Ježíšova vzkříšení, urážka židovské komunity a především zobrazení zobrazení Ježíše jako obyčejného člověka a nikoliv jako boha. Reakce z Vatikánu však byla navzdory všem protestům pozitivní.

40