Maria Marauder: Jesus Christ Superstar

There are many Filipino superstitious beliefs pertaining to Holy week. My mother forbid us to take a bath after 3:00 p.m. on Good Fridays because Jesus died at that time (up to now, I don't know the rationale behind that). Some say that because the Lord is dead, it is the time when bad spirits and the devils roam around. Hard core supernaturalists even believe that they can get anting-anting in the cemetery on the night of Good Fridays.

Believe them or not, we all look forward to the Holy Week because of the promise of a renewed faith. And yes, because of a promise of a long, relaxing four-day vacation.

Movie Recall: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

The Story:

This rock opera film written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice tells the final six days in the life of Jesus Christ, through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. No dialogue was spoken, everything was sung.

My Review:

Since there were no form of entertainment for us during the Holy Week, and our mom didn’t allow us to play out nor listen to our favourite popular songs, Jesus Christ Superstar movie was the only one I got interested in watching. The performances of the actors were entertainingly dramatic and at the same time comical verging to OA (kasi nga it was written for stage too). But I just loved the artistic musical interpretation of the last days of Jesus. A lot of conservative Catholics may not have been too accepting of this movie interpretation, but to the hippie crowd of the 70's, it was napapanahon.The songs were memorable and brilliantly written and sung. It was (and still is) my perfect excuse to sing out loud on Good Friday.

Trivia:

One young actor who auditioned for the role of Jesus was a young 17 year-old actor from New Jersey. That actor was none other than John Travolta and even though he didn't get the part, producer Robert Stigwood kept the young actor in mind for any future productions. Three years later Stigwood would cast Travolta for the lead in the film that would make Travolta a star, Saturday Night Fever (1977).

The "39 Lashes" scene in Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) was so realistic that Ted Neeley's mother walked out on it. Mrs. Neeley had never laid a hand on young Ted in an anything but affectionate manner, and could not bear the sight of her son being whipped and tortured by anyone else, even though she knew it was just acting.

Tragedy almost struck for real while the Crucifixion was being filmed. The Roman soldier we see nailing Christ to the cross is an Israeli actor who spoke very limited English; consequently, he thought Ted Neeley was actually supposed to have nails hammered through his hands! Just in time, director Norman Jewison saw what was happening and screamed, "NO! NOT IN THE HAND!"

Norman Jewison managed only two takes of "The Temple". Thanks to Ted Neeley's more thorough than expected ransacking of the set, they ran out of unbroken props after only those two takes.

( http://www.imdb.com/)

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