Dirty Weird! Jesus Story!

<p>Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ opened at New York’s Mark Hellinger Theater on 12th October, 1971. <em>The Guardian</em> summarized the show as “the work of two young Englishmen, from an original story by God.”</p><br><p>The production was the first to be mounted in a traditional venue - but was far from being the first live performance of the rock opera, which had been staged in a series of illegal and unathorised concerts across America, following the incredible popularity of the original concept album there.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how a failed bid to write a Eurovision entry led to the genesis of this iconic musical; consider why the album performed underwhelmingly in Britain before storming the States; and reveal why Lloyd Webber believed his Broadway debut was ‘one of the worst nights’ of his life…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Look Back at the Original Broadway Production of Jesus Christ Superstar’ (Playbill, 2019): <a href="https://www.playbill.com/article/look-back-at-the-original-broadway-production-of-jesus-christ-superstar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.playbill.com/article/look-back-at-the-original-broadway-production-of-jesus-christ-superstar</a></p><p>• ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar: Jews, Christians and Andrew Lloyd Webber hated the show at first’ (Stuff, 2018): <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stage-and-theatre/102773312/jesus-christ-superstar-jews-christians-and-andrew-lloyd-webber-hated-the-show-at-first" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stage-and-theatre/102773312/jesus-christ-superstar-jews-christians-and-andrew-lloyd-webber-hated-the-show-at-first</a></p><p>• ‘Jesus Christ Superstar: 1971 Broadway Production (Rehearsals, Opening Night)’: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg08h-s14yA&t=4s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg08h-s14yA&t=4s</a></p><br><p><strong>Love the show? Join </strong>🌴<strong>CLUB RETROSPECTORS </strong>🌴<strong> to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!</strong></p><p>Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.</p><p><strong>Join now via </strong><a href="https://apple.co/3xCWWQX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Apple Podcasts</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="https://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon</strong></a><strong>. </strong>Thanks!</p><br><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Today In History with The Retrospectors