Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert

I'm a HUGE fan of this musical and have seen it countless times in various settings and casts. This being said I'll tell you why the mixed feelings:

I did appreciate the modern setting as it is close to the previously recorded (2000) dvd version which I've also seen live on stage and which gives the story a modern twist that makes it somewhat relatable in the 2000somethings so that was OK.

The main cast was not really mine though and I'm saying this with the most respect and appreciation for each of them as individual performers. John Legend is an amazing musician and that is a fact. Still he doesn't habe the vocal range to portray jesus nor the energy as an actor to do the part justice. Compare him to glenn carter of the 2000 recording. No match there.

Judas is a lot better cast then the 2000 version with much better vocal skills than jerome pradon...BUT that's not hard since a hoarse cat's meow sounds better than him (to be fair, he sort of hinted at that himself in an interview). So I'm neither in favor nor against brandon victor Dixon even though I might have liked to see Tony Vincent instead. He was amazing on Broadway.

Sara bareilles was OK as well, though I did love Rene Castle. Do neither pro nor con here.

Alice cooper was no match for 2000's rick mayal and was probably mainly cast for his VIP status.

If you've ever seen Fred Johanson (preferably live on stage) you will know why I won't even begin to explain how was no match for his Pilate...

The 2000 version of caiaphas and annas were also much better (voice wise) in my opinion, though Norm Lewis wasn't necessarily bad, just a bit off on some notes so OK I guess.

The cast for Simon with Eric Grönwall was ok, the Cast for Peter wasn't really if you compare Jason Tam to Cavin Cornwall. Especially Could we start again please was so much better with him and Rene Castle really giving you the chills.

I know I'm mainly comparing two recorded shows here but I thought that would be just fair since it's almost the same conditions whereas nothing lives up to a live performance and the 1973 version is more like a movie than a recording. Also I do not comment on the Commercial complaints since I saw the whole thing recorded and could skip them.

Basically this is why I habe mixed feelings and would probably stick to the 2000 version even though they featured an insufferable Judas. Although I did like the setting and I enjoyed watching a new version as I think it gives an old show some credit.

I'll be honest I'm a musical theater geek and I have been very disappointed with the latest shows like hairspray and a Christmas story, but this has been amazing! NBC really hit the jackpot with this one! John legend puts his own spin on Jesus and Brandon Victor Dixon is a phenomenal performer as Judas and blew me away. I hope FOX and CBS and ABC take note from nbc and put on phenomenal performances like this one!

Dear execs at NBC

I love your idea of presenting live Broadway shows. But it really ruins the moment when a sad song like "I don't know how to love him" is followed by a PCS commercial and a KFC commercial and commercial after commercial after commercial. If you are going to do keep doing things like this, and I hope you do, they need to be done with limited commercial interruptions. The overrun of commercials just kills this for me.

Well, that's not truly fair. The hyped up crowd is taking away from the show as well. They really need to take it down a level or four. Maybe a Prozac placed on each seat when they walk in? Otherwise, the cast is very good, as expected, and I enjoy the staging. But I am furious at NBC for all the commercials. You can't treat a live performance of a Broadway Musical like your other shows.

2020 edit - NBC has had two years to listen to the complaints, and while they have the power to reduce the number of commercials, which ruins the flow, they instead decided to re-air and if anything they increased the number of commercial breaks. Please, NBC, no more airing of live Broadway musicals. You obviously don't have a clue how to do them.

I'm a professional musician, and JCS is my favorite musical. I've seen it twice live with Ted Neeley. I thought the overall production was good. I liked the ensemble and excitement of the live televised show. For me, Dixon was the stand out and really made the show worth watching. I liked Bareilles and thought Alice Cooper was a cool choice for Herod. I think John Legend has a beautiful voice, and there's a sweetness to him.... but I don't think he was the right choice for this role. I would've liked a stronger presence for the role of Jesus. He seemed almost uncomfortable, while the rest of the major roles were filled by people who really owned them. I appreciated seeing this on tv, even with all the commercials...

Having read the reviews below I'm glad I'm watching this on Sky Arts in the UK.

There are no adverts - I can't imagine how badly this would be with commercials every five minutes. It would destroy the flow and all emotion.

There are comments below also about the sound mix and I can only think this was fixed also as the version I'm watching is decent.

All on all it's a great production, well cast and presented. I think that the ensemble are particularly good.

It can't be compared to the 1970s movie (which is excellent in its own right) as it is a filming of the stage but I find it impressive.