Jesus Christ Superstar: Original Broadway Cast (1971)

The original Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar, at the time and since, has remained what might be considered a polarizer. Some people -- Andrew Lloyd Webber included; he has frequently remarked about this -- hated it, and some people absolutely (pardon the pun) worshiped it. Its director Tom O’Horgan (Hair), to quote an obituary by West End critic Michael Coveney, “filled the stage with huge angels swinging on psychedelic wings across shimmering, surreal sets, laser beams, dancing dwarves and lepers, and a crucifixion scene set on a dazzling golden triangle.“ (In his one concession in almost 50 years to O’Horgan’s cleverness, Webber admitted to liking the opening: “The floor of the stage was vertical, and, as it went down, people swarmed over the top of it, like ants.“) This approach has never sat all that well with those who feel that JCS should be starker and more gripping, and less a wacky, outrageous synthesis of multiple influences. Ultimately, all that