Mine is a toss-up between Caiaphas and Judas. Both played by actors with AMAZING voices, and both extremely hot (in my opinion). Furthermore, both had the most entertaining songs in the show.
But that's just my opinion. Who were your favourite characters in the show?
Hmmm, I don't think I had any favorites, altho Judas was especially compelling. All the characters were perfectly cast, IMO. I agree that Caiphas was extremely hot....
shareI first saw this movie when I was 10 years old, and I had a crush on Jesus, Judas, and Pontius Pilate! At the time I found that extremely confusing :S
shareI agree, Judas was excellent but my favorite is Simon Zealot. He has a great voice. The most disappointing was Ted Neely; he did not have the voice to pull this off. Is anyone else annoyed by the breath intake when Yvonne Elliman sings?
shareI like most of the the characters. I especially like Jesus, Simon, Judas, Mary Magdalene and Caiaphas.
"The most important thing is being sincere, even if you have to fake it." - Cesar Romero
[deleted]
I'm currently watching the movie and my favorite characters are Jesus, Judas, and Mary M. They're all fabulous singers and interesting characters, especially Jesus.
shareYvonne Elliman is the only reason I watch this repeatedly.
Everything between her songs is just filler.
I don't like the fact that it seems Yvonne's character (Mary M) was in love-if not infatuated-by Jesus when it is not true...not in THAT sense.
While Ted was good looking, he didn't have a strong voice...it was kind of horsey and scratchy. It sounds like the music was too high for his vocal range and he has to strain to reach the high notes.
How do you *know* it's not true? I mean, really? All of the books of the Bible were written at least a generation after Jesus died -- maybe she WAS in love with him!
I just don't think we know... and I think it's as plausible a theory as any other. It never even hints that Jesus returned her feelings for him, just that he cared for her deeply.
Depends on what you mean. In terms of the characters in the opera, or the performances by the players in the movie? As far as the characters, I love Judas, Caiaphas (and Annas in the movie; he's not so present in the original album, without "Then We Are Decided"), and Pilate. Oh, and Herod. I love Herod's perfectly reasonable reaction to Jesus: I'm totally willing to believe, just show me the evidence! But as far as the movie cast, not all of them lived up to my hopes (as a big fan of the original album). Never liked movie Caiaphas' voice as much as album Caiaphas. And movie Herod was a bit over the top, and a pretty bad singer. Made for some nice comic relief, but I'm not sure I can list him as a favorite. For movie performance, it has to be Judas and Pilate.
shareWhile you make a convincing argument, you're rooting for the wrong team.
shareOh no, I am decidedly rooting for the right team. That's a big part of what I love about JCS, it is even-handed and ambiguous about who the "right" team is, and I stand with those who say "He's just a man."
I half agree with you. It does a good job explaining where all the characters come from. Plus, one of the things that makes Herod's song so funny is that he has a point in his mocking, but if you think Herod is actually a reasonable sceptic, you are missreading his character. He is definitely supposed to be an insane, degenerate bully. (His other big part in the bible is killing all male babies when Jesus is born, because the prophesy said the king of the Jews arrived. So much for reason. That wasn't in the film of course, but that's the context for this character mocking "The king of the Jews" when he can.)
shareI'm talking about Jesus Christ Superstar, not the bible, and not history. I'm perfectly willing to accept that Herod was not a good guy in real life, but in the movie (and the original album), he's absolutely a reasonable skeptic. In fact, he's not even a skeptic initially, he's hoping that Jesus *will* prove himself.
No, you're misreading what the character is in the movie. He does not want Jesus to prove himself at all. He says he does, as a way of mocking. For the actual power loving ruler of the jews to use the term "King of the Jews" means something, namely that said person is a potential threat. Fortunately for Herod Jesus seemed a loser and he could have some fun. No matter how much you ignore the bible or history, this is kinda self-explanatory.
shareI thoroughly and completely disagree. I don't hear mockery in the voice, I don't see it in the expression. I believe you are allowing your background knowledge of the historic figure to color your interpretation. But so be it, let us just agree to disagree.
in the biblical account it is suggested that herod was genuinely eager to witness a miraculous work by jesus, and he rightly took jesus' refusal to demonstrate his power as a judgement of himself... when jesus performs miracles in the gospel accounts, he does it on account of the faith of his meek supplicants in his ability to help them. herod's doubt and need for a sign of faith is his own judgement against his own faith and pride. unwilling to see the sin of his pride, repent, and humble himself, he turns his anger against jesus.
moreover, "king of the jews" does mean something to herod, but it cannot have been limited to the role of "threat to his authority"... a messianic jew from a noble line, who governed only with the approval of rome, very plausibly saw salvation and freedom for israel in the arrival of the messiah, who, far from threatening his power, could promise to expand it. he was further angered because the image of jesus did not conform to his idea of the messiah as a powerful ruler of state (and surely he could not predict that he would fulfill the prophecy by converting all of rome to the worship of the god of the jews).
also, the herod who orders the mass slaughter of infants (Herod the Great) is the father of Herod Antipas, who is the Herod who has John the Baptist murdered and to whom Pilate has Jesus sent for trial. remember it was at the death of Herod (the Great) that jesus' family returned with him to galilee.
also, the herod who orders the mass slaughter of infants (Herod the Great) is the father of Herod Antipas, who is the Herod who has John the Baptist murdered and to whom Pilate has Jesus sent for trial. remember it was at the death of Herod (the Great) that jesus' family returned with him to galilee.Wow, I absolutely was not aware of that. They really should have given that character a different name! j/k j/k
moreover, "king of the jews" does mean something to herod, but it cannot have been limited to the role of "threat to his authority"... a messianic jew from a noble line, who governed only with the approval of rome, very plausibly saw salvation and freedom for israel in the arrival of the messiah, who, far from threatening his power, could promise to expand it.But here we are back to the crazy elder Herod, who was prepared to kill the "King of the Jews" before he even had the chance to talk. So you can't say, it can't be.
i agree that it's not certain if these considerations factor into JCS's depiction of king herod... for sure, his pride is played for as much theatricality as its worth. and also, since the play/film bears a kind of skeptical attitude, the herod of JCS may well be a greater skeptic than the Herod Antipas of the bible. still, for me, the abrupt and vicious change of tone toward the end of herod's song suggests an earnestness behind the mockery of the preceding parts... he shows real disappointment in his anger, which means there is something in him to be disappointed. herod wants, but does not want to believe. a small part of him wanted to be relieved of the burden of his own pride. but maybe these are just projections from the biblical account, and not in the spirit of JCS. not sure.
anyway, not really an argument, but rather just another bit of background on the biblical herod's attitude toward jesus:
Mark 6:14 King Herod heard about this [i.e., the healing miracles of Jesus], for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,[a] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”share
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
Annas is a character and has singing parts on the original album, but the voices of Caiaphas and Annas aren't as noticeably different as in the movie version.
shareAgreed- Annas and Pontius are AWESOME.
And yeah, Yvonne had an irritating voice. Ted Neely's voice is definitely thin and reedy, but since I grew up with him playing Jesus, I always feel like he's the quintessential Jesus.
I always liked Pilate...even the real one. After all, he DID try to save Jesus' life to a point; I think he washed his hands of it when he realized it was pointless to keep trying and simply gave up and the crucifixion was inevitable; In real life I understand the REAL Pilate always regretted that decision (any decent person would). I think it was the hairstyle of the actor. Have no idea what the real Pontius looked like, but wish I did.
shareFrom what I understand, the historical Pilate didn't regret it a bit; he was a fairly loathesome character who regularly crucified people without any regrets whatsoever.
sharePersonally, I like Yvonne Elliman's vocals. I find them to be very soulful and expressive without becoming maudlin. I didn't always notice her so much but I do now and I must say that I dig her style. I think it was partially from watching the 2000 video version of Superstar, where Mary was a little over-the-top and injected emotion into her performances that, to me, felt fake and forced compared to Yvonne's performances. Unlike some fans, I don't despise the 2000 production. I think it's very interesting in its own right, even though I saw the 1973 movie first of any version of Superstar and it did take me a while to warm up to the other interpretations. I still have trouble listening to Ben Vereen's Judas (from the Broadway recording, was it?) compared to Carl Anderson or Murray Head--or even Jerome Pradon from the 2000 version. Although some people complain about his vocals, I think he put a lot into that performance and ended up making the character his own for the duration of it. I think it's a mistake to compare different versions too much. Even though they're the same show, they become apples and oranges at a point. You have different artists aiming for variations on the same thing. Interpretations are intentionally different and contrasting at times, especially between the two movie versions. Don't focus too much on comparing. Just watch and take in what is.
"Sometimes it's right to feel a fool"- Cleggy
I also love Caiaphas' deep voice. But for some reason, I think Pilate has always been my favorite character in the movie. I think he was cast spot on, and I just like the way the actor (and the story, of course) captures Pilate's position and dilemma.
shareIn Pontius' Dream you can tell that there is an inner struggle going on...his own personal feelings toward Jesus but is constricted by his position. And that perhaps he wishes he could've done more.
shareMy favorite character is definitely Simon the Zealot.
sharePeter. Portrayed by Paul Thomas one of the best porn stars of all time in a movie about Jesus! Is that irony? Or just coincidence?
Well, actually it's Judas--Carl Andersen was fantastic!
Oh, there's just one more thing... - RIP, Peter.
Caiaphas was pretty bad ass, but Judas, or specifically Carl Anderson stole the show.
He just oozed charisma. Couldn't take your eyes off him.
I liked Pilate's two maidens (or whatever they were), the actor who played Thomas (I think that's the one), Mary Madelene.
If Mary-Jesus's mom was in the movie, SHE would've been the absolute favorite above all others.
In short, the good characters in the movie.