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| re: Ted Neeley - Jesus Christ Superstar | |
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rockfenris2005 03:55 am UTC 10/31/10 |
| In reply to: | Ted Neeley - Jesus Christ Superstar - steven_stuart 11:39 pm UTC 10/30/10 |
Ted also co-wrote the song "If you really want to" on Meat Loaf's third album "Midnight at the lost and found" (in case you didn't know that already. Well, you never know. I presume all the time that people just know these things.) That was released as a single, and it's one of the videos on "Hits out of Hell" but it wasn't included on the actual album. Does anybody know why? (And nobody say it's because it's shit. I actually quite like it.) The problem I had with the "Jesus Christ Superstar" movie (though Ted is brilliant, of course, and Carl Anderson) is that I think they should have stuck with Tim Rice’s idea which was to make a more traditional biblical epic like "The Ten Commandments". This would have looked amazing, with the rock music in contrast. And I don't think it would have dated. Well, the music certainly hasn't dated, in my opinion. It's probably Webber's most vibrant score (some of his later ones like "Aspects of Love" do tend to drag a bit.) I did hear that there are plans for a remake so it'll be very interesting to see what that would be like (I don't count the video RUG released in 2000. Jerome Pradon was terrible, the worst Judas I have ever encountered.) And this could go into a whole other topic, because I don't think any of the film adaptations of Webber's musicals have ever been done well. I didn’t think Alan Parker did a good job with "Evita" either (but that was always going to be a challenge) and I didn't like his take on "The Wall" either. It was too depressing and dark. The original album actually has a sense of humour. "The Phantom of the Opera" Joel Schumacher directed was an utter abomination. The Phantom is not supposed to be beautiful, and his disfigurement was more like a rash. That was the main problem I had with it, that and that it needed to be darker. I hope somebody remakes it in the future (the near future...) I've never seen Ted live. I'm only judging by what I've seen and heard, the film and bootlegs etc. And even then, he's the best Jesus IMO. Ian Gillan on the original concept recording is still very good. And I believe "Superstar" was Tim's idea, as was "Evita". > There is an interesting discussion going on in the page > before this one, in the "Disturbing Films For Halloween" > thread. It is about Ted Neeley (who played Jesus in the > film version of "Jesus Christ Superstar"). Unfortunately > the newer posts are now lost in the previous page, so > please forgive me for starting a new thread (although it > is also a different subject that deserves its own thread. > It came up in that thread because I thought LordRahl > dressing up as Ted Neeley for Halloween every year during > his childhood was very amusing). > > Ryan replied: > > "Speaking of Ted Neeley, I'm not the only one who's > noticed him mentioned here quite a few times. > Is it because of the Meat Loaf connection? Or the fact > that many of us have come to admire him for his > performance in "Jesus Christ Superstar" (he IS the > definitive Jesus, in my mind, the way Elaine Paige is the > definitive Grizabella, and Michael Crawford is the > definitive Phantom, though Anthony Warlow is very good.) > > I still have the autograph that Gibson sent me as a > present once. He even tried to get me to speak to Ted on > the phone, calling all the way from the theatre to > Australia on a hot afternoon as we were preparing for > Mum's 50th, and Gibson was about to meet Ted, but then the > phone died, but I still got my autograph in the post and > Ted writing me to say that he wished me all the best with > my writing. > > And Gibson and Ted have spoken many times now. Ted, in > addition to being a sensational truly iconic talent, has > always been terrific with his supporters. And his Jesus > will go down in history with all the other great musical > theatre portrayals." > > Ryan, I think Ted Neeley first came up on the board > because someone was talking about Meat Loaf's "Dead > Ringer" movie and when I looked at the link they supplied, > I noticed that Ted Neeley was one of Meat's backup > singers. I was actually very surprised because I thought > of Ted as the star of one of my favourite movies and here > he was listed as a backup singer. But Gibson (who knows > Ted, as you pointed out) told me that Ted really loved > that period and has very fond memories of working on that > tour (I think it was the 1981 tour). > > BTW, what does everyone think of the "Jesus Christ > Superstar" movie? I heard that it was considered a failure > when it came out (I think in 1973) for both artistic and > financial reasons. Maybe people had just had enough of JCS > mania when it was released. Personally I love that film > (unfortunately I have never seen it in a cinema). I love > Ted, Yvonne Elliman (another link to Jim of course), the > chap who played Herod and the chap who played Judas. > > LordRahl replied to Ryan: > > "I wish I had known Gibson was friends with Ted. I would > have asked him to let Mr. Neeley know that I was in the > audience of his touring JCS show this past February! Ugh. > Failed :-( > > Id do anything to just say thank you for being such a > great inspiration in my life. He and Jim and Meat..." > > LordRahl, you are really lucky to have seen Ted live. > Ryan, have you ever seen him playing Jesus live? Has > anyone else seen him live? Does he ever tour the UK with > JCS? > > Gosh. I guess we have to give credit to ALW and Tim Rice > for writing JCS in the first place (and also to Robert > Stigwood and David Land). Was it Tim's idea or Andrew's > idea? | |
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