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| re: Ted Neeley - Jesus Christ Superstar | |
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rockfenris2005 03:15 am UTC 11/04/10 |
| In reply to: | re: Ted Neeley - Jesus Christ Superstar - steven_stuart 11:02 pm UTC 11/03/10 |
> > 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.) > > Oh yes. I heard that somewhere ages ago. Did you like the > song? I love the song. Gibson tells me that Meat and Ted became close > friends before either met Jim, when they were in "Hair" > together. > > Then Ted can be linked to Jim because they were both > involved with Robert Stigwood at the same time. Its a > small world. Of course both Jim and Ted have worked with > the wonderful Yvonne Elliman. It's a shame then that Jim didn't work with Ted on an album. You'd think Mr Stigwood would have had the initiative to suggest that. And it seems like such a likely combination. After all, Ted's "Gethsemane" is as soaring as Meat's "For crying out loud". > > > 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.) > > Oops. You've answered my question. I haven't seen the > video. Is Ted in it? I wonder why it wasn't on the album > if it had been released as a single. How odd. Ted is not in the video. It's Meat Loaf and a vampire lady. > > > 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.) > > To me "Aspects" is very dull compared to "Jesus". One has > to remeber that JCS mania broke out in the US. Stigwood > had a team of people closing down the hundreds of amateur > productions that started cropping up. Yes, that's correct, and sometimes they would combine it with "Godspell" or religious hymns so that they couldn't be sued or shut down. It was because of these amateur productions that Stigwood eventually opened the tour. I also have to mention that ALW and Tim Rice are currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original concept album release. Pity they couldn't release a new version of it. I haven't seen it in stores, ever. I own both the Australian releases of the UK and US versions on vinyl. Although, if there > is anyone on the board who prefers "Aspects", I would be > interested to hear from you. Some might say that it's wrong to compare them, but you can't help it when it's the same composer. You wish that he had done more rock musicals. "Whistle" was good. > > I wonder if filming everything in Israel was to make it > more realistic or because they could make it > inexpensively? There weren't many props. Bill Kenwright > would have approved. Although I loved the casting. > > > 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.) > > Didn't ALW say that the Japanese stage version which > played the West End a few years ago was his favourite > JCS? > Yes, I believe he did, yes. And I think he also really liked the Australian Jim Sharman production which is why he moved it to the West End where it became his first long-running show. > > 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. > > I liked the album of "The Wall" much better than the film. > Did your hero Michael Kamen do the arrangements for both > the album and the film? I know he worked on the film. I > will be very interested to see what they have done with > "The Wall" for the new arena show. Jim's friends Marc > Brickman and Gerald Scarfe are both working on it. Yes, he worked on both the album and the film. And then he did "The Final Cut" which was the last album with Roger, and the only album Rick Wright didn't play on. He had left during the making of "The Wall" although he returned briefly for the tour on a salary (He actually made more money than the other members.) "The Final Cut" is my least favourite Pink Floyd recording, but it's interesting to hear the songs that never made it to "The Wall" album. I think "The Final Cut" is as beautiful if not more moving than "Nobody Home" and "Comfortably Numb", and having said that I am now going to get blasted into smithereens by some. > > > "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 was also disapponited. Did you see the video for "Cats"? > It was meant to be a film but I think they realised that > it had to be "straight to video". Yes, I did see it. It's the strongest adaptation, I think. But I really wish they had cut "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" and included "Growltiger's Last Stand" so that it matched the Original London Cast Album. "Awefull..." should have been dropped during the original previews, IMHO. It's not as good as the rest of the score. In my opinion, the show > was much better. I don't think ALW shows make good films. > Apart from JCS, which I love (partly because of the cast > and partly because of the songs and the way Tim's lyrics > eliminate any need for dialogue). Sondheim seems to do > better when it comes to films. Yes, "Sweeney Todd" is superb. I had no problem with it. And I love the stage production. I just wish they had found a way of using "City on Fire". I wanted to see the lunatics running through the streets, screaming and shouting and hollering :( > > > 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. > > Oh yes. Ian Gillan. I used to be into Deep Purple. Well, I > would still like them if someone put their album on. > > Wikipedia says: "He also was the voice of Jesus on the > original 1970 album recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. > He was offered the lead role in the 1973 film adaptation. > Ian demanded to be paid not only for his role in the movie > but insisted, without the consent of his manager, that the > entire band be paid because filming would conflict with a > scheduled tour. The producers declined and Ian continued > on in the band. Citing exhaustion and a poor working > relationship with the band, particularly Blackmore, Gillan > left Deep Purple in the summer of 1973." > > > And I believe "Superstar" was Tim's idea, as was "Evita". > > Would there be an ALW without Tim Rice? Probably but the > story would have been very different. We'll never know. But I do think it's interesting that there are more flaws in the ALW shows without Tim than there are with the ALW shows with Tim. And Richard Stilgoe is no Tim Rice, though Charles Hart is quite good. I love his use of wordplay in "Phantom of the Opera". He did nicely. Jim's the best lyricist Andrew has worked with since Tim though, without a doubt in my mind. Ben Elton and Glenn Slater are the worst. Like would there > have been a Jim without Meat? I think there would have > been but we'll never know exactly what Jim would have > done. I would guess that he might have become famous for > writing Broadway shows. > I would have liked it if it had been this way, and the "Neverland" cast album was a best seller like "Bat", and we wouldn't have to put up with Meat shouting and screaming abuse at everybody who didn't like his latest album. Meat, if you're reading, I can only listen to half of your latest album. By all means, come to my address, and threaten to paint my house green and write BUM! in big glowing red letters. But you can pay for the damages. And I promise you I won't ask you to sign "Midnight at the Lost and Found". | |
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