Disclaimer: The views and analysis presented here are all my own. Some people might find them offensive (this is not my intent). If you think this might be you then you have a choice - stop reading this page and choose to go somewhere else, or continue reading but be prepared to be upset - or maybe to get a different view of a story you know well.
I love musicals. Especially the ones by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Somehow they have a way of putting songs together to tell stories that break your heart.
Jesus Christ Superstar is probably my favourite musical of all time. Until the mid 1990s I didn't really know much about it. I was still a practicing Christian at the time, and I couldn't see how the bible story could work as a musical. Then, one day I was at home from uni visiting Mum. She liked to watch random daytime talk shows (thankfully the British ones, not the American imports which are so prevalent now). The show that day happened to feature a performer called Steve Balsamo, who was playing Jesus in a new version of JCS. I didn't pay too much attention until he got up to perform one of the songs from the show - Gethsemane. I stopped everything. This Jesus was questioning his fate - pleading to be allowed to live. This Jesus was frightened and human. Until then I'd never realised that was even possible - he'd always seemed to be some kind of aloof being with no relevance to me.
I went out the next day and bought the soundtrack from the show - and played it over and over and over.
Judas was a character who had always fascinated me. I'd always felt he was short-changed. That he wasn't the evil character everyone made him out to be, but that he'd done what was needed - he'd made as much of a sacrifice as Jesus, just in a different way. I remember praying for him every night at the end of my other prayers.
And now here was a musical telling the whole story from his viewpoint.
I tried for years to see the show, but something always went wrong - I had exams, or no money (common occurrence when you're a student) or there was just no show to see. I finally got to see the show in Manchester in 2001 and it blew my mind. Then I saw the DVD version of the new show a week or so ago. And I've watched it many times since.
I'm no longer a Christian - I left that faith for various reasons somewhere around 1997. I don't follow any organised religion, but this story talks to me.
There are those people who think the show is blasphemous or bible bashing. Personally I just think it is a story of friendship and sacrifice - the kind of friendship where one person will give up their life for their friend - for both Judas and Jesus. They are opposite sides of the same coin. Jesus is light, love, and ultimately betrayed. Judas is the darker side of human nature, unloved, angry - and the one who betrays Jesus.
But he doesn't betray him out of hate, or greed (he throws the money away) - he does it because it has to be done - because he wants to protect his friend - and possibly because he knows it is his role. He does't choose to sacrifice his best friend - his best friend chooses him to be the betrayer. It's not a role that sits easily on him and he has to fight with himself, the disciples and with Jesus before he can let it happen. And then he can't live with what has happened and kills himself (not exactly the actions of a money-hungry evil person who just wants to sell someone out for money).
Jesus too is portrayed as human. For me the beauty of the show is that it doesn't preach. You can make your own decisions about how divine Jesus really is/was. You can see how fame and fortune damage friendships, change people, and build and destroy lives.
The DVD version is amazing - it puts you right in amongst the action, something you can never be in a theatre. You can see the expressions - the tears on the actors faces. There is so much chemistry between all the actors, but especially between Judas (Jerome Pradon) and Jesus (Glenn Carter). Sometimes the actors aren't necessarily the best singers (though most of the time they're all fantastic. But some of the flaws - the times their voices crack or shake really portray the emotion so much better than a note-perfect rendition would have done.
The simplicity of the sets and costumes add to the production - making the viewers focus on the actors instead of considering the background. (That's not to say that they're not well thought out - just very subtle).
As is my way, I've written my interpretation of the story from the Last Supper to Judas's suicide, from Judas's viewpoint. Again, if you have strong beliefs you might find this offensive (any offence is wholly unintentional) so please consider if you want to go ahead.