For those who don’t read the comments, here’s Angry Anderson’s version of King Herod’s Song from the 1992 Australian touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s pretty damn good.
I’ve always thought the most impressive thing about Superstar is the way that it excludes miracles without precluding them. If you want to view it as the story of Jesus, the Son of God, you can. On the other hand if you want to view it as the story of Jesus – a guy who believes he’s the Son of God, you can do that too. Which means you can enjoy the work as religious – if you swing that way – or simply as a damn good story with some damn good music. A very smart way to do it and which probably accounts for the show’s enduring popularity (compare Godspell, which comes across as intensely preachy by comparison and is nowhere near as popular).
