Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size When a concert version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar first opened at the Adelaide Arts Festival in 1972, it was to an enraptured but sometimes scandalised public.
Protesters carried placards outside the venue, thinking the musical version of the last few days of Jesus’ life, from Palm Sunday through the crucifixion, was blasphemous. The protests appeared before the first electric guitar notes of the overture had ever rung out over an audience. “We had just done a sound check, and Jon [English, who played Judas] and I were walking back across the park to our digs before getting ready for the show,” recalls Trevor White, who played Jesus in that first production.
“And there were some people out there with banners and placards and so on, and Jon, being a bit cheeky, said, ‘Oh, have you seen the show?’ And of course, they couldn’t have done because it hadn’t been on ...
But I think once people saw it we managed to win them over.” Stars of new production of Jesus Christ Superstar: (from left) Javon King, Michael Paynter and Mahalia Barnes. Credit: Juliet Taylor There was one group White wasn’t sure would be won over, once the show opened at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney.
He remembers peering out into the audience and g.
