Comparing/contrasting the musicals Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar:
• Both Jesuses are white and blond. Godspell Jesus has a blond afro. [It was hard to know how to write that. Normally “Afro” is capitalized. But this is a fake afro, on a white person. So I left it lowercase, to indicate that it was non-real? But I don’t know if that is right.] Jesus-Christ-Superstar Jesus has Brad-Pitt-dating-Jennifer-Aniston-and-copying-her-Rachel-hairdo highlighted blond wingy sections.
• Jesus Christ Superstar Jesus is miserable suffering sulky moody flopping Jesus. Godspell Jesus is happy dippy skipping clown Jesus.
• Godspell covers a lot of the New Testament parables/lessons: the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, you should treat the poor/sick how you would treat Jesus himself and you will be judged by God using that method, blessed are the meek, turn the other cheek, etc. Jesus Christ Superstar focuses on Jesus criticizing his followers, Jesus defending the use of expensive ointment on himself when poor people are starving, Jesus needing a good night’s sleep for the love of god, Jesus being beaten, and sick people asking too much of Jesus until he screams.
• Jesus Christ Superstar makes it weird with Mary Magdalene by having her in hot romantic love with Jesus. Godspell makes it weird by having John the Baptist and Judas Iscariot be the same person, and also having him personally crucify Jesus.
• Godspell does dumb clowny voices/antics/faces. Jesus Christ Superstar has dumb priest hats/chests and SO MUCH SAND/DUST EVERYWHERE.
• Godspell features the Twin Towers at one point (among other New York backdrops), in case it turns out you would appreciate some time to brace yourself for that. Jesus Christ Superstar is all sand/dust/rocks, no traumatic New York scenery.
• Godspell has some male and some female disciples. Jesus Christ Superstar has all boy disciples.
• Both films skip the resurrection, which is an interesting choice.
• We have been listening to the Godspell soundtrack all week, even the ridiculous druggy ’70s song about talking to a pebble in your shoe (though we skip the oddly formally-sung operatic one about plowing the fields and scattering the good seed). We have not been inclined to listen to the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack yet.
I love this. Jesus Christ Superstar is my husband’s favorite musical (BY A LOT) and I highly recommend the John Legend TV version of the Soundtrack – it is great. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_Superstar_Live_in_Concert
I HAVE THOUGHTS!!!!
First of all, 100% second watching the John Legend live in concert version. It is GREAT, so vibrant, so amazing what they did with the staging, and the acting is wonderful. So much better than the werid movie. Also for us olds, Alice Cooper as Herod is pretty stunning. And the Swedish rocker as Simon Zealotes is amazing.
I was OBSESSED with JCSS when I was a pre-teen (the way some people are obsessed with Hamilton these days) – my parents had the 2 album set and I sang the words to myself all the time in middle school. I wasn’t traditionally religious in any respect but the idea that the “villian” could be a captivating complex character blew my little 8th grade mind.
When I was a freshman in college my dorm put together an ad hoc abbreviated version of Godspell which we performed at our school’s spring festival. Kind of a “let’s put on a show” event. One guy could conduct from the piano, and he pulled the whole thing together. The high point (for me) was my then boyfriend who sang “turn back oh man” in drag. I thought it was weirdly hot. I still chant Godspell songs to myself when I am trying to log miles on the treadmill.
I feel like Godspell may have a deeper resonance if you are Christian than if you are not, whereas JCSS does a better job at drawing you in regardless. But that could just be reflecting my own context.
I LOVE THIS COMPARISON! I don’t know too much about JCSS but I LOVED Godspell as a teen (and to this day). Your evaluations, to me, seem spot on. And YES, it IS weird that they both skip the Resurrection part altogether?! I never knew/realized that!
On a related note, getting kids to sit with you through old (ha, “old”) movies is a strange thing, isn’t it? We watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail this past wknd. They, unsurprisingly, were nonplussed. Actually, even my husband and I thought it did not feel as great in this millennium (though we both loved it as teens). Weird.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. My sister and I died laughing the first time we saw it and thought wow best movie ever. Watched it again about 10 years later and neither of us thought it was very funny. Maybe it is one of those movies that only bares watching once.
Another vote for watching the John Legend JCSS live version! I absolutely loved Sara Bareilles in it, and as a theater person who has watched all the live TV versions of musicals they’ve aired, I definitely think it’s among the most successful (Grease Live also ranks pretty highly for me there).
One thing about the live Legend/Bareilles version (with the amazing Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas, and guess what, he also took over the role of Aaron
Burr in Hamilton on Broadway) is that the live audience in effect become part of the show, playing the role of the adoring worshippers. It’s a pretty cool effect.
You are awesome and fun and I LOVE THIS.
I don’t think I’ve seen either movie. I may have seen Godspell on stage a hundred years ago but can’t remember.
Weirdly I now have “Age of Aquarius” stuck in my head, but that is Hair, no?
I constantly get Hair and JCS mixed up together in my head, so this makes perfect sense to me.
I have never watched either of these and, as a non-practicing Unitarian Universalist, have only the vaguest Jesus-y knowledge. However, if you haven’t yet (or recently) watched Life of Brian, I would recommend adding it to your list. Is it a musical? No? But there is at least one sing a long.
The Holy Gourd of Jerusalem!
I love Life of Brian. Thanks you for reminding me.
I grew up in an atheist home (mom was a ‘recovering’ Catholic and I think my dad only called his parents Methodist because in the area where we lived as kids EVERYONE was religious. but we weren’t) and I say that to say that I am a musical enthusiast but I am completely ignorant of both of these shows.
That said, I remember at one point like 10 years ago my dad got my tickets to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (and I ooop just realized that’s yet again another religious musical about which I know nothing) and he was thoroughly lost but my mom, with her 18 years of Catholic school upbringing absolutely loved it.
I am OBSESSED with the Book of Mormon, but maybe because I am atheist and generally anti-religion and the show is simultaneously witty, irreverent, and included Josh Gad. (also I went to see it in person with my Catholic musical-loving mother-in-law and that was it’s own little delight. she was an excellent sport even when the second act got particularly questionable)
that should read “Catholic, musical-loving” not “catholic musical-loving” as if she only likes catholic musicals, but it’s really late here and I’ve had some wine so maybe that distinction isn’t as funny as I think at the moment.
I feel like my Catholic school upbringing has me vibing more with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat than JCSS and Godspell. In fact I would rank Godspell at the bottom of religious musicals I feel connected to for the evangelism factor.
The Godspell Jesus is Victor Garber.
More recently in Alias and was Professor Callahan in Lefally Blond.
As a pre-teen I had the BIGGEST crush on Ted Neeley from JCS. Pre-internet times, no interest in musicals or religion, so how did I even know about him/this show? Maybe a photo spread in Tiger Beat?
I was in a high school production of Godspell – such a weird choice in a school with no religious context! It is indeed a very strange production, but the songs are really catchy once they get into your head.
JCS is a favorite of mine, the soundtrack, I’ve never seen the movie. We studied it in my 6th grade music class and I became enamored with it there. I play it every year sometime between Palm Sunday and Easter, often while we’re dyeing eggs.
I saw Godspell once, performed at a children’s theater, and I was underwhelmed.
I have seen many musicals, but never Godspell. I’ve seen a community theater performance of JCS, and the foot washing song was the one that stuck with me. I also have the tendency to mix up Hair with JCS, so there’s that too.
I actually love Godspell, though I’ve never seen the movie version of it. I’ve seen 4 productions and been in one. The production I was in had an Asian-American woman play Jesus; she dressed in white jeans and a white “Imagine” t-shirt and she was awesome in the role. We had 1 cast member drop out because she couldn’t deal with the casting – I think she was more upset about the female Jesus-character than the non-white Jesus but I’m not sure.
I’ve never seen a full production nor movie of Jesus Christ Superstar.
I’ve only seen an amateur theatre production of JCS and loved it – it’s without doubt my favourite Lloyd-Webber musical (followed by Joseph).
Both were weird but I loved the song “ day by day” from Godspell.