Directed by: Norman Jewison
Starring: Carl Anderson, Barry Dennen, Ted Neeley, Yvonne Elliman
Trivia: Ted Neely met his wife Leyann on location. She can be seen during the "Simon Zealot" song, the brunette dressed in brown.
Trivia: When the apostles sit down to dine at the Last Supper they strike a pose imitating the famous painting by Leonardo DaVinci.
Continuity mistake: During entire scene with dancing king Herod and his men, shadows on the floor are at different angles from one shot to another. (01:16:15 - 01:19:30)
Jesus: Can you show me now that I will not be killed in vain? Show me just a little of your omnipresent brain! Show me there's a reason for your wanting me to die! You're far too keen on where and how, but not so hot on why.
Trivia: Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen, as Mary Magdalene and Pontius Pilate, respectively, are the only cast members who appeared on the concept album, in the original staging of the show on Broadway, and in the feature film.
Question: Isn't Judas' reference to Muhammad an historical inaccuracy? Muhammad lived from 570 AD to 632 AD.
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Answer: In the song "Jesus Christ, Superstar, " Judas highlights several anachronisms. He makes comparison to Buddha, about whom he likely would have known little to nothing. He references Muhammad, not yet born. He even brings up the concept of mass communication, also unheard of in the ancient world. However, this number is meant to take place in a spiritual realm, out of place and time, where past and present have no actual meaning. Judas is shown to be eternally struggling with Jesus, his message, his methods, and whether or not he is truly divine. But also, let's face it...like its contemporary, "Godspell, " the entire film is pretty much an anachronism. For starters, it's a rock operetta which puts just about everything in modern terms in its language ("what's the buzz") and its cinematography (Judas being chased down by tanks, for example). If you are looking for temporal realism, there are many options for that. This film is far more allegorical than it is historical.
Michael Albert
The ghost of Judas is speaking from a modern perspective. Consider the lyric "If you'd have come today you would have reached a whole nation, Israel in 4BC had no mass communication." He is in the here and now, not in the times Jesus was alive.