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.
Trivia: Ted Neely met his wife Leyann on location. She can be seen during the "Simon Zealot" song, the brunette dressed in brown.
Trivia: At Carl Anderson's (Judas) funeral Ted Neely (Jesus) performed the song "Gethsemane", which had been Anderson's favorite piece from the musical.
Trivia: When the apostles sit down to dine at the Last Supper they strike a pose imitating the famous painting by Leonardo DaVinci.
Trivia: Although all of the singing had been recorded before shooting began and the actors were lip-syncing, Carl Anderson (Judas) and Ted Neely (Jesus) sang with full intensity during the takes. The actors chose to do so because merely lip-syncing would not give the emotion and intensity their scenes required.
Trivia: The song "Then We Are Decided" was written for the film, and has never been used in any subsequent regular production, although it was performed in the 2013 Arena tour.
Trivia: In addition to Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen, Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Bob Bingham also appeared in the stage production on Broadway. Neeley and Anderson were understudies for the roles of Jesus and Judas, respectively, and Bingham was the lead Caiaphas.
Trivia: Ted Neely was performing in the musical "Tommy" while Norman Jewison was casting for the film. Since he was unable to go to an audition Neely called Jewison's agent and asked him if Jewison could attend a performance of "Tommy" and watch him perform. Jewison drove to Los Angeles from Palm Springs and attended the one performance which didn't include Ted Neely.
Answer: According to Ted Neeley and Norman Jewison on the DVD commentary, the shepherd walking across the frame in the final shot of the film was never intended to be there, and just happened across the shot as they were filming. Because of the significance of a shepherd in the teachings of Christ, Jewison and the crew were struck profoundly by the timing of this shepherd crossing the field, and kept the shot. They got a perfect sunset, as well as a subtle depiction of the resurrection.