#jcs 1975 madrid

[platadesangre]

finally got to finish their designs!

[feerz]

Ranking all the Jesuses from every version I've watched/listened to so far

without further ado let's get into it 🙌

Ian Gillan - 1970 Original concept album

The True Doer that you cannot outdo. The og who made this role what it is today. And since the og album was were I got my start and obsession with jcs, I have a huge fondness for him. There's just something so- so... about him. His vocals? Insane, fantastic, the golden standard. His Gethsemane is Everything. He raised the bar so high (literally lol) and made this role harder for everyone that came after him and I respect that. I also love his characterisation. He is a rockstar and he knows it. Adore this whiny ass messiah and his dramatics. 9/10

Ted Neeley - 1973 movie

Sad little mouse man. He's like some small rodent to me. His gethsemane is iconic, but beyond it I don't care to much about his Jesus. He's perfectly inoffensive, but I find him a bit boring. Poor guy also had the disadvantage of performing against Carl Anderson, who's too powerful and who commanded every scene he was in, outshining Jesus. Tedsus is not for me personally, but he's definitely not bad. 6/10

Camilo Sesto - Madrid 1975 album

I like him! He reminds me of Ian's Jesus but sadder (love to see it). Really good vocals. That 'POR QUE' ate. And his Gethsemane in general too. I don't have that much to say besides that, but Señor Sesto is really good in this role. 8/10

James Whitson - San Jose Civic Light Opera's 1990 production

Uhhhhhhh. Watched this in a discord watch party and for half of it we were thought this was Ted. It wasn't. Don't really know what to say, there wasn't anything really memorable or notable about him. Also has the disadvantage of being pared up with Carl Anderson, except it's even worse here. If Carl was anywhere near him, no chance I was paying attention to Jesus. Um... he chased Santa out of the Temple! That's something! 3/10

Steve Balsamo - 1996 London revival album

Steve Balsamo Jesus, my dearly beloved. How can you not love him. Just rewatch his Gethsemane for the 1000th time. His vocals are out of this world, man has organ pipes in place of vocal chords. Props to him for actually crying in gethsemane and still killing it. Absolutely fantastic. And his beautiful hair and those brown eyes really add to it. He's such a sad pathetic man, it's great. No complaints 10/10

Glenn Carter - 2000 movie

I'm shaking, please buy him brown contacts. I am a glensus hater, although I have to admit that during my second viewing I didn't dislike him as much. Easily my least favourite gethsemane (lmm excluded), except his delivery of "what you started, I didn't start it", that was surprisingly good. Again, I'm a hater but bonus points for the entertainment factor. 4/10

Paul Nolan - 2012 Broadway revival

BORING! Sorry your trouple doesn't save you from being so incredibly bland. It's like looking at a white wall that has just been painted over and you're watching it dry. Gethsemane is solid vocally, I like his interactions with others. But Jesus himself? No thanks. The staging of the crucifixion was so great, but then there he is with his mouth agape like a baby bird being fed and unconvincing "suffering". Also, no blood? 3/10

Ben Forster - 2012 UK Arena tour

THIS IS THE ONE. My roman empire. My most dear blorbo. He's been living in my head rent free for months. I love him so much. He's just so incredibly stressed out and angsty and pathetic and constantly on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. His gethsemane is my favourite. Just pretty much everything I could want from a performance of it. The way he curls up on the floor? The little moments when his voice breaks a bit from emotion?? The knee thing??? Great, fantastic, stunning, no notes. Also I adore his costuming, finally Jesus is given something more interesting. 11/10

John Legend - 2018 NBC

Hot take, but he's not nearly as bad as people make him out to be. He's just fine. I do enjoy his voice, Poor Jerusalem is especially good. Although I don't love his acting in the second act, but I really liked him in the first one. This Jesus just seems really nice and friendly and I love that. Gethsemane is solid vocally, even without the G5. Anyways he's not bad at all! 6/10

Andrew Latobesi - 2018 Villanova College

This was another wildcard from the watch party. Jesus didn't stand out much because we were all a bit distracted by Judi. And Mary. He was bland and the acting was not fantastic, but this is a high school prod, and for what it's worth he's not bad. Gethsemane was solid enough considering everything. The crucifixion surprisingly hit, good crying there. ??/10 since I don't think it would be fair to rank him against all those adult professional performers.

Jack Hopewell - 50th Anniversary North America tour

The only Jesus that made me cry while watching. He suffers real good (and looks very pretty while doing so). He's just so- so... I just wanted to wrap him up in a soft blanket and give him a kiss on the forehead and feed him soup. Tbh I think he's one of the best vocally too. His high note is my fav. Gethsemane in general is just great too. Love how much he's just some silly guy who then has to face the Horrors. He's just very cute :] 10/10

Jeangu Macrooy - 2024 Netherlands national tour

The most poor little meow meow Jesus ever. He's so pathetic it's great. Him smiling and being happy was also so cute. Really good vocals too, man killed those high notes. His gethsemane too... Jeangu Macrooy absolutely steels the show and it's fantastic and incredibly heartbreaking. Want to see his performance again so so badly. In the meantime everyone should check out a snippet of his performance 10/10

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[wegottagetouttahere]

jcs recs!! (sending this as an ask bc it got too long for messages sorry)

1973 film - the classic. Aggressively 70s but if you can get past that then it has perhaps my favourite version of the main trio (jesus judas and mary) and the rest of the cast are pretty good. has objectively the best post-death judas outfit 10/10 no notes.

2000 film - also definitely of its time. Jesus is in cargo trousers. Judas is wailing like a dying cat. Simon looks like a rejected member of the backstreet boys. Everyone is giving their all in terms of acting to the point maybe they shouldve given a little less. Its not a “good” film but i love it.

Madrid 2007 - my beloved!! its free on youtube and imo sounds better than the 1975 spanish version. Has my favourite judas and simon. If you like the instrumentation of the 2000 film but wish that the singing was better then this is the production for you. 

2012 arena tour - i keep debating whether to add this one because i really dont like it (the dreadlocks and the portrayal of the pharisees is. Bad.) but its one of the least weird productions and the performances are all fine so i'll stick it here just in case.

Hungary 2013 - free on youtube. This is another fairly basic one but the ensemble really sells it, also judas and pilate are very good. Depicts judas' inner turmoil via the medium of dance. The costuming is kind of wack but i like it.

Sweden 2014 - also free on youtube, all in swedish. Jesus is a biker in this one lmao. Its a great time. Very homoerotic even for jcs.

Hell yeah! I’m on the road all day today, so I’m gonna start by listening to the soundtrack, but when I get home I’m gonna find all these! I’m fascinated by biker Jesus

[platadesangre]

jcs productions in wich jesus is the brunette and judas is the blonde >>>>

[platadesangre]

listened to jcs 1975 madrid with my cousin and she liked it !! she is soo good at media analysis. peace and love on planet earth

[platadesangre]

got jcs 1975 madrid "simon zelotes" on loop

antonio de diego is the nerdiest simon ever. he got sick range tho

i must mention he was in a band with teddy bautista. band's called "canarios" they made the progressive rock cult classic called "ciclos" in 1974 go check them out

[platadesangre]

Jesucristo Superstar 1975 Madrid Alcalá Palace - Backstage

[platadesangre]

i just love jesus' blue striped tunic in the 1975 madrid version

in the second pic he made such a goofy pose i couldn't help myself

[platadesangre]

i understand camilo sesto on a spiritual level because if i saw jesus christ superstar live for the first time in london 1972 i too would go insane about it and waste all my money to bring the show to my country during a dictatorship. cast myself as jesus even

[platadesangre]

we NEED to talk about jcs 1975 madrid cast!

i have come to make camilo sesto justice

(i finally finished this post yay!)

i may be a bit biased, since this was my first jcs.

short story on how i discovered it

my dad used to be an apostle for a bootleg staged playback jcs in peru during the 70s! they used this version.

he had the cd. he also had the mp3 files. i used his computer, so that was how 13 year old me found it.

those were tough times, bc later i started doing catechesis and i kind of got depressed and started questioning my faith lol. judas' character really resonated with me

since this is a recording, i didn't have any footage to reference, so i made up everything in my mind. (this is why it was a bit weird for me to see the english productions, bc they looked nothing like in my head lol)

now, a bit of historical context for spain in the 70's

camilo sesto was a popular spanish singer and actor who went to see the jcs 1971 broadway production in london. he loved it so much that he did everything he could do financially to bring the show to spain.

spain was in a fascist dictatorship at the time

they fought with censorship for years, that's why the lyrics are a bit different (i'll make a post about that too)

they had to remodel the alcalá-palace theater stage entirely

franco (our dictator) died two days after the premiere (about time lol)

the "ultras" (conservatists) didn't like the show so they did lots of crazy stuff (for example, praying for the cast outside the theater or sending BOMB THREATHS?)

anyways, this was the first official translation for jcs!

on the main cast we have

camilo sesto as jesus christ (he wanted the role from the beggining)

teddy bautista as judas iscariot

ángela carrasco as mary magdalene

here's an old pic of them (and some apostles)

(now that i look at it closely, it kind of looks like a bootleg jcs 1973 lol)

on the recording

it's a stereo recording, so use both headphones or you'll miss out on half of it

musically speaking, it's similar to the og concept album (songs ending on fade-outs and shorter trial before pilate) but it has some interesting choices (teddy, the producer and the voice of judas, took a lot of... artistic liberties)

some things this version has

it adds lots of synth. it's very psychodelic. i understand this can be a turn off for some people

they kinda change the key to many songs. maybe to fit vocal ranges idk

teddy just loves to make up new melodies (please give this man some water)

EPIC GUITAR SOLO in what's the buzz

what's the buzz and strange thing mystifying are separated tracks for some reason

camilo sings so good

cute synth in everything's alright ángela has such an angelic voice she makes such a good mary

the drums and guitars during this jesus must die are so danceable

the BEST simon zealotes i've heard. shit goes HARD. he goes CRAY

i really love this pilate, in my rating he would be the best one

camilo's "¡SALVAOS VOSOTROS!" during the temple is really pathetic lol

damned for all time interlude replaced by synths. the SAX SOLO is also replaced by synth (questionable choice)

cool thing happens during the end of this song that i'll talk about in another post

judas' occasional nervous laughter really adds to his character

also he cries a lot

"you sad pathetic man" part during last supper is... fairly different! (i'm looking at you teddy...)

camilo's gethsemane is epic. he's a baladist singer but MAN he can ROCK

cool harmonica during the arrest

i'll never shut up about our pilate (he nervous laughs too)

herod is so fruity

judas' death really hits different when you were depressed and questioning faith (this version is BRUTAL) also lyrics change (i'll talk about it i swear)

teddy's one of the few judas who sing the i don't know how to love him reprise in the higher scale!! it sounds so painful and anguished

the album continues acceptably

other cool things it has

jesus and judas have this interesting accent difference. since camilo is from valencia, he has this pristine and traditional spanish accent. and teddy is from canarias (also lived in the usa) so his accent is rougher and more, crusty? idk how to explain it but it's neat and stablishes their dynamic a bit. (ángela is from dominican republic! but her accent is barely noticeable)

on the footage aspect, we only have old vhs videos and live audios uploaded on youtube. also some old photos

there is a book about this version. it has some anecdotes (only available in spanish)

now we have a 4 episode mini-series about the odyssey that it was to produce this. it's called "camilo superstar" (i won't be watching it bc it's a bit fan-ficy from what i've seen)

the posts i'll make about this production will be tagged as #jcs 1975 madrid

you can listen to it on spotify!

or on youtube (playlist made by me)

[platadesangre]

lookie what i found on my local library!

[platadesangre]

damned for all time melodic change

alright this is one of the weirdest decisions 1975 madrid has ever made

in the end of "damned for all time" when judas sings his final line, the choir sings

Well done, Judas...

Good old Judas...

you know the leitmotif. duuun duuun dun dun. in A#/Bb

well, for some reason in 1975 madrid they changed it to

Well done, Judas...

Poor old Judas...

and change this last line to a minor key. the "judas" now is in G#/Ab and it cuts here to an eerie synth

THEY CHANGED THE LEITMOTIF TO MAKE JUDAS MORE DOOMED THAN HE ALREADY WAS!

og version be like: ohhh you are in trouble judas...

1975 madrid be like: YOU FUCKED UP REAL BAD JUDAS

(if anyone's interested)

[platadesangre]

That one time Teddy Bautista almost died on stage.

Yeah, so @feerz 's amazing JCS iceberg made me realize that I have never talked about this incident on here before, so I might as well do now.

Here have some book extracts.

From "Jesucristo Superstar. Ópera rock: La Pasión de Camilo Sesto" by Marta García Sarabia (2016):

Teddy Bautista relives the drama of the moment when, due to a technical error, he almost hanged himself for real. [...] It is then when Judas puts his head in the noose. The lifting platform, on which the moment was staged, began to rise to more than three meters high. At that moment there was a failure in the safety harness and the survival instinct made Teddy reach for the rope to protect his neck. The tension reached its maximum, but the public did not notice the failure, instead thought it was part of the staging. The technical team was left speechless. Nacho Artime himself remembers that "we all believed that he had really hanged himself." According to Bautista, "this part, the dramatic-literary aspect of the role was the hardest." In the words of Jaime Azpilicueta, "in one performance the safety rope failed and we were on the verge of having a very serious accident; "He ran out of oxygen, but the performance concluded."

And from "Conversaciones con Teddy Bautista" by Luis Lapuente (2023):

You had a problem at one of the performances, I think.  "Yes, when the muskets broke in the scene where Judas commits suicide. They lifted me by the neck and I was choking, but I held on to the rope and was able to resist thanks to the fact that I was very physically fit, but I got to the platform cussing at all of the... because it is not normal for a musket to be released, someone had made a mistake that could cost me my life, what a fright. I think the audience didn't notice, but inside they did, the technicians, the actors, because they heard me swear in Aramaic, and never better said."

"Swear in Aramaic" is spanish slang for shouting profanities.

So yeah... that happened.

[platadesangre]

made some madrid 75 last supper gifs (bonus gethsemane kiss)

[platadesangre]

some more jcs 1975 madrid pictures from the documentary

[platadesangre]

insane about this camilo superstar shot. the carpet behind him resembling a halo. poetic cinema