Jesus Christ Superstar

spinref

Hey everyone! Don't know if anyone is interested or not, but just heard through a friend of mine that Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking to cast the role of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar!

I am a massive fan of the show (especially the original concept album!), but I think I might be a bit optimistic with my application!!

I can't link the site, but if you head to the ITV website you should be able to find the application form.

It would be so awesome if they cast the right person!!

jasonpat

It sounds good but i am very eager to know whats this movie is all about.

athtrasna

It's not a movie, it's a reality show - well into production at this stage.

d@rk l0rd

Some really bizarre casting announced for this. Tim Minchin as Judas, Mel C as Mary Magdalene and most bizarre of all, a radio DJ called Chris Moyles who has no training in musical theatre cast as Herod.
Will be giving this a wide miss! :rolleyes:

athtrasna

Not all that crazy. Mel C was PHENOMENAL as Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, Tim Minchin has a musical theatre background and has previously played Pilate in JCS (see http://www.timminchin.com/about/) and Herod...well that's a cameo role, one song, an actor/performers song rather than a singer.

I'm no fan of celebrity casting but I think the furore over this casting is totally overstated.

d@rk l0rd

According to Andrew Lloyd Webber the O2 in London has already sold out and is adding a second date, though I suspect many of the tickets have been sold to agencies who can sell them on at inflated prices. I don't think people booking for this really care who he casts, it's a massive Lloyd Webber production and they want to be there for it.
Will be interesting to see what sales are like for the O2 and Odyssey over here. Are people going to be so willing to fork out €39 to €86 a ticket (+ Ticketmaster's €6.35 fee per ticket for the privilege of printing out their own tickets)?

fataltragedy

I can't wait for this live show!

JCS has always been at the top of my list for favourite musicals - now granted, I always wanted to see Daniel Boys playing the full role of Jesus (he was in the Joseph competition a few years ago) but nonetheless, really looking forward to the tv version.

Think it begins in July on ITV?

DavidWills

Just back from New York and saw it there, a little bit dated even if the storyline is over 2000 years old. Still worth going to all the same

fataltragedy

Going to see it on Friday in Dublin - can't wait

delbertgrady

Cast note to themselves: "Never work with children, animals or Tim Minchin".

athtrasna

Absolutely disgusted at the staging. We paid €76 plus booking fees per ticket and had 1/3 of the screen obscured by the large banks of speakers hanging in front of the stage. I don't understand why they had the screen at the back instead of one either side.

delbertgrady

Yeah, the speaker stacks were a joke. In this day and age, there has to be something else they can do, 'cos a signficant portion of the tiered seats would have had their views restricted by those. The O2/Ticketmaster can (unfortunately) justifiably say that they do not know what the exact configuration will be when the tickets are sold, but again, this shows up the problems of the O2's "amphitheatre" design. I doubt if those same problems would be as extensive for the JCS production in somewhere like the Odyssey or the MEN Arena, which are more conventional layouts.

errlloyd

Mum bought 8 second row tickets, 15 minutes after release selecting "best possible" on ticketmaster and paid 92 euro for them. 700 quid in all on tickets. This was the first musical, my now very musical brother ever played in. It's pretty special to him, and himself and his partner flew into Dublin for one night to watch it with us.

This is our 5th seat from our most central, so in the middle of our allocation. And we can't see the right hand side of the stage, or the big screen. And those big rectangles blocking our vision, they're BASS speakers. When you guys heard bass, I felt Michael Flatley doing riverdance on my face. Which my grand mother didn't find all that comfortable.

What do you guys reckon? Grounds to complain? Or is it our fault for sitting too close to the front of an "Arena tour"

delbertgrady

They're the best seats in the house... if you're there to see the crew and the stage hands.
That's awful. I went to buy tickets on the day of release and I was repeatedly offered Row A. If it was for a conventional concert, I'd have grabbed them, as I often have before, but I decided Row A could be problematic for this, in terms of the vantage point and/or height of the stage, so I left them. On the night, given the height of the stage, the positioning of the steps leading up to it, and the cameramen lurking in the pit, I was glad I did.
As I said in my previous post, the O2 and Ticketmaster have a "get out of jail" card, in that they don't know exactly what the positioning of all the screens, speaker stacks, etc. will be, and if you complain - even with your photo as evidence - they will probably say just that.
Also, much as I hate to say it, it is always a risk buying seats in the first few rows to the side (which is what these are), even for a concert, as the angle can be very acute. But not everyone is wise to that; you're offered Row B and think, "Great, second row - buy!". You don't get to know these things without being used to the venue, but I'm sure plenty of people bought tickets to JCS who may never have even been in the place before. The person I went with had never been there, for instance.
Having said that, there is something seriously wrong with paying top dollar and having a very obscured view, which is what you got. This is more irritating when it is for a "show", rather than just a concert. If you consider that you paid the same as someone in, say, Row J of the flat seats, or the middle of Block D, who would have had a perfect view, that's soul-destroying. I don't think you'll get satisfaction, but I'd certainly write to someone, if only to alleviate your frustration.

Plazaman

I don't know what it is about Ticketmaster or how they allocate their tickets as twice I have logged on the minute sales open for a particular concert and always get thrown to the back of the arena. In the case of JCS it did work to my advantage. I was in Block L about three quarters way up the balcony. This happened to be in front of the stage with a great view of everything and the fiddly bits with solos were on the big screen if needed to be viewed. I don't think the O2 is great for stage shows but I suppose because it was only the 2 nights, the Bord Gais Theatre would have been too small. Anyway, loved the show, well done.

neemish

Bought my ticket on Saturday afternoon, and looked for something in Block C. Would highly recommend that Block! the view was perfect. I knew I didn't want to be right up the front and have a creak in my neck for a week from looking up all the time.

The show itself was amazing - would go again tonight it if it was on.

Re: Ticketmaster, when are they going to enter the 21st century and let us pick our own seats? The Abbey Theatre even has a photo of what the stage looks llike from that angle so you know EXACTLY what you're paying for.

athtrasna

neemish wrote: »

Re: Ticketmaster, when are they going to enter the 21st century and let us pick our own seats? The Abbey Theatre even has a photo of what the stage looks llike from that angle so you know EXACTLY what you're paying for.

They do for most venues, not sure why not for this.

delbertgrady

There was an announcement earlier in the week that they're touring this production again in March 2013, with the same cast. They're doing seven cities: Nottingham, London, Liverpool, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham. So far, there's nothing lined up for Belfast or Dublin.

neemish

would definitely go again if it was in Dublin

athtrasna

In contrast I wouldn't go again if it was free. Not at all impressed.