Sun. March 24 

      In 1970, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber recorded a concept album called, Jesus Christ Superstar - A Rock Opera. (ALW had not become the bloward kitschy popopera composer he later became; this rocked.) By 1971, the “Brown Album,” as it became known, reached #1 on the Billboard Chart, eventually becoming the biggest selling album of 1971 - all before anyone ever stepped on a stage to perform it. That's right, this famous rock opera was a double-album first and it was a staple in my high school bedroom. Even connected me back to my waning Catholic faith for a time. Within two years, JCS was up on Broadway, a film version soon followed, and Rice and Webber became household names. I loved the album, hated the movie with Ted Neely as Jesus, and hated the theatrical production. And yet, I loved it when the now-defunct Boston Rock Opera kicked it up in the '90s - famously Extreme's Gary Cherone played Jesus one year, Judas the next - because there a certain irreverence and rock 'n' roll spirit that coursed through. (More irreverent in the early club days when the "apostles" actually drank real wine at the Last Supper. After Rodney King was beaten by LA police, the BRO presentation featured the late Mikey Dee as a LA cop whipping Cherone/Jesus 39 times and I remember Mikey telling me how much fun it was: "How often do you get to beat the lead singer of Extreme?")
    In 2000, 30 years after Superstar’s initial release, Boston musicians, Alan Ware and Sal Clemente formed the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra, and began to record a new interpretation of "Jesus Christ Superstar." It was not to happen. (URO has put on many other shows, incorporating theatrical classic rock from the Beatles, Who, Bowie, Queen etc.) Webber and Rice (or their lawyers) objected vehemently to "Superstar" and, yet, now it's coming, Thurs. March 21 - Sun. March 24 at the  Norwood Theatre. It should be noted the controversial, sexually provocative Peaches staged a one-woman version - yep, she sang every role - which he caught at the ICA in 2010. It was fab. So, anyway, now URO gets its turn in the garden of Gethsemane. JSInk asked URO leader Sal Clemente about it.
   
   JSInk: OK, so how did you get the rights?
   
    Clemente: I went online and applied for the rights with Rogers & Hammerstein, the company that controls all the licensing for performances of JCS in the U.S. I answered all their questions and a few days later they came back with their answer - which to my shock, was "yes." Of course, there's also a hefty fee that you pay for the privilege and we've done that.

    How do you believe your version will differ from the hoary Ted Neely version most people know?
 
    When you secure the rights to do the show, you basically have to promise to do it the way that they would like. The roles are to be played the way they ask, the music to be played the way it's written. They do this to ensure there isn't a bastardization of the music/show produced and so they can maintain control of what happens with their show. But that doesn't mean that there isn't room for 'theatrical' interpretation. My sister is the managing director of a prominent community theatre in Pennsylvania called The Erie Playhouse. Before we agreed to terms with R & H, I called her for advice. They produce 26 different show a year at the EP, and they've been doing it forever (I think she's been in charge there for almost 10 years now). She told me not to stress about it. R & H are in the business of making money, we're a production company, we're putting the show on on a stage in a legitimate theatre. We're in 'costume,' we're playing the music, we're doing it on stage, we're doing a 'theatrical production' of JCS, not a 'concert' version.
     To your question - this won't be the 'hoary' (great word), Ted Neely version. Not even close. This will be as visceral and rock and roll as we can make it. In fact, when we had our first production meeting with the technical people involved, I told them if you have two choices in front of you, two paths to take... and one is the more rock and roll choice, that's the one.
   
   Costumes? Theatricalilty?
 
   No "robes and sandals" version of JCS, but a full-on contemporary rock and roll spectacle, with band and singers on stage throughout the performance, complete with epic lighting and thunderous sound, compliments of the newly renovated Norwood Theatre. The band and singers will be on-stage through the entire show. Main characters will blend into the chorus to become apostles, the mob, soldiers, Herod's harem depending on the scene. Singers will be additional musicians when needed, just like when we perform as the URO. And this is, with a few additional performers brought back/in for this production, a performance by The Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra. As for what audiences in attendance can expect to see, our goal is to transport the audience through the power of the music and voices; to make rock and roll choices wherever we can in how we visually tell the story; to envision what it might have been like to see and hear Ian Gillan, Murray Head, and Joe Cocker’s band perform JCS and translate that into contemporary theatrical terms. There have been an incredible variety of interpretations. What sets the URO-JCS production apart is the many years spent divining this particular vision of how to tell the story, and the particular passion and long, close relationships of the performers. This is a giant-full-on-rock band performing Superstar, their won’t ever be another version like this. If you’re a fan of the original recording, or want to see a version that harkens back to Jesus Christ Superstar’s origins, the URO’s production might just provide you with the ultimate live JCS experience.

    Is there acting involved here, costumes, or is it straight-out music?
  
   There are costumes, our costumes as members of the URO, but no robes, sandals, props, or other typical stage accoutrements. Acting. That's a loaded word. I don't use it. I don't ever want to see anyone who is 'acting' like Jesus. I've wracked my brain for a laudable portrayal of Jesus and can't think of one that doesn't fall short of what my mind conceives - and how couldn't it, really? I'm watching men pretend to be God. The portrayal I remember best and regard most highly was in Ben Hur, where director William Wyler wisely chooses to never show Christ's face, but only the reaction of others to his presence. It's incredibly powerful. ... Here's what we ask the performers to do: Feel the music when you play, feel the vocal when you're singing, show how you feel, release your performance, give yourself permission to rock. The only thing that's different about this is that the entire piece of music tells a story. We don't 'act.' We unleash a performance.

   How did this make it to the stage then?
  
   The owner of The Norwood Theatre is Susan Lewis, she took a copy of our JCS CD home with her (the URO recorded this a few years back). She called me the following Monday and said she loved the CD. She then asked if we would perform JCS at her theatre. I gave Susan the backstory/history of how the URO started, our "correspondence" with ALW and how that turned out, and basically said I thought there wasn't a chance in hell we'd get the rights, but she wanted me to go ahead and find out if it was possible.

      Did you ever see Boston Rock Opera's version (they did half a dozen or so I think) and did you take anything from their staging?
     
      I saw several of their performances, I even auditioned for it, once. I was asked to understudy for Gary for the last run they did of JCS, but couldn't do it because of schedule conflicts. When we first had the idea to record our version of JCS was right around when I saw the BRO's production in 1996 - Downstairs at the Middle East. My partner, Alan Ware and I, saw it and were very, very impressed. It had a lot of the qualities we admired about the original 1970 LP. Their production was raw, rocking. The singers/performers had rock swagger. We approached BRO about joining us in the recording effort, offering our studio, all the work we had already in. We wanted to bring in some of the singers, some of the band, make it a joint effort. We met with T-Max, and several of the other principles involved, pitched it, thought they were genuinely interested - I think T, was. Ultimately, they backed out, saying they intended to do their own recording. Alan and I shelved the project. We felt BRO had such name recognition in town that if we continued it would reflect poorly on us (we'd just look like we were trying to do what they had already made work). I don't know if that makes sense, but that's how we felt.
     It was about 2 years later that I came across a CD of our demos (we had worked on much of the first Act). I put it on, and was pretty blown away. Sometimes distance gives you an appreciation of your work that you didn't have before. Alan and I decided to revive the project. We approached BRO again - this was when I auditioned. I think my idea was that if I could get into the production they'd come to appreciate what we had to bring to the table and reconsider. Anyway, it didn't work out, but we decided to continue. Some of the people who had performed in previous BRO shows did end up coming on board, and about 3 years later, in 2004, we finally finished the production. We couldn't afford to press CDs for another 2 years so - the CD finally came out in 2006.

See URO in action: http://youtu.be/3xudAP0DGH4
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109 Central St., Norwood, MA 781-551-9000 www.norwoodstage.com www.urojcs.com.