Theatre Group Bombay

Play Name	Jesus-Christ Superstar
Year	1974
Plot	Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started as a rock opera concept album before its Broadway debut in 1971. The musical is sung-through, with no spoken dialogue. The story is loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the last week of Jesus's life, beginning with the preparation for the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem and ending with the crucifixion. It depicts political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus that are not present in the Bible. The work's depiction offers a free interpretation of the psychology of Jesus and the other characters. A large part of the plot focuses on the character of Judas, who is depicted as a tragic figure dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus steers his disciples.
Summary	The musical started as a rock opera concept album before its Broadway debut in 1971. The album arrived at a time when cassettes were becoming more and more popular across the world, and making it easier for music to travel globally. Alyque Padamsee managed to get his hands on a recording when it came out and all the Theatre Group members sat in a room together and heard the entire album. They knew it was something special the moment they heard it. The play was performed at the Bombay Hospital’s Undergroud Birla Auditorium. The auditorium had a huge giant cross lining the centre aisle and accross the seats of the theatre, which then bacame the stage for the entire play. So the actors had to go through the audience each time. This was the first time that TG had people waiting in queues at the box office and it ran successful shows for an entire year and became Theatre Group’s most popular production till Evita four years later.
Author	Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice
Director	Alyque Padamsee