9 Reasons Twitter Freaked Out During 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert'

Television By TooFab Staff |
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"Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert" took over the airwaves on NBC for Easter Sunday, and it was a rousing success by most counts, including Twitter engagement throughout the evening on Sunday. Of course, with John Legend as its star wife Chrissy Teigen was live-tweeting the whole thing, but she wasn't the only one from Hollywood and beyond enamored with the stripped-down production.

Starring the likes of Legend, Sara Bareilles, Brandon Victor Dixon and Alice Cooper, it was both a broader and bolder stage production and smaller than most recent live productions, taking place primarily on one stage. Much like "Rocky Horror Picture Show" -- but used far more effectively -- this one also incorporated a live audience, but as the action was literally taking place on a stage it actually made sense.

We've broken down below the aspects of this take on the classic musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that got the most online chatter, both good and bad.

CHRISSY TEIGEN

Before you could even get to the production, you had to get past Chrissy Teigen's Twitter feed. Legend's wife is an expert on the social media platform, and she was well prepared to live-tweet the Sunday evening festivities, offering some insight into her husband's preparatation and clapping back at the haters -- as she does -- like Bill O'Reilly, who fell into the camp of offended conservatives, which "JCS" has been dealing with since its 1970 premiere.

MODERNIZATION

The production was modernized to the present era, with cell phones erupting at the climactic crucifixion scene and everyone looking like they just got back from a too-hip-for-school showing of "Rent." But like Baz Luhrmann's classic "Romeo + Juliet," the modernization didn't take away from the production, and in fact made it feel more palpable and current than ever. This is a story of man's capacity for cruelty and forgiveness, and that message is both timely and timeless.

AUDIO DIFFICULTIES

It's not the first time we've experienced technical difficulties during a live television production, but it's especially egregious when you're talking about a live musical production and you can't get the sound mix straight. The vocals were too often overwhelmed by the backing music and even that live audience at times. We didn't come to hear people screaming, we came to hear why they're screaming.

JESUS, LEGEND

He may not have had the imagined gravitas of Jesus Christ, but he certainly had the cool and calm demeanor. Granted, cool and calm is kind of what John Legend is all about, but not having to stretch too far to capture a solid portrayal of Jesus certainly helped Legend and the production stand tall.

BRANDON VICTOR DIXON

With pop and rock musicians in most of the lead roles, it was "Hamilton" star Brandon Victor Dixon who took the production to the next level as Judas, as it should be. The meatiest and most important role in the entirety of "Superstar," Dixon brought every bit of his Aaron Burr frustration and anger into the angriest man in the bible, and it worked beautifully.

SARA BAREILLES

While primarily known as a pop star, Bareilles has just finished a successful Broadway run on "Waitress," for which she wrote the songs. That extra stage experience really helped her belt out her songs with more conviction and passion than even Legend and some of the other cast-members. Mary Magdalene never looked so sympathetic or misunderstood.

THOSE COATS, THOUGH

A lot was said about the stripped down stage production, but no one was prepared for the epic costuming -- all that glitters and shines! -- and those coats. You could tell whether someone was good or evil just by their coats alone. It was like the "Matrix"-era Wachowskis consulted on this. "What you need here is a good coat."

YOUTH OF THE NATION

Many people were touting and marveling that Andrew Lloyd Webber was only 22-years old when he wrote "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 1970 with Tim Rice, which would go on to be one of his most enduring musicals. He would, of course, go on to even greater heights with "Evita," "Cats," and "The Phantom of the Opera." Meanwhile, Twitter saw this as proof that young voices deserve to be heard and given a chance.

IT WAS JUST GOOD, OKAY

And then there were those who were just excited about everything. The musical, as it has since it was first introduced to the world, had its detractors because it's a different take on the Crucifixion story, and that's hard for some people to deal with. But the overall consensus online was that this was a rousing success, a lot of fun, and perhaps the shiniest production to ever hit the airwaves.

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