Jesus Christ Superstar
Overview
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

, with lyrics by Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...

. The musical started off as a rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...

 concept recording
Jesus Christ Superstar (album)
Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The album musical is a musical dramatisation of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion....

 before its first staging on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in 1971. The musical is based very loosely on the Gospels' account
New Testament view on Jesus' life
The four canonical gospels of the New Testament are the primary sources of information for the doctrinal Christian narrative of the life of Jesus. There is not a single New Testament "view" on the life of Jesus, the four Canonical gospels tell different but connected stories...

 of the last week of Jesus' life, beginning with the preparation for the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem, and ending with the crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

. It highlights political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...

 and Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, struggles that are not in the Bible.
Quotations

Think while you still have me. Move, while you still see me; cause' you'll be lost--you'll be sorry when I'm gone!

Sing me your songs, but not for me alone. Sing out for yourselves, for you are blessed.

Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself understand what power is, understand what glory is, understand at all.

To conquer death you only have to die.

The end...is just a little harder, when brought about by friends.

Show me there's a reason for your wanting me to die. You're far too keen on where and how, but not so hot on why. Alright, I'll die! Just watch me die! See how I die!

Judas, must you betray me with a kiss?

You have nothing in your hands. Any power you have, comes to you from far beyond. Everything is fixed, and you can't change it.

It is finished. Father, in your hands I commend... my spirit! [He dies]

My mind is clearer now. At last all too well I can see where we all soon will be. If you strip away the myth from the man you will see where we all soon will be. Jesus! You started to believe the things they say of you. You really do believe this talk of god is true?

 
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