I just finished watching a recording of it. It was truly a spectacular show. For the record, I saw nothing that would suggest to me that Jesus was being "mocked." My "official" review:
I wondered how "Jesus Christ Superstar" would work on live television - and, like many others, I will say that I was surprised by the volume of commercial interruptions. I realize that someone has to pay for such a production and the sponsors have to get the chance to hawk their wares so to speak (kind of like the vendors at the temple) but there were definitely too many commercial interruptions. They really did detract from the flow of the story. However - that would be pretty much my only criticism of this presentation, and quite frankly it's somewhat tempered by the fact that I was very impressed that NBC chose to put this together and get it on the air on regular television. I suppose it could have been done as a pay per view experience without commercials - but at least this was accessible to anyone who wanted to watch it. From a technical perspective, the sets were fantastic, although the vocals were sometimes hard to hear. But basically, for those who did watch it - what a show it was!
The performances almost all the way around were spectacular. Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas had the lead role, since the story of Jesus in "Superstar" is largely told through the eyes of Judas, who is depicted as concerned that Jesus has allowed his growing fame to go to his head a bit, so that he has become more important than his message. Dixon's performance was the best of a series of superb performances, and John Legend wasn't too far behind with his take on Jesus - a very human Jesus, confused by his growing fame and increasingly disturbed by where his fame was taking him. In scenes they shared, the two worked together brilliantly. As Mary Magdalene, Sara Bareilles (my favourite singer!) had a somewhat lesser role - often on the fringes as she followed Jesus, and also increasingly troubled by what was happening. But her musical performances were great, which I expected, and she and John Legend had a real chemistry as Mary comforted Jesus repeatedly. As an actress, she did a good job of allowing her facial expressions to reflect the emotions that Mary herself would have been feeling in the circumstances. Add in Ben Daniels as Pilate and Norm Lewis as Caiaphas - in still lesser roles, but with good performances. I was not entirely taken with Alice Cooper's turn (in just one scene) as King Herod, although he proved himself to be quite the showman.
And so we travel through the last part of Jesus' life, awe-struck by the story (albeit certainly from a different perspective than the Gospels) being put to music. My biggest criticism of "Superstar" (as with its contemporary "Godspell") has always been the lack of a specific resurrection scene. Leaving Jesus dead seems to detract from the story. However, I liked the way Jesus' death was handled in this. First, the scenes from the point at which Jesus was beaten before being crucified and then the scenes of Jesus on the cross were very moving. But what really appealed to me was the way - after Jesus dies - the cross (with him on it) just gradually receded from sight and was replaced by a brilliant light. A sign, perhaps, that Jesus had been taken to God? And the last bow of the evening went to John Legend for his performance as Jesus. I will, personally, choose to interpret John Legend racing back on to centre stage to take his bow as a depiction of the resurrection. (9/10)
A review of JCS? Was unaware that Fb does official reviews.