Months and months ago, a not-so-random email popped into my InBox from my old pal TicketMaster. With my longstanding ticket-purchase history in its mighty virtual brain, TicketMaster thought I'd be a good bet for the upcoming national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. Easy prey, I immediately did my search-and-destroy on the seating charts, methodically working through each available show until I hit pay dirt: row 4, center orchestra. A few clicks of my mouse and the tickets were printed and saved to the PC.
As the months wore on, I completely forgot about Superstar. Not hard to believe, considering we were all-consumed with building the house, selling the house, and moving. October and the State Fair rolled around in the wink of an eye, and suddenly---Superstar, calling me from my very own TV! Watching the commercial, I felt some clicks in my brain: tickets? tickets? when? did I miss it already?! I looked in the typical places for the tickets, which I remembered tucking safely away in an envelope, pre-move...no luck. With a smile, I headed up to my trusty, ancient Mac; with about the same number of clicks as it took to buy those tickets, I located the copy on my hard drive and was right back in business. Not a moment too soon, either: the show was only a week away.
A couple of hours later, fresh from the show, I asked my date: "Why doesn't this show get the respect it deserves?" Lumped into the popular repertoire of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Superstar has I suppose a hard-core following, but for most theatergoers it doesn't even seem to be a contender against Phantom or Cats. "Wall-to-wall music," my date proclaimed, "does not work for everyman." Does it require too much thought process? No 'easy' place for applause? "Maybe it's the material?" I asked. "Pretty controversial down here in the Bible Belt." This is the second time I've seen the show staged in Texas, and both times the audience seemed less-than-appreciative of the "superstar' treatment of Jesus.
Although my date did not agree with me that Webber should have just done this show and called it quits right there ("That would have cut things a bit short for him, wouldn't it?"), he did concur that it is impressive when a show can hold its own after 30 years. So I guess it's okay that not everyone would drop this on their Top Ten list, I'll hold steady on my opinion here.
Thanks, TicketMaster---email me anytime for a repeat!