JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: PLAYING (THE SON OF) GOD

Hosanna Heysanna Sanna Sanna Ho

Sanna Hey Sanna Ho Sanna

Hey, JC, JC won't you smile at me?

Sanna Ho Sanna Hey Superstar

-- "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Ted Neeley's Texas roots are a solid mixture of Southern Baptist and rock 'n' roll.

The chemistry serves him well in the lead role of "Jesus Christ Superstar," a part he has made all his own since starring in the movie version of the rock musical more than two decades ago.

The latest stage version of the musical, with Neeley in the title role, will come to Cape Girardeau Friday. The performance is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Show Me Center.

The rock musical focuses on the last seven days of Jesus' life.

"What we are trying to do is take Jesus down off the stained glass window and put him next to you in the pew," Neeley said in a phone interview somewhere on the road.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" boasts music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of "The Phantom of the Opera," and lyrics by Tim Rice.

Webber and Rice released "Jesus Christ Superstar" as a two-record rock opera in 1970. The recording sold 2 1/2 million copies.

Neeley first performed "Superstar" in the 1971 Broadway show. He auditioned for the role of Judas, but the director decided he would make a better Jesus.

Then came the movie, released in 1973."

After the movie was done, Neeley walked away from the production and repeatedly turned down offers to reprise the role.

"I never felt there was any reason to do it because I felt we had done pretty much the definitive version in the film," he recalled.

But in December 1992, he and Carl Anderson, who played Judas in the film, teamed up for a new production of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

The tour was scheduled to last three months. More than two years and nearly 1,000 performances later, Neeley is still performing the title role.

Anderson is no longer with the show, and the rest of the cast has changed too.

But Neeley continues to play Jesus night after night, town after town. "We do eight shows a week," Neeley said.

"I've been playing this just slightly under 2,000 years now, and I almost have it down," he quipped.

Neeley has spent only two days at his Houston area home since the tour started. His 8-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter travel with him one week a month during the school year.

The children will be with him Friday in Cape Girardeau because of spring break.

The show has played throughout the United States and Canada. It began with engagements in the larger cities, and has since extended into smaller communities.

The latest production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" has been performed in 1,500-seat theaters and 16,000-seat arenas.

"We adapt the show to the venue quite frankly. A few weeks ago, we played a theater where it did not have an entranceway large enough to get the sets in the building. We played the show with a bare stage and curtain."

Five or six months ago, the cast performed at a small-town high school in Wisconsin, where a wall of the theater had to be knocked down to get the sets in. The community thought it was worth it.

According to Performance Magazine, "Superstar" is the top-selling theater tour in the nation this year.

Neeley knows of its popularity first hand. "Every night after the show I spend several hours talking to people. Right now, I think I am the most hugged person in America."

It wasn't always that way. Religious groups protested when "Superstar" was first produced on Broadway. Neeley and others in the cast had to fight their way through picket lines to enter the theater.

But since then, "Jesus Christ Superstar" has been embraced by church groups and congregations everywhere.

In the city of Quebec in French-speaking Canada, the musical is used to teach children English.

Neeley grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His father worked in the Texas oil fields as a roughneck.

At age 5, Neeley recalls, he passed through Cape Girardeau with his parents on a trip. "I have a very, very vivid picture of Cape Girardeau."

Growing up, Neeley played drums in rock 'n' roll bands.

He still thinks of himself as a drummer. He's also a singer and composer.

"I have been able to write music for television shows. I have scored films. I have written music for other artists.

"I basically am a team player as all drummers are, so to speak."

Neeley won't give his age. He will only admit to 33 -- the age Biblical scholars believe Jesus was when he was crucified.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" has a lot going for it, he concedes. "You can't beat the story."