I think people forget the movie version came out 45 years ago. So many other things have been remade 5 times in that span. I am not sure why folks complain about not hearing over the audience. I am guessing they are on TV's that came out 45 years ago. You can change the sound setting on the new TV's to play quality music. I had no trouble. I enjoyed seeing Legend interact with the audience. The "Hosanna" song where he got them all clapping was amazing. That is what theater is all about. As far as people saying he was miscast as Christ, well we all know those are veiled prejudicial statements. Legend is a classically trained musician. He was excepted into Harvard and Georgetown on his music merits. He was a child prodigy on the piano and vocals. He was a music director by his junior year. He never missed a single note or word in any song. He has an Oscar, a Tony and multiple Grammy's. Rice and Webber worked with him on every song. His tone and pitch were perfect. He is an amazing talent. If he earns an Emmy with this performance, he will be a very select few to earn an EGOT. As far as the perception of being miscast, Jesus (A name he never heard once during his time on earth) was born Jewish, died Jewish, and was resurrected Jewish. He will return Jewish as well. All of those "J" words and not one J in the Hebrew alphabet. His name was actually Yeshua or Immanuel. The Bible does not give many descriptions of his appearance, but it does give several key ones. His skin was bronze, and his hair was like wool. It also said he looked like a son of Judah. He looked Jewish. He would have had a long beard, sideburns, and probably dark skin and hair. The Nazarene's came over from Greece. He would have probably worn a yamika as well. He also warned against preachers wearing white robes. His robes were probably natural linens or wool. Bleaching was only for the very wealthy. Legend stepped into some big shoes. He comes from a preacher family in the Mid West in a country Jesus never heard of or stepped foot in. But I think he would have smiled at this performance. It was beautifully done and moved people.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Easter Sunday night 2018 presentation. That this was done live on tv made it all the more impressive.There are many comments lamenting the commercials. It becomes obvious that commercial were needed for scene changes since the se6t was large and central to the stage. There were not small sets for different scenes....most everything was done center-stage, and things needed to be converted to different settings.I applaud the musical components. The musicians were wonderful and recreated the well-known soundtrack LIVE. The singing was equally impressive. The intensity of the sung music by different actors effectively portrayed their character's mindset and psychology. I believe each of the main actors was well matched in voice and psychology to the characters they portrayed.I've seen the 1970's movie countless times, so I know the lyrics and the music by heart. There were some lyric changes. At a few times during the production, the solo singing was drowned out by audience applause. That being said, the audience excitement contributed energy to the presentation and helped the viewer feel this was closer to the historical events which happened in front of supportive and enemy crowds. I don'r think the audience participation was too excessive to adversely effect the production.I noted a few minor glitches....Alice Cooper signalling twice for his music to begin (this might have been an intentional over-cue to demonstrate the personality he was portraying in the over-the-top Herod.). During the scourging of the portrayed Christ, actors were running past and signalling each of the 39 scourges........it seemed some of the lashes happened without a particular actor running by and serving those lashes.I have seen 2 live productions of JCS---both of which had Ted Neeley. Those two productions differed in their own representations of the crowd, of Herod, of the Zealots, etc. It is interesting to see how each production takes the story and presents it in a fresh way. Lastly, when I watched on Easter Sunday night, I sat with my 93 year old Mom. She enjoyed the spectacle, but it was difficult for her to hear the lyrics through the rock music. I'll always remember, for this production, being a live singer/personal subtitler for her. She knows the story of the passion well, so the assistance I provided helped her also enjoy the presentation. Some people like/love this version of the passion story. others hate this version. Each year i tend to watch all of the filmed productions.......King of Kings (silent), king of Kings, The greatest Story ever Told, Jesus of Nazareth. This and the 1970's version will also now be future traditional viewing for me. Given the age of the actual Biblical characters, and knowing human nature, I think this version of the passion story makes real the human perspective of the events of the passion. I'd recommend this version for its vibrance, its adherence to the Biblical story, its artistic and musical beauty, its conveyed emotions, and its excitement. Kudos.

I bought the original Rock Opera back in the 70's (on vinyl) and played it endlessly. Needless to say when I watch the live broadcast I was expecting some of the voices to be the same or similar but alas they were not. I thought the main characters did not have the range that Ian Gillan, Murray Head, and Yvonne Elliman had they were super. I really like John Legend but sorry it was just not the same. The thing that really bothered me was the constant crowd noise why in the world pay a whole bunch of money only not to be able to hear it over your screaming? That ruined it for me.

I truly loved this production, atmospheric set, great character portrayal and the singing stunning. If you moaned about this then you are difficult to please. I watched it without adverts so cannot comment on that. Sara Bareilles -10/10 was wonderful, Brandon Victor Dixon 11/10 simply brilliant, John Legend 9/10 - great performance but a little one dimensional as an actor. If you love JCS and you are not a wannabe critic who likes to disseminate and rip apart every element, you will LOVE this production!