Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. The stage performance was a success, just like the film that was released of the musical. The theater version is still regularly performed by many companies. The rock opera was released as an album in 1970 (with vocals by Ian Gillan, Yvonne Elliman, Murray Head and Barry Dennen, among others) and was subsequently staged as a musical in London and on Broadway. Religious groups protested against the performance of the play at the time, because it would portray Jesus too much as an ordinary mortal. Today it is widely loved and is also performed in churches and by church choirs.
