Jesus Christ Superstar or Jesus Christ Superstar – Original Australian Cast Recording is an album released in late 1972 on MCA Records. Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera created by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1970. The earliest Australian version was staged from May 1972 to February 1974. This album features Trevor White (as Jesus), Jon English (as Judas) and Michele Fawdon (as Mary Magdalene). Together with other cast members, they performed vocals for a studio recording. It was produced by Patrick Flynn, the show's musical director and a conductor for Opera Australia. The album peaked at No. 17 on the Go-Set Albums Chart in June 1973, while it reached No. 13 on the Kent Music Report and remained on its charts for 54 weeks. It appeared in the top 100 on the 1974 End of Year Albums Chart. In May 1973, the album was awarded a gold record for sales of 50,000 albums. The cast recording from the 1992 production won the Aria for Highest Selling Album and nominated for Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album.

Stage show

Venue

Capitol Theatre, Sydney (1972–1973) followed by a season at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne and a tour of other cities and towns.

Dates

4 May 1972 – February 1974 – 700+ performances.

Production team

Production credits:

Principal cast

Cast credits:

Supporting cast and chorus

Supporting cast and chorus credits:

Musicians

Cast and production notes

Soundtracks

Performers

Track listing

Charts

Australia Cast (1992 release)

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993, the album the ARIA Award for Highest Selling Album and was nominated for est Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album.

Performers

Cast

Track listing

Chart performance

"Jesus Christ Superstar ('92 Australian Cast)" debuted at #1 in Australia and remained at #1 for 10 weeks.

Certifications

2018 live release

On 4 May 2018, Aztec Records released an audio 2-CD set of a complete performance of Jesus Christ Superstar, recorded live at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in December 1973. Unlike the studio recording, which had been released as a single LP in 1972, this recording contains the entire score of the rock opera. By this point in the production several of the original featured cast had left and been succeeded by other performers - Hines had replaced Fawdon as Mary Magdelene, Livermore had replaced Dicker as Herod, Tony Rose had replaced Ramsay as Pilate, and Wayne Matthews had replaced O'Donoghue as Peter. The recording is also significant for capturing Livermore's last performance as Herod before leaving the production (to be replaced by Jon Finlayson). The original 4-track source recording was made and preserved by cast member Peter Chambers, who performed various chorus roles during the run of the show, as well as understudying both White and English.