<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The songs were first written and conceived as a concept album, before the musical was created and staged . On the original album, the part of Jesus was sung by Ian Gillan, with Murray Head as Judas, Michael d'Abo as King Herod, Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene, and Barry Dennen as Pilate . In July 1971, the first authorised American concert of the rock opera took place in front of an audience of 13,000 people at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Civic Arena with Jeff Fenholt singing the role of Jesus, Carl Anderson as Judas and Elliman repeating as Mary Magdalene . </P> <P> The musical opened on Broadway on 12 October 1971, directed by Tom O'Horgan, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre . It starred Jeff Fenholt as Jesus, Ben Vereen as Judas and Bob Bingham as Caiaphas . Dennen and Elliman played the roles that they had sung on the album . Kurt Yaghjian was Annas, and Ted Neeley (as a Christ understudy), Samuel E. Wright and Anita Morris appeared in the cast . Carl Anderson replaced Vereen when he fell ill, and the two performers later took turns playing the role . The show closed on 30 June 1973 after 711 performances . The production received mixed reviews; the bold casting of African - Americans as Judas was lauded, but reviewer Clive Barnes from The New York Times said, "the real disappointment was not in the music...but in the conception ." Lloyd Webber said in 2012: "I hugely objected to the original New York production, which was probably the worst night of my life . It was a vulgar travesty ." The show was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Score, but didn't win any . Lloyd Webber won a Drama Desk Award as "Most Promising Composer", and Vereen won a Theatre World Award . </P> <P> The Broadway show and subsequent productions were condemned by some religious groups . Tim Rice was quoted as saying "It happens that we don't see Christ as God but simply the right man at the right time at the right place ." Some Christians considered such comments to be blasphemous, the character of Judas too sympathetic and some of his criticisms of Jesus offensive . At the same time, some Jews claimed that it bolstered the antisemitic belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death by showing most of the villains as Jewish (Caiaphas and the other priests, Herod) and showing the crowd in Jerusalem calling for the crucifixion . The musical was banned in South Africa for being "irreligious". A 1972 production of the play was banned in the Hungarian People's Republic for "distribution of religious propaganda". </P>

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