JCSLOGO

{Updated 7/5/10}


"We all need each other to ultimately feel complete.  However, until we feel complete within ourselves, as an Island to an ocean, we cannot help all complete the circle."

The current JCS AD ("nee Farewell") Tour has given many of us some cherished, and now more rare than ever, moments with Ted, both on and offstage. Below are some photos from many of the Meet and Greets that have happened so far on this tour, as well as some comments from list members on their experiences seeing the show and talking with Ted, and my comments on the tour's stay here in Cleveland.  ENJOY!  (And if you have any pictures from your own JCS visit/Ted visit, and would like them posted here, please feel free to send them to me here:

PICTURES FROM MEET & GREETS/
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SHOW!!!


Before we get to the meet and greet pictures, let me just state that, as the tour goes on, if anyone who has pictures and/or observations on JCS, and would like to have them posted here, feel free to e-mail them to me!  As a sort of "disclaimer", since there are likely to be a wide range of opinions on the show, let me say that the observations and comments posted here are each list member's thoughts, and are not necessarily in agreement with everyone's opinions.


BUFFALO - 9/8/06  - AD TOUR OPENING WEEKEND - 1st Performance!

Amiee Thomas and I had a great time in Buffalo - way too short though!  Here we are at the stage door with Ted after the 9/8 show.  The photographer was one of the gentlemen who have been filming a documentary on Ted and JCS for the past few weeks (as you all know by now - and the camera is in the pictures).  Enjoy!


I think it was almost 1:30-2AM when these shots were taken!

 






The "Stage Door" was actually the back entrance into the theatre's scene shop and backstage area!  The gentleman behind us with the camera in the picture below was one of the two men filming the meet and greet as part of the documentary.  Buffalo was their last stop. The other "documentary guy" took these pictures.  I guess the angle on some of these hides me in a few shots, but you can see Amiee and Ted very well.  Amiee has more shots of our meeting with Ted, and once they are developed, with her permission, I will add them here. Thanks so much for driving up with me, Amiee, it was a great time!  Enjoy, everyone!

~~~~~~~

 

UTICA - 9/26-27/06

Judie Brock (judiebrock@juno.com) saw the Utica, NY performance, and met with Ted at the stage door after the show.  Judie very graciously gave me permission to post the picture below, as well as her observations on the show, and she reiterates what we already know, get your tickets soon, because the show is selling fast!!!: 

Sure, you can use anything I sent you....thought I already gave the OK, but maybe it was a senior moment :-))  I also met Mrs. Judas and girlfriend of Caiaphas, plus several apostles/dancers. What a great bunch of kids, and such a fantastic opportunity for them!  Also, tell people not to wait to get tickets!!!  The show will be in my area 3 times in April (Springfield and Amherst, MA and Concord, NH) and tickets are close to being sold out....6 months away!!!  I am (again) bringing my son and his wife, and we couldn't get 4 seats together without having to bring supplemental oxygen!
Judie
Hi Cindi,

This show was a completely different experience from 10 years ago. When we arrived at the hotel, we discovered that the troupe was staying there andindeed Ted et al were in a side conference room eating and talking. I wasn't about to intrude on Ted, but I did speak to some of the "kids" in the cast who repeatedly remarked how wonderful it was to have him as a mentor and guide. For some of them it was their first experience in a production of this sort. Later, Ted told me how he felt that all their youthful ("some of them are young enough to be my grandchildren!") energy was transferred to him.)

The show was not the polished perfection of a decade ago. Ted was, of course, wonderful, but the stage lights were quite unforgiving (I was glad to see later that he looks better close-up), he had to work harder to hit the high notes, and did move somewhat more slowly. The kids were really trying hard and did well, and the exchange of energy was palpable and amazing. I also had to "get over" the fact that the "Neeley-Anderson axis" wasn't there........once I was able to do that, I accepted and fully enjoyed the show as something fresh and new. It was sweet and incredibly moving as ever, just in a different way.

Also, interestingly enough, very few Tedheads. Many of the people I talked to had never seen the show before, including the parents/girlfriends of a couple cast members! Hard to believe, isn't it? I hardly had to wait at all to talk to Ted after the show.

Guess there's something to be said for a small town...............

Anyway, thought you might be interested in my observations....feel free to share them with anyone who might be interested.

 

~~~~~~~

TOLEDO - 10/5/06


Amiee Thomas (AimeeTeddybear4u@aol.com) and I paid Ted and Company another visit in Toledo and met Sean Grindle (rochestra@yahoo.com) while we were there!  My thanks to Sean, who took these great pictures!





                                                                                       Hugs and confidences.  
 

        Smile pretty... see the Jiminy pin on Ted's shirt? It was a gift from his kids - he wears it all the time!


Deep in thought in the parking lot.


It's great to see Ted smile!  This was taken inside the stage door right after the show. And, for those who don't know, the silver "ring" on Ted's forehead is his microphone. He'd just come offstage after the curtain call, and was still wired for sound!

 


Michael Stan (Stanmajic@aol.com) asked me to post his JCS Review here.  Thanks Michael!

Review:
The show was AMAZING! Ted was absolutely on the ball. With his amazing vocals and remarkable stage presence, he took control of the stage. I admit Corey Glover was awesome, but Ted was Phenomenal during Gethsemane and the Crucifixion. I thought the whole production was put together very well. I really liked the stage setup. It was well designed for looks, as well as to make easy transitions form scene to scene. I thought it was really cool how they used the curtain from the Temple scene for the Leper scene. The stage effects were great. The crucifixion scene was the most amazing part of the show. As soon as the cross was fully elevated, everyone was silent. Everybody was tearing up, even me. Looking at Ted on the cross was like looking at Christ himself. Ted knows what he's doing. For anyone who hasn't seen the show, I encourage you to see it. It is 100% worth the money. And of course, stay after the show to meet Ted. Ted is definitely one of the nicest guys I have ever met. There is something very special about him. He has such a warm and loving personality. I would know, I had the privilege to meet him and talk with him after the show. He made me feel like I was important to him, and that I was the only one who was there to meet him. Like I said, there is something very special about that man, and if you meet him, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.
-Michael Stan

 

  

~~~~~~~


 

YOUNGSTOWN - 10/16-17/06


 


Michael Stan shows Ted his drawings.


Ted looks at Michael Stan's drawings.


Ted's signature on one of Michael's drawings.


Ted with Michael Stan and his friends.

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~

MELBOURNE - 12/3/06
                

 


One of our "newer-old" Tedheads, Kat Bradford, backstage with Ted.

~~~~~~~

 

 

CLEVELAND - 12/5-10/06


During these Meet and Greets in Cleveland, I was either working as an usher, or helping Ted take Tedhead pictures, so I have none of my own pics with Ted in Cleveland - but I will have more down the line. I do have these great shots of Michael from 12/6, and Heidi and her husband Rick on 12/9, and more to come.

M1

12/6/06 - evening:


Michael Stan gets his Tedhug.


Michael Stan and Ted.


 

Michael Stan (Stanmajic@aol.com) asked me to post his second JCS Review here.  Thanks Michael!

Review (12/6/06)
When you hear Jesus Christ Superstar who do you think of? I don't know about you, but I think of Ted Neeley. We all know Ted is the Original Superstar from his role in the well known motion picture of Superstar. From screen to stage Ted brings to life the story of Christ's final days in a way that you have to see to believe. For me personally, Gethsemane was probably the most emotional part of the show for me besides the emotionally stirring crucifixion scene. After seeing the show in October I had already known what to expect and once again I found myself in tears. I don't know how Ted is able to put on such a powerful performance every time he has a show. I asked him how he did it and he replied by saying, "It drains me emotionally every night." I gave him a hug and told him he has a very special gift. He was pleased to hear that.
    As far as the cast goes Cory did fine, and everyone else was amazing as well. Herod was fun to watch. I was surprised when he came onstage in a bathrobe. I personally enjoyed the change in his costume. I have to say though, the hanging scene was a little lame. When I saw Superstar with Carl Anderson for the 96-97 A.D. tour, he had an awesome suicide scene. (Not that suicide is cool, but if you've seen the show with Carl you will know what I'm talking about.)  All together the show was filled with a group of REAL SUPERSTARS!!!
-Michael Stan

 


12/9/06 - matinee:

 

Cleve1

Ted arrives at the Meet and Greet.

Cleve2

Ted greets the first fan

Cleve3

Ted meets Heidi.

Cleve4

Heidi gets her first Tedhug.

Cleve5

Ted with Heidi & her husband Rick, who, Heidi says, was the only man there!

Cleve6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heidi with Ted.

Cleve7

One last shot - Ted's idea.

 

 

THE TOUR IN CLEVELAND - 2010

Yes, they are back here for two shows on one wonderful day (3/6/10)!  

Saturday, March 6

I am happy to report that the show, though almost entirely re-cast (the only returnees aside of Ted are Caiaphas (Darrel), Simon (Matthew), Peter  (Adam) and a few of the ensemble members (Ethan, Billy, & Amber)), has improved dramatically – even since its’ Akron performance on 2/16/10. For many of the cast members, this leg is their national tour debut, and they are fitting in quite well with the show. Everyone was in extremely good voice this evening, and Ted’s temple scream and Gethsemane had the audience cheering and applauding louder than ever! Matthew C. Myers (Simon) and I spoke at length after the company sound check just to catch up, and I also saw Darrel Whitney (Caiaphas) briefly before the show. With so many one-nighters, and the H1N1 epidemic, Ted is taking extra precautions to remain healthy for this demanding performance schedule. Select individuals, such as the radio interviewer at our show, are being taken back by Ray to see Ted, and he has not been doing any Meet and Greets on this leg. I had Mary, our House Manager, deliver the FTNL Plaque backstage for our birthday/Xmas donation in Ted’s name this year. We all have our fingers crossed that Ted stays healthy for the remainder of this schedule, and that he will be back onstage again soon!

 

THE TOUR IN CLEVELAND - 2009

Yes, they were back here at last (2/25-27/09)!  As the tour plays here, I will again add news, asides, pics, etal I get here - so stay tuned!

Wednesday, February 25

I am happy to report that the show I saw tonight has both held up, and been recast, very well. Some of the tempos are slower than I remember from the last leg, possibly from the new conductor, but I'm not sure. (She's a lovely lady, BTW, with a great English accent.) Ted's voice was very strong tonight, especially in "The Temple," and "Gethsemane." James Delsico's voice is very reminiscent of Carl's, and I found him to be a very friendly guy when I spoke with him after the show. James is out in the lobby selling and signing CD's after every performance, apparently. Also, Matthew Myers (Simon) and Darrel R. Whitney (Caiaphas) are just magnificent onstage. Ted did not do a meet and greet tonight, and not many folks waited. I believe there was one woman in a wheelchair waiting with her family, but I don't know if they were taken backstage, as that seems to be the way Ted sees people these days, more often than not. Things are very low key here, but it's to be expected, given what has been happening lately, and the fact that the tour Producers are in town.

Thursday, February 26

The show was good again tonight, though Ted was a little vocally rougher tonight, but with Cleveland's weather, anything is possible. He still hit the scream well in "The Temple," and the high "Gethsemane" notes well, though. Tonight two understudies went on. Justin Glaser played Pilate tonight, and DaRon Lamar Williams played Annas. This was very unusual for two reasons: 1. We had no stuffers, & 2. There was no announcement from the stage. Very odd. And both Craig and Caleb played their roles in last night's show and sounded fine, so who knows why the changes occurred. Both Justin and DaRon did a great job, though poor DaRon had to struggle with a mic that cut out twice. The mic also cut out on Caleb in the spot last night, so I hope they can fix or replace it before tomorrow's show.  Matthew and Darrel were magnificent again tonight. I was able to say a quick hi to Matthew as he was leaving the stage when the cast finished some quick rehearsing to put Justin and DaRon into the show tonight just before we opened the house to the audience. I saw two of our list members at the show tonight: Bridget Nolan  and Michael Stan. Michael and his family were taken to see Ted very briefly after the show, but Ted, again, did not do a meet and greet, and we were all out of the theatre by about 10:30PM. More tomorrow, when Tina, Heidi, Rick, Aimee and Kendra all have tickets to the show and plan to present Ted with our First Ted Neeley List donation Birthday/Christmas Angels plaque.

Friday, February 27

Hi All,
 
Believe it or not, Tina and I JUST got home - and it's 3:22AM!!!
 
In short, it was a wonderful evening.  The show was sold out to the walls.  And we saw Ted tonight after the show.
 
Now in LENGTH, here goes:
 
Since we didn't have a ticket for Tina tonight, we were going to get to the theatre early to wait for turnovers from the cast and from house seats. So at 3:45PM we stepped outside and saw that I had a flat.  My THIRD flat in a month, and the final free AAA call I had.  Great, right?  Okay, so AAA gets here about 4:15PM. In the meantime I called Ed (our Front of House Manager), who told me the tickets - if there were any - would be released about 5PM.  We got to the theatre at 5:08PM, and there were no seats, so I went to check with our House Manager for the night, Mary, and she told me that she didn't even have any house seats. Then the box office folks said that all the cast seats had already been given out. So picture Tina and I sitting on the lobby bench, with Tina saying she'd come 2500 miles and almost in tears, and me not knowing what to do. Then Tina says: "If I whine to the right person, maybe it will work?" So I went to the Will call window and told them I had a friend in from Seattle, and would it be possible to buy a will call ticket if it didn't get claimed - by intermission. They said it wasn't possible, since they can't resell a ticket. I went back to tell Tina this news, and about a minute later, out comes a box office attendant to tell us that two tickets for the show that night had been returned, and they were holding them at the window for us if we were interested. Now I had a seat in the third row, and wanted to keep it, but we said yes to one of those tickets, and Tina became the proud owner of a seat in the 7th row center about 45 minutes before Showtime, proving that if you don't give up hope, things can work out very well indeed! After we got the ticket, we went down the hall to grab a really great burger at Otto Mosiers. If you come here folks, this is the place to go near PHSQ for really good food at pretty decent prices.
 
So the show started, and it was great tonight. Ted was very strong again, especially in The Temple and Gethsemane. Craig and Caleb were back in their roles, and there were no understudies on that I was aware of. This was my first time watching the show that close to the stage, and it's a whole new experience.  VERY intense! The tempos were faster tonight, and the crucifixion was MUCH faster. Not sure why, perhaps the Producers suggested something maybe?  Don't know, but I was very surprised at how quickly Ted's lines on the cross came after each other.
 
At intermission, I told Shannon I had spoken with Ray yesterday about the plaque, and she said she knew nothing except that it would be in the lobby, if anywhere at all. So, I tried to find Ray to touch base as he suggested yesterday night, but there were so many people in the lobby it was virtually impossible, but I did find Ed, who suggested I send a message back to him through our House Manager Mary, to let him know we were there with the plaque. I did. But all during Act II I sat on tenterhooks because I still didn't have a firm response as to whether we were going to get the plaque to Ted or not. It makes it a little harder to enjoy the show as much as I could have, if I'd known about the outcome in the M&G department, but what can you do?
 
After the show ended, Heidi, Rick, Kendra, Aimee, Tina and I were in the lobby, and I was able to talk to Darrell while we were waiting. I told him that I'd been wanting to say he has a AMAZING voice, and he was very gracious and thanked me. He makes a WONDERFUL Caiaphas, guys. For those of you who have yet to see this show, you are in for a GREAT treat when you hear him! Finally, Heidi spotted Ray. I went over and asked if Ted had a minute for us to give him his plaque, and Ray said we were going to do it in the lobby. Good. Then we ran into Patti and Debbi (from the Pittsburgh show), who asked the same question. I told them he would be out. They sent us over to the fireplace to wait, and, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon which way you look at it, the audience figured out what was going on, and began to line up. So James (Delisco) had his line on one side of the lobby and then Ted's line started to form in the cut-through on the other side. We tried to tell some of the audience waiting that Ted and company had a matinee in Flint tomorrow at 3PM, and could they please keep things moving, and Ray came out to ensure that idea, which was a good thing. It worked too, I think the whole meet and greet was over about 12:30 - so it was roughly 2 hours beginning to end.
 
While we waited for our turn (we were the last group), some of us spoke to Ray about his spaghetti recipes, the mouse on Ted's bus (Heidi brought cheetos for it :-) ), and how he had to play "tour captain" on the cast bus to Michigan early tomorrow morning. Then he will have an almost 900 mile drive after that - hell on sciatica! Ray is a lot of fun when you get to know him, but he's also an excellent Company Manager who does his job VERY well when needed, and he kept the line moving so no one totally monopolized Ted's time. The main reason for that was that the theatre wanted to close, so we would all have ended up outside, and we know what a no-no that is with Winter weather, right?
 
Anyway, our group finally got "up to bat," and Aimee and Kendra went first, since neither was feeling very well. Aimee was still dealing with her Mom dying and Kendra with her miscarriage. Kendra actually fell asleep on the floor for a little while waiting to see Ted. Heidi and Rick were next, and presented Ted with flowers in honor of Carl's birthday. Ted was very touched. (I would have mentioned Carl too, but I guess the lack of sleep is not letting anything stay in my head for more than 5 minutes, so I temporarily forgot and kicked myself around the block later.)  Tina was next, and she and Ted had a lovely little chat about their families. Then it was my turn. I think I got at least 3 - maybe 4 very long Tedhugs, and one kiss on the forehead (that was for the Teddy Bear, I think). I had a bag of funny things for Ted that I've been saving up as I came across them. These included:
 
1. Messiah Mints - "Save Your Breath"
2. Jesus Pencil Toppers (erasers shaped and painted like Jesus)
3. The Next To Last Supper Gum with a Jesus trading card
4. A teddy bear with a star-naming certificate - (when I saw that I could name a star in the Big Bear constellation for Ted, I thought it was way too good to pass up - he LOVED it!)
5. A new stuffed Jiminy - it's Pinocchio's 40th Anniversary, so they just got them into the Disney Store. Ted was so funny, asking if I thought he could get the stuffed guy on his collar. I said, "Well you could try, the arms hook!," and we laughed.
 
Finally, I called Heidi over and explained the plaque, and that the Angels charity was Heidi's idea, and when Ted saw the plaque, he was SO touched! I mentioned that I knew he had met DeAnna, and he said he had and thought she was a terrific lady (she is). Ted was so touched that FTNL did this for his Birthday and Christmas, and he thanked us for our generosity. I told him we were happy to help. Rick was taking pictures of all of this, and Heidi is e-mailing them to me. I have some on my own camera, and will upload them a little later today (Saturday), once I've crashed for awhile.
 
One of the funny things that Ted and I talked about came out when I told him that it was a little scary watching Gethsemane up close, because it looked like his throat was going to explode when he screamed. He told me that actually got him a job at one time. I thought it was so cute! We also touched on Rasputin, which will still be done, according to Ted, time and schedule permitting, but we are all going to have to be patient folks, until, and if, it finally happens. Ted autographed my big JCS program (NOTE GUYS:  The big programs - $15 - are last leg's programs - Corey's still in them - with a new stuffer inside. I had heard, or so I thought, that they were going to take new production photos for this book, but if they have, it hasn't been printed yet, apparently.) With a final hug, I told Ted that he was missed here, and we would love to have him come back soon again - in anything. He told me that as long as Cleveland wanted to book him, he's here.
 
All too soon we had to leave, poor Tim (PHSQ Security), Mary (PHSQ House Manager tonight), and several other PHSQ staff members, along with Ray, were SO patient, but it was evident the place needed to close, and it was 12:40AM by then. So Tina and I hooked up with Heidi and Rick (Aimee and Kendra elected to go home, since they weren't up to a late evening) and we all went to Nighttown for a late bite. The three women (Heidi, me and Tina) all had dessert, and Rick had a BEAUTIFUL rib eye that made my EYES water!!!  We chatted until almost three, and here I am.
 
All-in-all, it was a lovely evening, one WELL worth waiting for and that lived up to everyone's hopes, fortunately! I am hoping to see one more JCS show on this leg. I'm not sure where yet, or with whom, but it would be nice to check it out one more time before this leg ends.
 
Okay - that's the long and short of it. The pictures and comments will be in the list files and on my website tour page a little later today.  Thanks for listening! And thanks to Morgan and Ray for helping this to happen!

Here's Heidi's post on tonight:

Well, I think Cindi covered everything in her report of the show in Cleveland on Friday night. Good job!

It was and amazing show, The best so far that I have seen.

Ted was very strong. The Temple scene....wow! I wanted to "Get Out!"

James (Judas) was absolutely amazing in his role. The way he moved and the relationship between him and Ted was awesome. He totally rocked! I am glad I brought extra tissues. He has truly done a wonderful job. Wow does not seem to cover it. And I met him after the show and he is a wonderful man that is going places. He couldn't have been nicer. Thank you James.

The show seemed to have a little slower tempo than usual, which I liked.

Craig was back in his robes as Pilate after being under the weather and did a great job as usual. I hope he feels better soon. He really has been such a pleasure to watch on stage. He is another amazing person. A great presence on the stage.

I just cannot say enough about this show. It has been fun to watch the cast change and grow with time and to see them become so comfortable in their roles. There is always something new, some little tweak every time you see it.

And another person who does not the credit he deserves is Ray, the company manager. It is always a pleasure to visit with him. He doesn't have an easy job but he does it very well and I think we can rest assured knowing the cast is in good hands with him. I thank him for his patience and his humor and a difficult job well done.

I did something I always wanted to do. I took a bunch of yellow roses for Ted. I have always wanted to give a performer flowers after a show and who better than Ted? The yellow roses of course are for Texas even though it's not the official state flower but they are also for friendship. I think Ted makes everyone feel like a friend. And being Carl's birthday, I asked if he would accept some roses on Carl's behalf and he graciously did. Thank you Ted.

Another thing I brought for him was Buckeyes. Now if you live in Ohio (which is the Buckeye state) you know that Buckeyes are cookies that are more like candy. The remind me of peanut butter cups made to look like a Buckeye.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. It was nice to see the show again. See the new cast members do their stuff and to talk to friends.

Thank you Ted and the entire cast for going out there every night and doing such an amazing and moving performance. And to Ray, I have nothing but respect for you, thank you as well.

 

THE TOUR IN CLEVELAND - 2006

Yes, they are here at last (12/5/06)!  As the tour plays here, I will add any news, asides, pics, etal I get in this section - so stay tuned!


Tuesday, December 5

I am happy to report ...that I saw a "much-rested" Ted, who looked wonderful and was in great spirits tonight. He told me he's adjusted to the schedule and sleeps well on the bus, so he probably has the "over-tired" problem from Buffalo long-since licked, I am happy to say.

Ted gave me so many hugs, my jacket still smells like his cologne. I was driving home and thought to myself - what smells so good? Oh, yes, now I remember... :-) He and Company put on a hell of a show tonight. No one seems to be upset that we got snow as they were coming in - and it's cold as hell here - they did just leave Florida, after all... And those of you here who can't make the shows, Ted and Company will be coming back to Cleveland, according to Ted this evening anyway. I was very glad to hear that!


PEOPLE WHO GAVE ME THINGS FOR TED:

1.   Alex & Giuliana, Ted has your sweater. He hadn't opened the box when we left tonight, but when he found out it was something he
could wear, and that you guys wanted a picture, he told me: "Well, we'll have to arrange that before I leave." (No guarantees - they
are running him ragged with media - starting at 9AM tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, but we'll try). He was very touched.

 2.   Tina he has your letter.

 3.   Ann he has your letter (and an update from me that you're doing fine after surgery).

 4.   Helena he has your letter.

 5.   Gena he has your letter.

 6.   John (C.) - Ted hopes your back is better soon - he was sorry to hear you injured it again.

 7.   Anyone else I forgot - (sorry, can't remember at the moment - I just woke up) - Ted has whatever you gave me for him as well.

 

CUTE STUFF

This was so cute:

Amiee (Thomas) was with me, along with her family. Ted loved her present, and was quite the gentleman, helping to get her Mom to
the van after her family said hello. Her Mom said if he ever needed money, she could loan him $5.00 - and Shannon, the Company Merchandiser, who runs the souvenir table, heard her and said: "Is that offer open to all of us?" Ted thought that was so sweet!


 

FYI TO THOSE COMING TO THE CLEVELAND SHOWS:

MEET AND GREETS

There are none officially scheduled here this time - at least not yet anyway. As of this evening (Tuesday), there was no official word from the Company Manager about this. I spoke with her directly (she's a friend of a friend), and she said no decisions had been made at that time. So there were no announced autograph lines like there were with the Anniversary Tour after the show. They are trying to get Ted to meet whomever has come to say hello in the lobby after the shows, but I think they are going night-to-night on this. And the Company Manager and Company Merchandiser are running rough-shod on this, telling everyone that Ted has early media, to respect his time, and to not keep him out too late, so it's not as easy to get as much time with Ted as it used to be. But, it's not impossible either.   ;-)

As far as meeting anyone else, well the Palace Theatre does not have a stage door - instead it's a tunnel - and it doesn't come out on the main street, so it's a crap shoot as to whether the cast will come out there or through the lobby onto the main street, if you want to see any of them. That's what I hate about the Palace Theatre.

ONE OTHER THING:

This might be a little hard for me to explain, and I'm not writing this to upset anyone here at all, so PLEASE, don't take this the wrong way, okay? But, it seems that "The Tedheads" are getting a reputation of sorts that precedes the Tour's arrival in any city. I was talking to some of the company people before the show (not the actors, but some of the stagehands and crew), and it seems that they think some "Tedheads" (not ALL - they do know not to lump all of us into this category, thank God) are pretty persistently pushy when coming to say hi. I don't have a lot of details, no one was specifically mentioned, and no one was angry at all,
but when I mentioned meet and greets, the response was something like: "Oh yeah - we forgot about 'The Tedheads'. They're everywhere." Everyone knows the main reason we are at the shows is to see Ted, but guys, can we show a little more restraint in general? Yes - I say "we", even though not everyone here falls under the term "Tedhead" by choice. We're all there for a good time, to see the show, and to catch up with Ted, but let's not give anyone any reasons not to want us around - or that we're more trouble than we're worth - okay? So when Ted gets to your city, you'll all be welcomed with open arms (not that Ted wouldn't do that anyway - right? ;-) ).

All that said - I'm not sure who was there tonight, but I know some of you will be coming this week to the other shows. Michael, I'm looking forward to meeting you tomorrow (Wednesday), and if anyone else comes in, I'm ushering all week, and will be around for any "meet-and-greets" - whatever they turn out to be - so look for me - okay? I'd LOVE to meet you too!

 

Wednesday, December 6

HEROD COSTUME CHANGE

 I know that the Producer and Director are in town, and the Company is rehearsing here during the day, so I'm not sure if this is the choice of the Director/Producer or the Actor, but, well ... opening night Aaron was in that suit with the ruffles, but last night they put him back in the bathrobe and with some kind of headband on his head, like he's just woken up from a nap. It was very funny when he yelled at the girls to shut up (in fact, I heard the soundboard guy cracking up behind me on that one), but I have to ask why they put him back in the bathrobe. Hasn't that costume been gone since Buffalo? I'll let you know if they change it again tonight.

 

Thursday, December 7

1.           Herod/Aaron was back in his green suit with the orange ruffles tonight. Thank GOD! Hate that bathrobe (sorry guys from the show - I just do).

2.         Ted and Christine came out, met and thanked the usher crew tonight. Ted asked what they had to do to get a red jacket. He wanted to wear it during "The Last Supper". Our House Manager told him we could arrange that. It was very funny! I think the other ushers didn't quite know what to do when this happened. Celebs and headliners rarely come out to meet us. I just sat there and smiled. We all know how generous Ted is, don't we?

3.         The Cast/Crew had a party after the show tonight with potential investors for the Tour. They showed them some footage they put together this evening. Let's all cross our fingers that this works!


4.         I met Michael (Stan) from the list Wednesday night, another sweetheart. We have some really lovely Tedheads here. I'm glad they're getting to meet Ted and know what we have already known about the wonderful person he is. Sharon and Richard Kaufman are in town for the weekend. We hadn't seen each other since Rasputin. They're in fine spirits, and the three of us have had some good conversation while waiting at the meet and greets.

5.         Ted has been EVERYWHERE doing media for the last two days. Today he started at 8AM! I heard him on WMWV (103.7 FM) around lunchtime. That was the interview with the old bio. GOD - I WISH they'd update it, don't you? The 'proper channels' sure slow things down. But I, for one, am just glad that the show is getting some good press and good reviews, and this can only help ticket sales and potential future bookings in the long run.

6.         Saw Corey after the show tonight. He looks great, and was glad to hear we'd enjoyed his work. He does better every show. And is VERY NICE. Remembered me from Buffalo, which surprised me a little. I guess good memories run in this cast, don't they?

7.         We have more list members from the tour. One of the subbing soundmen has been on the list for the last 3 weeks. VERY nice guy, owns a lot of Yahoogroups, so if we have a problem and can't reach Yahoogroups directly, I guess I know whom I can call now!


8.         Lastly, about the show. I think the rehearsals are helping a lot. Ted told me that this is the first time in awhile that he and the Company have been able to do more fine-tuning on the show, considering all the one-nighters they've been doing lately. Things that had been gone, changed, or expanded on, were back to what they had been, and it was better tonight than it's been in a while – for me anyway. I'm glad the potential investors saw tonight's show. I think it was the best one in the run so far!

More tomorrow (make that later today J).



Friday, December 8

Herod was still in the green suit with orange ruffles tonight.  As of the past day or so, PHSQ has had a school on a field trip, and private parties, and "bigwigs" about, so tonight's meet and greet was only for a specific group of people at the show. More tomorrow.

 

Saturday, December 9

Herod was still in the green suit with orange ruffles tonight. Herod was still in the green suit with orange ruffles tonight. Some old friends came to the shows today: Nick Vannello (Company Manager for the Jesus Christ Superstar Anniversary (AD) Tour in 1996 & 1997) and one of his friends came to the matinee today, and Ted spent some time with them before the evening show, and Marilyn (Red) Miller and her family were at the show tonight, and Ted spent a little precious time with them after the show.  I had a double header of my own show today, so it made for quite a busy day.

Sunday, December 10  

Herod was still in the green suit with orange ruffles tonight. At least, I think it was the same suit. I noticed that he had an orange cummerbund on, and I don't remember seeing it before tonight. Aaron, as usual, is still trying to crack Ted up onstage. Hasn't worked yet! J
The show, overall, has improved in a lot of areas since Ted and Company have been here. Aaron is getting really funny as Herod - you never know what he will do night-to-night (and neither does Ted J). Craig is doing some really nice work as Pilate. The Trial Before Pilate was very well done tonight, and he and Ted were really clicking this week. Christine, as usual, is just wonderful onstage. What a voice! Tonight, most notably, I noticed that Caiaphas and Annas were more angry during "Damned For All Time" - but in the right places. I really enjoyed watching Jeremy and Larry this time. I think the chemistry is starting to gel for these two, and they are really coming into their own up there. Both are on their first National Tour with JCS. Good job, guys! I finally met both of these gentlemen after the show, and they are very nice guys. If you get the chance, when the tour comes to you, go say hello!
Saturday night and tonight the audiences got the curtain call, so Ted got his applause, but earlier in the week, they didn't get it until Corey was out there already with Ted, so, I don't know when they started this, but the Company has added a little to the curtain call that kind of bails out the audiences who don't get that it's backwards until Corey gets onstage, and, therefore, Ted never really gets his applause alone. After everyone is on stage and has taken their bows, Corey motions to the Company on the stage left side of the stage, then Ted motions to the Company on the stage right side of the stage. Then Corey motions to stop the applause. Then EVERYONE motions to Ted and the place goes nuts and starts screaming. It's worked every time this week. So Ted is FINALLY guaranteed his due AT LAST!

 

The Final Meet and Greet

Saw Sharon and Richard Kaufman after the show again, and there were about 50 people waiting for a Meet and Greet, when one of the audience members came out and said that an Orchestra member told him that Ted would be "sliding out the side exit" tonight. Sharon, Richard and I looked at each other and went - 'nah - not if he knows that we're out here!' - but, just for safety's sake, Sharon stayed in the lobby and Richard and I took a quick trip around the side to the stage door. As we suspected, the rest of the Company members were leaving (that's when I talked to Jeremy and we both talked to Larry), and the loading was going on - and the ramp took up most of the tunnel. Richard said Ted wouldn't want to walk any further in the cold than he absolutely had to (and this week it's been cold as hell here, though today it was nice for this time of year - 45 degrees and sunny!), so we went back to the lobby, where we found Sharon and were told by the Security Guard that they'd just gotten word they were to rush Ted through the Meet and Greet because he had - ready for this? - a plane to catch! I said - "Well, that's a miracle - Ted hates to fly!"

Sharon went outside to smoke, and the other audience members waiting were getting a little crazy and started singing "Hosanna" - with the words "Hey JC, JC, will you sign for me!" - and Richard and I looked at each other like 'ooh - I am not part of this!' and laughed. Sharon returned and said: "Did I just hear them singing?" We said - "Yes." We found out that Ted was the last person backstage (and we figured out that he must be talking to Leeyan on the cell, so we knew he'd be awhile longer - we know all about that, right, guys? J) Ted finally came out a little over an hour after the show ended, almost 10PM, I think (showtime was 6:30 tonight, and the curtain came down about 8:45PM). Then the same folks sang "Hosanna" with that same verse again, and Ted conducted and laughed when they said 'will you sign for me', hugged Sharon, Richard and Me, and proceeded to take care of seeing all the folks who hadn't said hello at all yet. Sharon and Richard decided they wanted to go back to the hotel, and asked me to take a picture of them with Ted, because they never have a shot with all of them together, I said sure, and snapped it and then hugged them goodbye, and went to wait at the end, so everyone new could talk to Ted first. I was sort of the 'picture-taker' tonight. Ted told at least 3 folks "She takes good pictures!", and I had fun helping everyone out!

When Ted finally got to me, I gave him the latest e-mails I'd received, so:

1. Diane, he has your open letter - and BETTER than that, he REMEMBERS the event! At first, he didn't, until I mentioned
   
the limo, flowers and the free tickets - and he said: "Now THAT I remember!" He's very happy you will see him in
   Saskatoon!

2. Gena, he has your e-mail. I don't know when/if he will get online next, but I imagine he will visit your MySpace page when he
    does.

3. Kate, he has your e-mail and poem - and is looking forward to meeting you!

I think that's everyone this time, but if I left anyone out, Ted got your e-mail - or whatever you gave me - too, and says thank you!

Ted and I had a wonderful talk tonight. It's amazing, sometimes, what a clairvoyant this man can be. He knows exactly what to say, and when, and just solves any situation, or problem, with a word. We are SO LUCKY to be friends with a man like this, and just to have him in our lives. And our talk only made me feel even MORE lucky! Ted told me that he's leaving this morning at 7:45AM (so about an hour from now) to fly to New York on business. I said "'YOU?!!! FLY???!!! That's what they said to us, and I said: 'He wouldn't fly if you paid him TRIPLE, unless he had absolutely NO CHOICE!'" He said he didn't want to, but that he had to for business. I asked how the bus was getting home, and he told me the busses were already gone. We parted company a little before Midnight, I wished him a safe trip, he hugged me one more time (his cologne was all over my jacket again as I drove home), then Ted went back to finish packing up his dressing room - and hotel room, I imagine, and I went home.


All in all, it was quite an incredible 6 days. People at the Meet and Greet were asking if Ted would be back, and he said he hoped to - either with Superstar or Rasputin, which he said would be his next project. He mentioned San Francisco, which is where the Tour reconvenes on 12/19, because some folks who stayed told him they'd called relatives in California about the tour. He didn't say much about any Tour dates past Wolftrap, though he'd mentioned a possibility of Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh eventually to a group of women who'd driven here from Pittsburgh (as to what project would be at Heinz - JCS or Rasputin - he didn't say for sure). After Ted takes care of his NY business, he will, supposedly, be taking a WELL-EARNED rest before the SF dates (of course, as we all know, "rest" for Ted is a four-letter word - in more ways than one! ;-) ). I was truly sorry to see Ted and Company go, and I can only hope they will make it back here with the Tour again soon.

 

That's it from Cleveland! You LUCKY FOLKS living in - or going to - San Francisco are in for a great time! Everyone has 9 days off, so they'll be well-rested, and ready to knock 'em dead onstage. ENJOY!!! And give Ted a hug from me, when you say hello after the show.

 

  

~~~~~~~

 

SAN FRANCISCO - 12/19-23 & 26-30/06
http://phantomgirl110.livejournal.com/107734.html?view=790742#t790742

This blog, written by Amanda (Mandy), one of our newer list members, tells about her experience at the 12/26/06 Superstar performance at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. She's definitely starstruck, but this is so cute - and the pictures are terrific! Also, Ted has stated that he will be doing his own website - and that was why Zack was collecting addresses (as mentioned in this blog). Enjoy everyone!

 

LJ

Roxie Hart (phantomgirl110) wrote,
@ 2006-12-27 07:38:00

Current mood: Ecstatic
Current music: "Superstar" - Jesus Christ Superstar (movie)

Jesus Christ Superstar, starring Ted Neeley!


 

 



The Show
Jesus Christ Superstar
Farewell Tour, starring Ted Neeley
December 26th, 2006
Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco


Warning
This may very well be the longest review of all time. You have been warned.


Firstly
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!


Cast
Jesus of Nazareth - Ted Neeley**
Judas Iscariot - Corey Glover
Mary Magdalene - Christina Rea-Briskin
Caiaphas - Larry Alan Coke
Annas - Jeremy Pasha
Pontius Pilate - Craig Sculli
King Herod - Aaron Fuksa
Peter - Chris Glein
Simon - Jason D. Bush
First Priest - Darrel R. Whitney
Second Priest - Tony Castellanos
Third Priest - Camilo Castro
Maid by the fire - Lorelei Prince
Soul singers/disciples - Bianca Atalaya, Rasmiyyah Feliciano, Margaret M. Spirito
Disciple girls - Nancy Emerson, Tess Ferrell
Apostles - Nick Algier, Gabe Belyeu, Jason R. Cook, Michael Fasano, Thomas C. Lash, Matthrew G. Meyers, Fred R. Ross, Troy Valjean Rucker, Jonathan Walsh

**For those of you who don't know, Ted understudied the role in the original Broadway production, headlined in the role in the original LA production, and played the role in the 1974 movie; he was nominated for two Golden Globes for the part. Seeing him live is a big. freaking. deal.


Tiny Disclaimer Thingy
I went into this show having never seen the movie all the way through. I'd heard many songs from it (most notably "Superstar," "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "Gethsemane"), but I'd never actually sat down and watched the movie. I was planning to watch it before I went so I could make comparisons when I saw it live, but I was short on free time so I just decided to see the stage show fresh and compare it to the movie afterwards. I'm only mentioning this to point out the fact that I'm not nearly as familiar with this show as I am with, say, Cats or Rent, and this review may reflect that.


Before the show
One thing I just realized I forgot to mention in my last couple of entries: my best friend, Carolyn, managed to get tickets for the same night! She grew up watching the movie starring Ted Neeley, so she was unbelievably excited. It was our first time seeing a professional show together...well, not exactly together, we were seated separately, but still.

For whatever reason, I really did not feel like I was on my way to see a show. Perhaps it was because it was the day after Christmas, perhaps it was because of my funky moodswings yesterday, or perhaps because it had been several months since I'd last seen a musical, so I felt kinda "out of it." I finally started to get excited when we got to the city and even moreso when we got into the theatre. I immediately started looking for Carolyn--I think I stared at every teenaged Asian girl in the lobby--but since I didn't see her we just went to our seats.

Our seats were AWESOME! 12th row orchestra, right on the centre aisle. Literally, I was sitting next to the centre aisle, like 20 feet from the stage. It's not the closest I've ever been, but I've never been directly in the centre before, so I was thrilled.

On the way to use the restroom and buy souvenirs I saw Carolyn, her mom, and her sister coming down the next aisle, so I went over and said hi/gave her a hug before I went out to the lobby. After buying a poster (featuring Ted Neeley), a program, a T-shirt (which fits perfectly) and the movie soundtrack, I met up with Carolyn again and we went down to the edge of the pit to admire the stage. She's been doing some work with theatre lighting lately (at San Diego State) and so she was all fascinated by the lights and went on about them some. After chatting for a little bit, I went back to my seat and got ready for the show to start. Semi-amusing note: I was really relieved at the end of the pre-show announcements, because I'd managed to panic myself into thinking there was a chance Ted Neeley would be out sick or something. There was no such announcement, so I relaxed.


Act One

Overture
I was finally fully excited when the lights went down and the music started. I couldn't remember how the overture started and I was hoping for the "Superstar" theme (you know...DUH!duhduh! DUH!duhduh!) to be the first thing we heard, so I was a teensy weensy bit disappointed when it wasn't. Don't worry, that disappointment didn't last long. The lighting and fog effects here were really cool and the actors did a good job of looking like they were really moving in slow motion.

During the opening fight scene, I noticed someone entering behind the screen in the background. Someone dressed all in white, and holding their hands in what appeared to be a prayer-like position. Someone heading directly for centre stage, where one of the men had just been stabbed and fallen. I leaned over to Mom and whispered, "There he is! He's back there!"

And then there he was! And there was the "Superstar" theme! What an awesome entrance! He stepped through the fog into a beam of bright light just as the DUH!duhduh! DUH!duhduh! sounded, and the whole audience cheered! Oh, it was so exciting!


"Heaven on Their Minds"
I'll just say right now that I prefer movie Judas to Corey Judas, but Corey was still really great. Some of his lines seemed more shouted than sung, but that works for this show. He had amazing stage presence and had no problem keeping my rapt attention, even while all he was doing was walking around onstage while he was singing. He was a great actor too, as was seen much more later on.


"What's the Buzz"
Man, this show has so many catchy tunes! I found myself bobbing around in my seat almost the entire time, and kept trying to stop myself because I thought I was probably annoying the people behind me. But if I was, I'm sure Mom was too. In fact, I'm sure half the audience was annoyed at the other half! It was a fabulous audience, by the way. They were all obviously people who were big fans of the movie and were really excited to see Ted Neeley in person, and so everyone was very responsive.

Anyway, about the actual song...

At this point, Ted had gotten cheers and applause but had not yet sung a note. He'd just walked in, stood in the light, healed a man, walked out, walked across a few times. I admit, I was worried how he would sound. I'd seen enough of the movie to know how he sounded 30 years ago, and I was really hoping I wouldn't come away from this experience disillusioned.

I did not.

When he sung his first line, I gasped. I was about to turn to Mom and say, "He sounds exactly the same as he did in the movie 30 years ago!" but I didn't have a chance, because she turned to me and said the exact same thing. It was amazing. How can someone sound the same at age 63 (in an EXTREMELY vocally challenging role) as they did 30 years before? It was thrilling, to say the least.

Mary Magdalene's voice was really wonderful too. All the way through she blew me away with her great diction and control. There were a few tiny things she did stylistically that I would have preferred a slightly different way, but none of that had anything to do with her ability. There was no question among any of us there tonight that she knew exactly what she was doing with her voice, and that's an amazing gift. Her voice was so strong and clear; very talented girl.


"Strange Thing Mystifying"
I don't really have anything different to say about this song, because the previous song just led right into this one, so they've run together in my head already. Sorry about that. But anyway, it was very good, haha!


"Everything's Alright"
This is my mom's favorite song in the show, so she was really excited as soon as it started. I didn't connect with what song it was at first, so I was trying to figure out why she was randomly wringing her hands excitedly. Once again, Mary's voice was beautiful and so clear! I could seriously understand every word she sang through the entire show. Her rendition of this was gorgeous.

One thing that annoyed me was that the the lady in front of me (who was not particularly tall, just unfortunately directly in front of me instead of me having a little "window") perfectly blocked Jesus when he laid during this song. Actually, every time he laid down during the show it was in just about the same spot. He never did anything huge that I would miss at those times, but it was still annoying to have to crane my neck to see him. Mom had the same problem.


"This Jesus Must Die"
I loved the priests! Caiaphas and Annas were especially great (as they should be, considering they're the leaders of the group). Caiaphas: what a voice! Good Lord, how can a range like that even exist?! He started way down low, deeper than deep, so low it rumbled, and then suddenly was singing in a tenor range! The first time he changed to the higher pitch, I almost thought it was another person singing and I glanced around at the other priests to figure out who it was. He sounded equally great in both ranges; his only weak point seemed to be right in the middle. He seemed to almost drop out for like a second in the middle before he got to the other end, so to speak.

I really liked Annas' voice. He stayed up really high the entire time, but he was another who had extremely clear diction. He never seemed to have a problem controlling his voice, and I could understand every word. He and Caiaphas worked well off each other and sounded surprisingly good together considering the huge differences in their voices.


"Simon Zealotes"
This was one of my favorite scenes! I loved the music, the costumes, the choreography, Simon, everything! It was very bouncy and loud and exciting and they all looking liked they were having so much fun up there, just partying away! I noticed that the choreography wasn't all that difficult (I could do it), but they all did it with so much excitement and such perfect timing that it looked awesome. This show had one of the strongest ensembles I've ever seen, by the way. Every company number sounded amazing. The audience really liked Simon too, you could tell by the energy in the room. He was having a huge amount of fun, and was really great. Everybody in this show was just so good, I'm afraid this review is sounding terribly monotonous.


"Poor Jerusalem"
High notes! Ted singing high notes! Perfect high notes! I still can't believe that man sounds so good after so long! His acting was great too, but I was so blown away by how great he sounded that I had a hard time concentrating on anything else.


"Pilate's Dream"
This was a very short, simple scene, but he did it really well. I mean, is this song even two minutes long? I don't think so, but he still managed to make a big impact. His acting was really excellent, probably the best in the show. Even in a little scene like this, he just captured the audience.


"The Temple"
The first part of this scene: I hadn't realized this was the temple at first so I was a little confused as to where exactly this was set (I know the title of the song sorta gives it away, but I wasn't holding my Playbill and this was one of the scenes I wasn't really familiar with), but I could tell what was basically going on anyway. I concentrated mostly on these two girl dancers who were prostitutes (or maybe just dancers, but they were obviously immoral because they were in cute slutty clothes and doing slutty dance moves); I'm not really sure why, but maybe because they were both really good at moving. They did belly dancing kinda stuff, and it looked cool.

The second part of this scene: HOLY CRAP. TED NEELEY. This was the first time we heard him do that really high-pitched scream-sing he does, and it was AMAZING. I mean, the audience was thisclose to cheering when he did it the first time, because it sounded so perfect! I know I've said it many times already, but how can a 63-year-old man do that so well? How? It was so exciting!

The third part of the scene: I was a little disappointed we didn't get to applaud at the end of the second part, and I could tell I wasn't the only one who felt that way, but I found the staging of this part really fascinating. They had the beggars all under this big black sheet and they kinda surged up around Jesus while they were pleading with him to heal them. It sounds bizarre, I know, but I swear it was really effective onstage. It looked cool and was very understandable. I have no idea how someone came up with that, but props to them for it.


"I Don't Know How to Love Him"
Love this song! I have nothing new to add on Mary's voice because she sounded just as great as ever, but now I can add that her acting was good too.

Wow, I really feel like this song should have a longer review, but it's a fairly simple song and scene, so I guess that's all I've got to say. That's too bad, I really love this song. Oh well.


"Damned for All Time"
I was confused at the beginning of this scene because Judas walked on and whispered something to one of the priests (I forget which one) and so I assumed he was telling them how to get Jesus, but then he started saying he wouldn't help them and he didn't want their "blood money." I talked to my parents later and they explained that he'd told them he was willing to help and then had second thoughts. Anyway...

Judas's singing was a little hard to understand at the beginning of this scene, but I could still tell what was happening based on his great acting, which made up for what little he lacked vocally. The priests did the oily, manipulative thing very well. At the end of this scene there was an awesome lighting effect with three spotlights looking almost like searchlights and cornering Judas from both sides and the centre of the stage, so that he had to run off backstage to get away from his guilt. I loved that effect.


Intermission
I chatted with Carolyn more and since she knows the movie so well, having grown up on it, I asked her for her comparisons. We were both so amazed by Ted and what he could still do. We agreed that we liked movie Judas better but still really liked Corey. We agreed on basically everybody. Carolyn and I always say we are the same person, just changed by different circumstances. (Those circumstances being that her ancestors ended up in Japan and mine ended up in Ireland, I suppose.)

We also talked about the stagedoor. She'd never stagedoored before so she wasn't really sure how it went or how long it took. I told her it depended on the show, the cast, the actor. I gave her basic directions to the stagedoor and told her I'd charge out there after the show so she could just come and find me.


Act Two

"The Last Supper"
Everyone in this scene was great, but the highlight was definitely the confrontation between Jesus and Judas. They were both amazing in this scene, acting-wise and vocally; this was one of Judas's strongest scenes in the show.


"Gethsemane"
DUDE. Dude, dude, DUDE. Where do I even start with this one?! This song was one of the (if not the) most amazing live performances of anything that I've ever seen in my life. I was just enthralled from beginning to end. The closest thing I can compare it to was the first time I saw Brad Little perform "Music of the Night" live and barely breathed through it. This was on that level; maybe more simply because of Ted's status and age.

I'd only ever heard this song performed by one person before this, and that was Michael Ball at the Royal Albert Hall concert in honor of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday. I always thought it was a really good rendition. You know what I discovered during Ted's performance? Michael Ball's version was nothing. Nothing.

I don't even have words to describe how unbelievable this song was. It was just as great, if not even better than, the version in the movie. His voice was exquisite, his acting was amazing. It was just spectacular in every way. I literally sat there with my mouth hanging open for the entire song. At the end, the applause and cheering lasted about four times longer than for any other song, the whooping was louder, and I seriously considered giving it a standing ovation. Simply amazing in every way.


"The Arrest"
This was another one of those scenes that was just great all around, but I'm afraid I remember very little in the way of specifics. I was still in shock from "Gethsemane."


"Peter's Denial"
Where did they find all these people with such controlled, clear voices? Peter was another one. His acting was really good too. Like Pilate did in "Pilate's Dream," he (and Mary) managed to do a lot with a small scene.


"Pilate and Christ"
Pilate was amazing! I was glad there was a lot more of him in Act Two, because he deserved all the stage time he could get. I think, overall, he was the best actor in the show. His interpretation of the character was great and his stage presence was captivating.


"King Herod's Song"
This was my least favorite song/scene in the show. It was highly amusing, but it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the show to me. It felt much more like something that would be found in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat than in Jesus Christ Superstar. Herod was just as good as everybody else in the cast and I bet he has a huge amount of fun with the scene, but the scene itself just seemed out of place.


"Could We Start Again, Please?"
This song was beautiful. Mary and Peter sounded wonderful together, and all the harmonies between them and the ensemble were really gorgeous. It was such simple staging too, but it didn't need anything more. I'm surprised I'd never heard this song before, it was really lovely.


"Judas's Death"
Somehow, I have no idea how, I completely managed to forget that Judas committed suicide. Corey was fantastic in this scene, I really believed every bit of his acting. He had to show such a range of emotion and he pulled off every bit of it, and his singing was great in this number too. I could tell exactly what he was thinking with every move he made, and his slowly putting the noose around his neck was truly tense and almost excruciating (in a good way, since he did it so well). The effect at the end when he finally did the deed was well-done too.


"Trial Before Pilate"
Pilate seriously rocked. He rocked this scene so hard. Much like Judas in the last scene, he showed such a huge range of emotion and it was all perfect! His voice remained perfectly clear and controlled, his acting was outstanding...he was really amazing in this scene. The scene itself isn't even one of my favorites, but I was still really impressed with it based on how good everyone in it was. Especially Pilate, obviously.

This scene was really odd for me to watch because I torn between the fact that it was a musical and was for entertainment value and the fact that it's all based on something that is the entire basis for my entire belief system. My Lord and Savior went through all of that for me, to save me. I wasn't sure how I should feel during it: amazed by the acting/singing or reverent and prayerful because of the powerful truth. I finally decided God would understand my confusion and would settle for whatever I happened to feel, which was obviously a mix of both.


"Superstar"
YES! I just enjoyed this song so freaking much! I've always loved this song, and I have a feeling that it's Corey's favorite to perform. Really, how could it not be? He got to go all rock star, with a mic and everything, and the song is just so awesome. Unfortunately, I enjoyed this song so much that I remember very few details. It just rocked in every way! Everyone onstage rocked it out, and choreography was fun, the Soul Girls looked so awesome--I loved it at the beginning when they flipped off their hoods and had the cute dresses on--and the audience LOVED it. I saw tons of people bobbing around (and annoying the other half of the theatre, of course, hehe) and the applause at the end was huge and loud. How could it be otherwise?


"The Crucifixion"
This scene, like "Trial Before Pilate," was hard/odd for me to watch and for the same reasons, so I won't bother going into that side of it again.

Ted's acting was extraordinary in this scene. He truly looked like he was in pain and having trouble breathing up there. It was hard to watch even from a non-religious standpoint (not that I'd really know what that was like, but I'm doing my best to imagine it, hehe) because it just looked painful.

At the end, something completely unexpected happened: the cross fell out from behind him and he was left hanging in the air, and he rose up and out of sight as the lights dimmed. That's another one of those things that I think probably sounds dumb if you haven't seen it, but I swear it wasn't. It looked really cool and was actually a very effective way of ending the show.


Curtain Call
This was one of the most exciting curtain calls I've ever been a part of, and I think that had a lot to do with the order in which the cast came out. You know how they usually start with the nobodies ensemble members and work up to the leads? They didn't do this one that way. The curtain rose again and there was Ted, standing in a bright spotlight, just as the DUH!duhduh! DUH!duhduh! sounded again, and we all jumped to our feet and cheered and hollered. Then came Judas, then Mary, and so on. I wouldn't have thought I would like the lead taking the first bow, but I actually loved it, at least for this, since it was Ted Neeley and seeing him was such a big deal. After several minutes of loud cheering, during which cast members pointed to each other and the orchestra to signal us who to cheer for, Judas motioned for us all to be quiet...and then the entire cast as one motioned to Ted, and we all started screaming again. It was so much fun!


After the Show - Stagedooring!
I charged outside as fast as I could manage, which wasn't very fast. I ended up getting stuck behind a bunch of really slow people, so I found Carolyn waiting for me just outside the doors, to make sure she didn't go to the wrong place in search of the stage door. We headed down the street to it and she was almost running, she was so excited. Remember, this was her very first stagedoor experience EVER.

And it was an extremely great one! The first several people who came out were crew members and some ensemble cast members, a couple of whom we got autographs from, but then we were surprised when the next one out was Corey Glover, a.k.a. Judas! Somehow I would have thought he'd be one of the last ones, but nope. Anyway, he was really nice. The first picture we took with him was taken before we were entirely settled in position (that is, him in the middle with me and Carolyn on either side of him), but Mom said she'd gotten it. He said, "Let's take one more, just in case." I loved that! It was nice that he actually cared enough to bother posing for another picture. Or maybe he just liked having two teenage girls' arms around him, I dunno. LOL.

After him was Larry Alan Coke, a.k.a. Caiaphas, who is FREAKING TALL. Seriously, he's like two feet taller than me! Mom actually had to step back to readjust the camera! While we were waiting for others, Carolyn pointed to a gal standing a few feet away and said, "That's not Mary, is it?" I wasn't sure, so the two of us consulted with my parents and we finally just went over. It was Christine Rea-Briskin! I felt ridiculous that we'd been standing there with her across from us and hadn't even noticed, but she didn't seem to have been aware of that (thank goodness). She was very sweet too, and told us it was nice to meet us.

After her, Craig Sculli (Pilate) and Jeremy Pasha (Annas) came out together. They were both very friendly and talked to us about how much we loved the show and everything. We got a picture with both of them and me and Carolyn together, which was cool. After us, they moved to the people behind us and I heard someone say, "Merry Christmas!" I'd completely forgotten it was just the day after Christmas! Without thinking I turned back to them and said, "Oh yeah! Merry Christmas!" and they laughed (with me, not at me) at the fact that I'd just realized what day it was. Carolyn said, "This is so cool! They're all, like...human!"

We'd missed Aaron Fuksa, a.k.a. King Herod, so we were just waiting for Ted Neeley. We had no idea if he'd even be coming out, but we had our fingers crossed. The next part was like something out of a dream. A very amazing dream.

SOME LADY FROM INSIDE THE THEATRE: *comes out the stagedoor and points at me* How many in your party?
ME: Huh?
SOME LADY FROM INSIDE THE THEATRE: How many people are you with? Is it you three?
ME: Um, it's the four of us here. *motions to Mom, Daddy and Carolyn* [Carolyn's mom and sister were waiting back inside the theatre lobby, unfortunately for them.]
SOME LADY FROM INSIDE THE THEATRE: Alright, come on in. *motions to stagedoor*
ME: Um, what?
SOME LADY FROM INSIDE THE THEATRE: Come inside.
ME: *is sure she thinks we're somebody else* Um...
SOME LADY FROM INSIDE THE THEATRE: *turns to the crowd outside the stagedoor* Ok, here's what's going on: He doesn't wanna come out here because it's cold and there's a big crowd, but he does wanna meet everybody, so we're gonna bring people in in small groups. *points to me again* So you four, come on in.
ME, CAROLYN, MOM, DADDY: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!! *scramble in*
ME: *is shaking*
CAROLYN: *is near passing out*

OMG IT WAS SO UNBELIEVABLE! The four of us went in along with another couple of ladies. I experienced a serious case of deja vu as I found myself waiting to meet Ted Neeley in the very same hallway that I stood in waiting to meet Brad Little three years ago. I set about trying to take in all the details of the papers posted on the corkboard on the wall as fast as I could. They had a sign-in sheet! I had no idea that big fat Broadway stars like Ted Neeley actually had to sign in, but it turns out he does. I think that's pretty cooleroonie, for some reason.

Know what's even cooler than that? The fact that below that sign-in sheet there was a sign-up sheet for a Secret Santa, which I would assume was between the cast members. I just think that rocks. I'm not sure why I do. Maybe because it's sweet and so normal seeming, you know? I instructed Mom to take a picture of the stuff on the wall and the man in the little office just inside the stage door was watching us like we were on crack. I was worried he was going to tell us not to take pics of it, so I actually made a joke about him not needing to worry because we weren't on crack, I promised. He didn't seem to get the joke, and just said, "It's just a sign-in sheet." I replied, "It's Ted Neeley's sign-in sheet." He just shrugged and wandered back into his office. I don't think he gets it, how about you?

I could see the stage door--that is, the door that actually leads to the stage, which I know from when I went through it after POTO that time with Brad--and I was sorely tempted to go peek in, but I didn't want to get in trouble. I did start down an adjacent hallway, but Mom called me back, telling me, "You're the reason people aren't usually allowed backstage, you know."

While we were waiting, we kept hearing doors closing and footsteps, and we'd get all tense thinking it was Ted Neeley coming to meet us. I forgot to mention the fact that this hallway was entirely devoid of life with the exception of us, the man in the little office who didn't get my jokes, and the lady who'd beckoned us inside and who was now doing various stuff in other rooms. I kept instructing Mom to take pictures of stuff that might be considered interesting later. We got tense again when we heard someone coming down the hall toward us, but it turned out to be a young-ish guy who presented us with a tablet and asked if we'd like to give our names and email addresses to be notified of any future Ted-related stuff. Carolyn and I put our names down. For whatever reason, I was charmed by the fact that it was actually just us writing our names on a tablet, as opposed to some pre-printed survey thingy.

After about ten minutes we all started joking that the people waiting outside probably thought we were getting all this time with Ted Neeley and were joking about things we could say as we walked out the stage door to fake them out. "Thanks for the drinks, Ted!" "I had no idea you had champagne after every show!" "Chocolate-covered strawberries? That was too much!" Time still didn't seem to be passing quickly enough so I told Mom to take a picture of the prop cabinet standing nearby. Just as she was walking over to it and door slammed and we heard footsteps. She glanced down the hall and came right back to us. "Was it somebody?" we asked. "Yes," she replied, "it's Ted Neeley."

And then there he was. He just walked right over to us and we all kinda stood there speechlessly for a second, staring at him like he was some zoo animal--I get the feeling he's used to that reaction, because he didn't seem bothered at all. Then all of a sudden we all started raving and praising him and telling him how amazing the show was. Mom was taking a million pictures of him, of me and Carolyn, of all of us. She actually planned ahead and got a pic of me and Carolyn right when Ted came around the corner, for the excited looks on our faces.

He went to Carolyn first. He shook her hand, asked her name, asked what she thought. He seemed so honestly warm and interested in all of us, it was amazing. Truly a nice guy. Carolyn was a little speechless so I told him she'd grown up watching the movie, and he asked her jokingly, "Do you think you're any worse for wear because you grew up with the movie?" and she blurted, "NO!" He asked about us too, which was so cool! He asked her if she sang and she said not really, but she acted down at San Diego State. He actually said, "Well maybe we'll work together on something sometime." How awesome is that of him to say?! She also told him that she'd been working with theatre lights recently and he said, "Well this is a good show for that, obviously," and proceeded to praise the lighting design. He liked the three spotlights trapping Judas too. He was so nice and warm the whole time. When he shook our hands he kinda held onto them while we talked, which made it feel like he really was interested in everything we had to say. He also gave us all multiple very long, very close hugs.

After Carolyn he went to me. I said, "I'm Amanda, or Mandy, and I didn't grow up on the movie like she did but I'm just as excited!" It sounds so hokey now, but I think it actually came out rather well at the time. He asked me if I was studying like Carolyn and I said, "I'm currently taking a break between high school and college [yeah, so it's a really long break and I don't intend to go to college, he didn't need to know that much, lol], but I want to work backstage in theatre." He seemed fairly impressed with that, which made me really happy. I told him, "I can't sing, but I love musical theatre," and Mom said "Yeah, and she's good at telling people where to go," and Ted laughed at that. He also made it clear that he has a lot of respect for crew members. "We get all the praise, but they do all the work." I told him, "I dunno, you did a lot of work. I heard it!" And he laughed. He also talked about how great the local crew working there was. I told him I had no idea they used local crew and he explained that they have a small crew that travels with them, but they have to use local people or they wouldn't have enough help. I loved this conversation because 1) I found out that the Orpheum Theatre uses local crew, which is good to know, and 2) it was so incredibly normal! Ted Neeley and I had a normal conversation!

After me he went to both of my parents, but didn't spend as much time we them. Probably because, unlike Carolyn and I, they weren't mopping the floor with their tongues. They were both very excited to get to meet him and told him how wonderful he was, but Carolyn and I were very obviously the musical theatre geeks in the room. I don't remember the exact flow of the conversation from this point on, but at one point he made a comment about his son and gestured to the guy who'd asked us to put our email addresses down on that tablet! Like an idiot (yet I somehow don't regret doing it so much, maybe because Ted didn't act like I was an idiot when I did it), I pointed at his son and said, "Oh, he's...? That's...?" And Ted said, "Yeah, that's my son!" My dad said, "He kinda forgot to mention that little detail," and Ted joked, "Yeah, he tries to hide it."

After that was kind of a blur of raving about the show, little bits of still-normal conversation, lots of photographs, several very good hugs...at some point, I'm not sure when or what prompted it, I grabbed both of his hands and said, "'Gethsemane' was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" and he thanked me very much. Eventually we knew we should leave because the two ladies who'd come in with us had just been waiting around behind us, so Ted's son took a picture of all of us together and we headed back outside (Ted pointed to my spaghetti-strap-clad self and said "You're not going out there without a jacket or something, are you?" So thoughtful!). Carolyn's mom and sister were relieved to see us because they'd come to the stagedoor and had no idea where we were; they hadn't been there when we'd been invited inside and we hadn't given them a thought. To end the night, I asked a guy out there to take a picture of all of us in front of the theatre, took some shots of the marquis myself, and asked Carolyn if we were planning on doing anything tomorrow...well, today now. She said she'd call and maybe we could go to the mall or something. As in, Mr. Attainable's mall. I said, "Oh good, because--" and she said, "Yeah, I know." So tomorrow today I might get to see Mr. Attainable and get to tell him all about Jesus Christ Superstar and Ted Neeley!

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot this the first time through! At one point while talking to Ted, my dad made a comment about how long he'd been playing the role and Ted said, "Yeah, I think I almost have all the words now." LOL.

Dude, do you realize that I have now met someone who's been nominated for Golden Globes and has worked personally with Andrew Lloyd Webber?!? AAAHHHHHHH!!!

 
Photos

Corey Glover (Judas)
LJ05

LJ06LJ_04 LJ03 LJ02 LJ01
(the girl in green is an ensemble member)

Larry Alan Coke (Caiaphas)
LJ08

LJ07

Christine Rea-Briskin (Mary Magdalene)
LJ11

LJ10 LJ09

Craig Sculli (Pilate, left) and Jeremy Pasha (Annas, right)
LJ15

LJ14 LJ13 LJ12

Backstage stuff that I made my mom photograph...somehow she missed the Secret Santa sheet, which makes me sad. Oh well.
LJ18 LJ17 LJ16

Ted Neeley!
LJ20

This is the real, unposed picture taken when we first saw him:
LJ19

LJ31 LJ30 LJ29 LJ28 LJ27
LJ26 LJ25 LJ24LJ23LJ22
LJ21 LJ38 LJ37 LJ33 LJ53
LJ52 LJ51 LJ50 LJ49 LJ48
LJ47 LJ46 LJ45 LJ44 LJ43
LJ42 LJ41 LJ_40 LJ_39 LJ_35

I swear this wasn't posed.
LJ_34

Mom, Ted, Carolyn, Me, Daddy
LJ_36

Stuff
LJ_58 LJ_56 LJ_55


My mom, Carolyn's sister, Carolyn's mom, Carolyn, me, my dad
LJ_54

Random factoid: this is the very first time I've ever had someone sign my name Mandy instead of Amanda. I've been going by both my whole, but Mandy more lately. I asked Mom which I should have him sign and she said Mandy. So there it is.
LJ_57
"Mandy - Let's do this together. - Ted Neeley"

 

(Post a new comment)

 

x__truelove__x
2006-12-27 01:00 pm (local) (link) Track this
You. are. so. fecking. adorable.

I LOVE YOUR *SQUEEOMGTEDNEELEY* FACE!

AWW!!! ^____^

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJP
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:01 pm (local) (link) Track this
Hahahahahaha! I kinda wish there was video of the two of us while we were waiting for him, because we were so excited we were acting ridiculous.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJC
cherie_morte
2006-12-27 02:02 pm (local) (link) Track this
Holy crap, that was such an exciting review! I cannot BELIEVE you got to go BACKSTAGE! That's just too much. It sounds like the show was really amazing, I love JCS, I didn't even know there was a tour right now, I wonder if it's coming near me, I hope I didn't miss it! Thanks for the exciting review it looks like you had a REALLY amazing night!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJP
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:02 pm (local) (link) Track this
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the review! I hope the show's coming near you so you can see it, it was fantastic!

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJS
sandyra_kay
2006-12-27 05:42 pm (local) (link) Track this
That's ah-frickin-mazing!
I'm not even a huge fan of the movie/ted neeley but wow. That's just insane, you're so lucky!! You touched someone who's probably touched ALW. *dies*

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJP1
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:03 pm (local) (link) Track this
I knooooooooooooow! I almost blurted something like that out while I was there, but I wasn't quite sure how to bring it up without sounding really odd. Part of me almost wishes I would have...would I have actually gotten to talk to someone who actually knows ALW?! Oh well, it was still a wonderful conversation.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJR
redsilkscarf
2006-12-27 06:58 pm (local) (link) Track this
OMFD TED NEELEY OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!! YOU TOUCHED TED NEELEY!!! He was- he was- HE WAS IN THE FREAKIN' JCS VIDEO! AAAAAAAAAH! OMG, now I totally want to see this show again! I saw it like three or four years ago, lol! You are so flipping lucky! Oooh... and will you be on AIM to-day?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJR
redsilkscarf
2006-12-27 06:59 pm (local) (link) Track this
In retrospect, I just realized how incredibly geeky that last comment was. However, your entry made me so excited!

(Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

 
LJP
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:04 pm (local) (link) Track this
LOL, that's exactly how excited I was! And no, unfortunately, I will not be on AIM yesterday.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJST
starspecting
2006-12-27 07:37 pm (local) (link) Track this
OMGOMGOMGOGMGOGMGOGOMGOGOGM.

you are so lucky.
i am jealous.
very very very jealous.

i'm seeing JCS on january 16th... although i might end up going two nights (just in case y'know!) i'm definitely stagedooring, even if my other friend doesn't want to. i'll just stand there all alone!

still. SOOO JEALOUS!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJP
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:05 pm (local) (link) Track this
Yes, stagedoor, stagedoor! Maybe you'll get as lucky as I did! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJDWhoa, what an amazing post!
dracschick
2006-12-27 08:30 pm (local) (link) Track this
That's awesome. Thanks for doing it. I really, really enjoyed reading it.

glad you had such a wonderful time!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJPRe: Whoa, what an amazing post!
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:05 pm (local) (link) Track this
Aww thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! I enjoyed reliving it all!

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJC
coral_amber
2006-12-27 10:57 pm (local) (link) Track this
My goodness he looks almost exactly the same! That was an amazing review, by the way, and that only makes me hope that the tour heads down here sometime.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJP
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:06 pm (local) (link) Track this
I know, it was unbelievable how similar he looks and sounds! And I hope for your sake that the tour does come near you so you can see it, it's fabulous.

(Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

 
LJC
coral_amber
2006-12-28 10:09 pm (local) (link) Track this
Well, it always seemed like whenever you saw something, it came down here shortly after. I remember you saw Rent shortly before I did, the same with Light in the Piazza, so let's hope it applies for JCS.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJCPOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
cpink131
2006-12-28 09:16 am (local) (link) Track this
You had me jumping up and down reading this! I'm so glad you got this awesome experience. And if it makes you feel any better I probably would have been freaking over a sign-in sheet as well!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJPRe: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
phantomgirl110
2006-12-28 08:07 pm (local) (link) Track this
Wow, you were jumping up and down? Hahaha! And good, I'm glad you would have. I mean, it's a sign-in sheet! That rocks! How could anyone not be so happy about it?

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
GLAD YOU MET TED!
LJCVcvactor1
2006-12-31 06:09 pm (local) (link) DeleteTrack this
Comment Posted Successfully
This is a great post! Glad you met Ted - he is such a sweet guy, isn't he? Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!

:-)

(Reply to this)

 
Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the invite to the Ted Yahoo group! I don't know how active I'll be--I'm somewhat notoriously bad about responding to emails--but I'll certainly do my best!

(Reply to this)(Parent)

 
LJM
[info]my_daroga
2007-01-02 06:48 pm (local) (link) Track this
I'm glad you had such an awesome experience. I've always loved that show, though I'm not a movie/Neely fan. But he looks great, anyway. Probably better than he did 30 years ago. In my opinion. I loved your review.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

 
LJP1
[info]phantomgirl110
2007-01-03 04:23 am (local) (link) Track this
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! I partially agree with you--I love Ted Neeley (obviously), but the movie is not my favorite movie musical of all time (though I still like it better than certain other ALW musical movies). The whole concept of mixing the old with the then-current is interesting, but I'm not so sure I really like it, other than with the music.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

JCS and Meeting Ted
(Anonymous)
2007-01-05 05:46 pm UTC (link)
I have to say that I loved your review of the show, and I started crying reading about your meeting with him. I saw the show four times in Cleveland, December 9th and 10th. I love Ted so much!!!!!! I cried thru the whole first show just because Ted was actually here, live on stage in front of me again. I saw the show five times when he and Carl were here in January 1997, and I never thought that I would get to see him do it live again. I talked to him after three of the four shows that I went to, He is the most amazing man, His hugs are the Best!!!! Thank you for posting your review, because I can not stop thinking about my incredible weekend with JCS, and where they are now, and how soon they will be back in Cleveland.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: JCS and Meeting Ted
(Anonymous)
2007-01-05 06:07 pm UTC (link)
I forgot to say in my last posting, Thank you for posting all your pictures, they are great fun to look at, it looks like you had an amazing time. I also would have taken pictures of the sign in sheet. Thanks for including a picture of Zach, I am so happy that Ted was with his family for the Holidays. Thank you for sharing your experience, it brings my meetings with Ted back as if it just happened yesterday.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

LJPRe: JCS and Meeting Ted
[info]phantomgirl110
2007-01-06 07:31 am UTC (link)
Aww, I'm so glad you enjoyed reading my review and you had such good experiences too! Wow, you got to see Ted and Carl? How lucky you are! I bet that was incredible!

(Reply to this) (Parent)


(Anonymous)
2007-07-11 02:21 am UTC (link)
dear ted neeley' can you be on a stage tour to sing the song' gethsemane there like on augest 6th' please? i REALLY need to see you sing that song 'cause your'e the best singer ever! jake barlow

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2007-07-23 04:49 am UTC (link)
all im gonna say is im so freaking jealous of you. i went to a JCSS back in april i think it was but my mom was lame and didn't "know" we could meet him even though I told her we could. Anywho, I am going to another JCSS in may of 2008 and how did you find out where he would come out? Cause knowing my luck, if i ask a person that works there the night of the showing, they'd like blow me off and tell me to bug off. i'd so much appreciate it :D

 

 
 
 

~~~~~~~

 

 

MEDFORD - 3/5/07 
 

 
Here's Tina (hvnstmpst2@aol.com) Henley on the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater  lobby floor with Ted.

 

~~~~~~~

 

  
 
 DAYTON 4/17 - 22/07
 
This was taken in the Schuster Center Green Room at about 3AM - or so. It was a very quiet meet and greet - there
were only about 12 of us there, 6 were from one family.
 Ted had a ball telling us all his theatre stories that night!



                                                                            And ... here's Heidi with Ted!
 

~~~~~~~

 

LIMA5/22/07  
 


In the Crouse Performance Hall lobby, where I met Dawn and Crystal, I think this was about 2:30AM,
there were probably close to 100 people waiting at this meet and greet to say hello. If I kind of look a
little dazed, well, let's just say that after 6 hours of work, 3 hours of driving, 2 hours of JCS and 3+ hours
of M&G, a litt
le Red Bull is a wonderful thing! 
 
 

~~~~~~~

 

 COLUMBUS - 2/29 - 3/2/08

    
There was no Meet and Greet at the Palace Theatre on Saturday night, but we made the
best of it and had fun anyway. Let to right, having a late dinner at the Beer Garden: Aimee,
Me, Kendra, Heidi and Rick.  Along with ...
 

  
Two of our newest FTNL list members, Bryce and Dan, whom we met outside the Palace
Stage door/garage after the show!

 

~~~~~~~

 

  PITTSBURGH - 4/25 - 27/08

    
 

A WONDERFUL time was had by all at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, with Heidi and Rick attending both the Friday and Saturday shows, and meeting up with Mary Ann, Aimee and Me on Saturday night. We spent hours at the M&G until 3AM, went to Eat and Park at 4AM, and didn't get back to the hotel until 6AM (Pittsburgh is allergic to streetsigns and when asking normal directions in Pittsburgh they'll tell you to turn left at the dead skunk!), because we all got lost.  LOL!

 


Here are Heidi Oller, Mary Ann Richter, Aimee Thomas and Me (Cindi) at the
Saturday night M&G - I think it was about 2:30-3AM by this time...

  
Aimee and Ted on Saturday.


Heidi and Aaron Fuksa on Saturday.


Heidi and Corey Glover on Saturday.


Heidi and Craig Sculli on Saturday.


Mary Ann and Ted on Saturday.

Pitt1
Heidi and Ted on Friday

Pitt2
Heidi and Rick with Ted on Friday

Pitt3
My (Cindi) Tedhug with Ted on Saturday

Pitt4
Presenting the FTNL Xmas Plaque on Saturday

Pit5
Ted and me with the FTNL Xmas Plaque on Saturday.

Pitt6
Sleepy crew at Eat and Park after M&G on Saturday- left to right: Mary Ann, Rick, Heidi,
Me and Aimee.

 

~~~~~~~

 

WABASH - 2/12/09

 


Some lovely pictures from Sherry Breitwieser!

 


Sherry and Ted.

Sherry and James.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~

 

 COLUMBUS - 2/23 - 24/09

 


Some lovely pictures from Sherry Breitwieser!

 


Sherry and Ted.

Sherry and James.

Sherry and Darrel.

 

~~~~~~~

 

  CLEVELAND - 2/25 - 27/09 
 

A WONDERFUL time was had by all at PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland, where Ted did one of a select few M & G's he's done on this leg on 2/27. See below for pictures from me (Cindi), Heidi, Tina and Patti!
 


A Tedhug Hello.

Here I am explaining that this Jiminy was for the Disney 40th Anniversary of Pinocchio
(HATE the look on my face!)

Ted and me with Jiminy
.

Ted and me with Jiminy.

The FTNL Birthday/Xmas Angels Donation Plaque is finally presented to Ted by Heidi and me!

   The FTNL Birthday/Xmas Angels Donation Plaque is
   finally presented to Ted by Heidi and me!

Ted reading the Jesus Baseball Trading Card on the back of the “Next-To-The-Last-Supper” Gum.

A Tedhug Goodbye.

Heidi caught Me on the floor chatting while we waited our turn. Typical picture I take – eyes shut, mouth open - ***SIGH***.

Heidi gets a Tedhug – with her roses for Carl.

Ted with Heidi’s roses.

Ted with Heidi’s roses.

Ted and Heidi.

Ted and Heidi.

Heidi got James to smile pretty...

…so did Aimee.

…and Tina.

Tina’s first Cleveland Tedhug.

Tina and Ted.

Tina and Ted.

Ted autograph’s Tina’s JCS movie album.

Tina’s second Cleveland Tedhug.

Tina and Ted.

Tina and Ted.

Here’s Patti Baugh with her nephews Max and Jorgen, and Ted.

Here’s Patti Baugh with her nephews Max and Jorgen, & Ted.

S
leepy – but happy - crew at Nighttown at almost 3AM - left to right: Heidi, Tina, Me, and Rick (Aimee and Kendra were not feeling up to our late-night wind-down and went home after the M&G).

 

 

~~~~~~~

 

 MUNCIE - 4/29/09

 


A lovely picture from Sherry Breitwieser!


Sherry and James.

 

~~~~~~~

 

  JACKSON - 5/3/09

    
 

A WONDERFUL time was had by all at Potter Center Music Hall Theatre in Jackson, MI, where the third leg of this tour ended. See below for pictures from Sherry!

 


Cindi and Aimee with Kendrix

Sherry with Kendrix

Maxxi with Kendrix

Maxxi with Kendrix

Maxxi with Kendrix

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...AND THE TOUR GOES ON...STAY TUNED TO SEE WHO TURNS UP WHERE ON THIS PAGE NEXT!


"We all need each other to ultimately feel complete.  However, until we feel complete within ourselves, as an Island to an ocean, we cannot help all complete the circle."