Judas Iscariot (Carl Anderson) has been a loyal follower of Jesus of Nazareth (Tom Neeley) but is growing concerned with the stratospheric rise in popularity of the charismatic leader and how it could bring unwanted attention from the conquering Romans who rule via a proxy king (Joshua Mostel). He convinces himself that the only way to quell the coming retaliation is to betray Jesus to the authorities.
This is technically an opera as nearly all the dialogue is sung instead of spoken and it is extremely 70s. There are some insane anachronisms like tanks and Uzis that add to the surreal nature and it looks like the budget was $700 +/- fifty bucks for sunscreen.
That being said, it's totally watchable. There are some standout numbers with "Damned for All Time" being a personal favorite. Your mileage with Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals will vary, of course.
The thing that struck me the most was how utterly normal everybody looked. Jesus wasn't 6'4" with laser-cut abs. Mary Magdalene wasn't salon-fresh and Vogue-ready. Everybody was a little scruffy, a little scrawny, with no perfect teeth or tans. It was kind of nice.
I don't know how well the story holds up if you don't already know it. It felt like they were skimming the highlights and if you don't have the added context of having grown up with the Christian lore, I don't know that it makes a lot of sense. But I did grow up hearing this story every Easter so I can't tell.
It's currently streaming on Peacock.
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