Can a work so monstrously successful [as Jesus Christ Superstar] be all bad? The answer, sadly, is yes. The Gospel according to Tim, Tom [director Tom O'Horgan] and Andy is a far cry from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The music is banal, the lyrics infantile, the staging monumentally vulgar, the theological conception of the Passion of Christ a travesty. It is its success—and only that—which forces one to give it serious consideration. (p. 1)

It is difficult to determine what the intentions of Messrs. Webber and Rice really were.

Is Superstar a cynical attempt to cash in on the current "counterculture" trend toward religiosity? Is it a gigantic put-on, and will the authors come forward and confess after salting away their first five million? Is it a naive but honest work inspired by true religious feeling but hamstrung by lack of talent, taste and comprehension? Or...