The man whose name popped into my head a few mornings ago first thing upon consciousness and possibly the placenta of a dream forgotten, I remember now. He stood beside me on stage in a high school production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I was Third Priest in JCS, he was either first or second. Our famous line, sing-songily heard for a brief span of time throughout the schoolyard by attendees of the show, was “HE IS DAAAAAAAAAANGEROUS.”
I think we got the Priest parts because we had such deep voices. I could hit low C that made the girls twitchy and tingly in an after-school chorus I was part of as a freshman.
The DVD version I have of JCS makes the priests sound a bit comical with their ultra basso Oak Ridge Boys depth.
I do not remember all my lines nor do I remember his but I remember how other kids who saw the show commented about me at school along the lines of “Hey, that’s the Priest.” I imagine the other priest, who I learned died last year after a painful bout with cancer, experienced similar recognition in those halcyon days. He stood beside me and a little bit in front, and I remember seeing him sing his lines as the audience consumed his part of the storytelling.
I tried watching one of the older versions of JHS last year. I was with a woman who I thought would appreciate it. I think she woul dhave but I gave up watching JCS because it was so damn depressing. In this version, at least. Joyless, its ending well-known, dude getting whipped and the other guy hangs himself. Yeah, that’s a good date night flick.