Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 117

Ailing Aug. 15, 1971 A Vv We 6 GM35 "Cm min till alj Cv 1 ulhztizzd 1 BnWfclBM.a, JEFF FENHOLT PLAYS JESUS IN 'JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR' There have been more than a dozen productions; only one is 'authorized' crjiGfffJG nm pnnn psnnvna v-; V' LignigF Co-Hit-Blchrd Harris in "A MAN CALLED HORSE" Call Thtre For Timet Jlirfiin i 3 p.m I u- in on oion i-pokwo proauenon gflluBo WKKDATJ7-00 10 3J (JT SAT.4SUN.30JASJ-I0 33 Cp-Hif. CopA iitorr oouiom 1 LOVE MV WIFE" Sal Sun 30 10 9-00 "Stplrirziz 1 REMIEREUB -PENINSULA BURLINGAME MWNWIIA DU mail MENLO PARK PAM MMNI MTH.VIEW MOFPCTT PJ. V09-IN9 SANBRUNO FOX SKYLINE fWI On) MC-SMS SAN CARLOS CARLOS (NVI LYt-IMt SAN JOSE- CAMOMLL TWIN $74 4400 WtMCHCSTEH OJ. 77-437 AYtHOHC OU m-SBM CCMTUMV AlftAAMN 4-771 SAN JOSE riving secretly in Michigan and announcing their appearance only a few hours before the performance.

We snuck it in under the table, so to speak," said Gerry. Dere, the arranger and conductor for the sell-out performance. Last month the company opened at the Hilton Hotel In Las Vegas, gh ing a few performanees before MCA got word, and got a court injunction. Last week Robert Stigwood, a i a of the Stigw-ood, Group, issued a warning which sounded like a royal proclamation -to be nailed to every door of the village. He branded -the persons whove been giving unauthorized per- formances outright pirates.

It is patently clear that a small group of people have set out to mislead and deceive the public. We intend, in ever)' case, to pursue vigorously anyone who attempts to infr- inge on our copyrights. We have evidence that these people have illegally advertised the title' of the work and pretended to the courts that they only wish to perform -'selections from the opera, whereas they have gone on to perform the entire work without any regard to the authors rights. One company had the au- dacity to alter the work by adding a resurrection Yet another doctored the opera by adding The Lords Prayer, as well as a currently popular song. My company invested a substantial sum of money to acquire the performance rights to Jesus Christ, Super- star," and to protect these rights we will relentlessly put- sue our remedies.

There is an authorized concert tour, which MCAs Skepner indicated is as much for legal reasons as artistic ones. The performers are generally unknowns Jeff Fen- holt is playing Jesus Yvonne Elliman is Mary Mag-. dalene, Carl Anderson is Ju- das. Anderson' is black, and the black Judas angle has been pursued by some audi- ences and reviewers, but Skepner said Anderson just happened to be the best qualified for the part among those Who auditioned. The concert tour began In Pittsburgh three weeks agi and will get to Southern California next month, with per-' formances id San Bernardino Sept 22, San Diego Sept.

23, and the Hollywood Bowl Sept. 24 and 25. No appearances are scheduled in Northern California, Skepner said, but they may be added. The Broadway is next. It will open in October at the Mark Hellinger Theater, staged by Frank (Corsaro of-the New York City Opera.

The audition notice appeared recently in the Village Voice and other New York publications. Young performers capable of handling the vocal demands of Jesus Christ, Superstar and the active emotional and physical demands of director' Frank Corsaro and choreographer Grover Dale are incited to an open audition. -'--Be prepared to move in; bare feet. You may also be asked to sing. You are welcome to sing songs from the record.

We will provide piano accompaniment if you will bring sheet music. When the Broadway show opens, another touring com- pany will go out, primarily to college campuses, Skepner said. He was sure it would have some Northern California dates. Pre-production work on the -movie will begin at about the same time, filming will start in the spring, and the picture will be released, coincidentally, around Easter in 1973. Norman Jewison will be directing, in a dramatic shift from nis current movie musical, Fiddler on the Roof.

Skepner, didn't know. who w'ould be in the cast, or who else would be involved in the production. I don ven think Jewison knows ho else is involved, he said. By ROBERT TAYLOR Tribune Drama Writer Every time I pick up the phone there's another one," said David Skepner, not as ex-' asperated" as he might have sounded. Boston, Washington, Kansas City and I hear theres even one in Hawaii." Skepner is not chasing epidemics around the country, but pirates.

Hes going after pirated stage versions of Jesus Christ, Superstar" to pro-' tect the rights for the authorized tour, the upcoming Broadway version and the movie which will go into pro- duction in the spring. p- The rock opera about Christs passion and death, which serious music critics have called neither rock nor an opera, is already. a phenomenal success on its tw'o-record album. It's sold 3 million albums," Skepner said, and If "you multiply that times 312 per set Skepner is in volved in Jesus Christ, Superstar" through the Music Corporation of America, the show business conglomorate better known as MCA. It owns Leeds Music of London, which holds the a United States rights, and it owns Dec-ca, which released the record, and it owns Universal Studios, which is producing the movie.

Going after the pirates is al-. most a full-time job. So far, 16 proposed productions have been halted, shows planned in San Francisco, Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, Louisville, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Memphis, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Holly w-ood, New York -City, Atlanta, Columbus, Ohio; Brooklyn, Troy, N.Y.: and Los The sharpest thorns in the side of MCA and the Stigw'ood Group (the immediate repre sentatives of Superstar au-' thors Andrew Lloyd Webber ahd Tim Riel) are the Cana- dian Rock Theater of Toronto and the American Rock Opera Co. The Canadian group gave IX a performance with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, ar IT IS A RARE FILM IN ANY YEAR, AND THE FINEST ONE I HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR." Anitra Earle, S.

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