JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Starring Ben Vereen
August 19th and 20th, 2011

at Wortham Brown Theatre

501 Texas Avenue, Houston Texas USA  77002


Aaron’s Rock Opera Superstar
Interview with Aaron Callies
 Director of Jesus Christ Superstar
 Starring Ben Vereen as Pontius Pilate

 

By Theresa Pisula
theresa@houstontheatre.com
August 12, 2011

 

Aaron Callies Junior takes care of Nellie, his small pet dog which is a mix, part-bulldog.  “Is he named after the rapper?” I asked him.  “No,” he says, “I named her after the character in The Color Purple.”  I thought it was a side of his sweet and endearing nature as he put me on hold for a second during the start of our phone interview to let little Nellie in the house.  I called Aaron about two hours earlier to try and schedule an interview.  Because I was so excited of being able to actually speak to him on the phone, I agreed to schedule the interview at 8:30pm.

 

I dutifully prepared for the phone interview by setting up and testing my tape recorder and phone apparatus.  Maybe it was due to my extreme excitement over the opportunity to interview this accomplished musical director and choreographer that I misjudged my mark and encountered some technical difficulties.  Aaron and I had interesting conversations and lots of laughs during our long dialogue.  Unfortunately after the interview, as I was about to transcribe the tape, I realized that Aaron’s voice did not record.  I was quite devastated.  Moments later when all I kept hearing was my voice and comments on the tape, I resolved to the fact that maybe this disparaging occurrence was meant to happen.  Some things are just not meant to be. 

 

I blame the unfortunate event to Mercury being in retrograde, which according to my horoscope book occurs from the 2nd through the 26th of this month.  According to an astrology expert, Mercury the planet of wise and universal communications turns retrograde in Virgo sending communications, travel, appointments, mail and other important matters into a general confusion.  A planet is described as retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac.   As a rule, the planets are more emphatic during their retrograde phases, marking periods of seemingly inevitable or fated events that relate to their spheres of influence. By fated events I mean those that circumstances thrust upon us.  So there, what can one do?

 

Aaron is in his early 50s and has embarked on the most ambitious theatrical adventure of his career.  In the beginning of 2011 he started a new theatre organization here in Houston called The Musical Theater of Houston.  Their very first production was Smokey Joe’s Café which was presented on January 14 - 15, 2011 at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater.  Their second production is JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR which opens August 19, 2011 at the Wortham Brown Theatre.  “We are excited to announce that Tony award winner Ben Vereen will guest star as Pilate.  We would like to get the word out,” his e-mail stated.  Aaron Callies considers this a momentous event in his life.  This should explain why I could not contain my excitement.

 

A question I’ve been pondering ever since I received Aaron’s e-mail back in July is:  How do you get to become a director of Tony award winner Ben Vereen?  His answer is quite astonishingly, very simple.  In February of this year, right off the heels of Smokey Joe’s Café, Aaron was looking on the internet, searching the World Wide Web for ideas of a superstar who will headline his next musical. 

 

His first choice was Jennifer Hudson.  As we all know, Jennifer Hudson came to prominence in 2004 as one of the American Idols.  She made her film debut in the 2006 film Dreamgirls which won her an Oscar award, a Golden Globe and numerous other awards.  According to news reports, on October 24, 2008, Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donnerson, and the singer's 29-year-old brother, Jason, were found shot to death inside the Chicago home Donnerson shared with Hudson's elder sister, Julia.  Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King was reported missing by his mother Julia.  Later that day, the Chicago police arrested a suspect, William Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia, but he was not charged with the crime.  Balfour was on parole and had spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. The Illinois Department of Corrections’ records revealed one of Balfour's addresses to be the home where Donnerson and Jason Hudson were murdered.  Three days later, on October 27, 2008, the dead body of a young boy was found inside a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban parked on a street in Chicago's West Side area.  The FBI confirmed the body was that of Julian King.  Autopsy reports released on October 29, 2008, from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office indicated that Julian King's death was due to "multiple gunshot wounds". 

 

Aaron Callies did call Jennifer Hudson’s management company but they responded that her schedule would not allow for her to be part of a Houston musical at this time.  Aaron’s other choices were Kelly Clarkson and other American Idols.  As he kept searching, the American Idols’ names were beginning to become less recognizable.  Aaron realized he needed a superstar for his next project of Jesus Christ Superstar.  He looked for a name that everyone will know.

 

And then he came across the name of Ben Vereen.  Aaron contacted Ben Vereen’s representatives, the Cooper Management Company.  He called the manager and he got an answer of YES back the same day.  Of course there was a process where they needed to see his resume, his body of work.  The Cooper Management company saw that he has worked with Stuart Ostrow who is a big time Broadway producer……..

 


STUART OSTROW

 

Stuart Ostrow (born circa 1932) is an American theatrical producer and director, professor and author.  He has won numerous awards including 3 Tony Awards.  In 1967 Mr. Ostrow won the Tony Award as a producer for the Best Musical The Apple Tree.  In 1973, he won the Tony Award again for producing the Bob Fosse Musical Pippin.  And again in 1988, Stuart Ostrow won the Tony Award as the producer for the Best Play M. Butterfly.  Mr. Ostrow currently lives in Houston and he is the Distinguished University Professor of Theatre at the University of Houston. 

 

When he was attending the University of Houston, Aaron Callies studied dance and mime.  After classes, he worked as a singer, dancer and choreographer at The Great Caruso dinner theatre in West Houston.  He worked at the Great Caruso for 4 years while going to school at UH.  Aaron recalls, “I was a tap dancer and a singer at The Great Caruso.  I tapped my way through school.”

 

In the new millennium, the year 2000, Aaron met the Tony award winner and Broadway producer Stuart Ostrow who was joining the faculty at the University of Houston.  Aaron Callies’ desire was to get his work exposed to Mr. Ostrow.  Aaron learned the world of Theatre, stage and choreography from Mr. Ostrow.  They started working together at UH and to Aaron’s surprise, Stuart Ostrow just kept calling him back.  He continued to hire Aaron to choreograph his shows at UH.  It was obvious that Mr. Ostrow recognized Aaron’s talent as a choreographer. 

 

I asked, “How long have you worked with the legendary Tony award winning producer?”  Aaron Callies has worked with Stuart Ostrow for 9 years.


 

Before this time in the mid-1980s, a most unfortunate event almost changed Aaron’s life.  I said to him, “Can you tell us about the time when you were carjacked at the corner of Westheimer and Gessner?  What happened?”

He responds by asking, “How did you know about that?” 

“I googled you,” was my immediate answer.  “Of all the things that I was reading about you, that event in your life stood out like a sore thumb.  Did they put a gun to your head?”

“No.  They just drove away with my car,” he recalls.

“That’s good.  At least they didn’t threaten you with your life,” I said reassuringly.

Aaron continues to tell the story.  “It was actually on Westpark.  I just got done with one of my nightly performances at The Great Caruso dinner theater.  When I got to the parking lot, I noticed that my tires were a little low on air.  I decided to stop by a gas station so I could put some air on my tires.  I picked one that was well-lighted and it looked like a nice neighborhood.  As I got out of the car and stooped down to put air on my tires, the carjacker just got in the driver’s seat.  I was in shock and didn’t know what to do.  I just watched in stunned silence as the guy drove off with my car.”

I told him “At that point, you just give him the car.  You really don’t want to fight them.” 

“Well,” he repeated, “I was in shock.  I didn’t do anything.  I just watched him drive away in my car.” 

“Did you get your car back?” I asked.

“No,” Aaron remembers.  “The cops found the car the next day and it was wrecked.  The carjackers used it for a robbery.  There was a car chase and when they finally found my car, it had bullet holes in it.”

“How do you recover from that horrible experience?” I wondered.

Aaron continued to explain that his car contained all his personal information.  He couldn’t stay in Houston any longer when the carjackers knew where he lived and had his driver’s license.  Aaron moved back home to San Antonio to live with his family.  He stayed and worked in San Antonio for a few years.  And then an opportunity in the form of a job opened up in Houston so he came back.

 

I assured him, “But now you’ve survived that experience and are now about to direct one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and Broadway history in the story of Jesus Christ.  How cool is that?  Personally, I think it is so amazing that Ben Vereen’s management company said YES to you in one day after you requested him to be in your musical.  That means Ben Vereen didn’t even think twice about it.  That is pretty unbelievable and a wonderful opportunity from a great song and dance man.”

“Yes, I consider it a monumental event in my life.  It is momentous.” Aaron says.

On a personal note, Aaron mentioned that his father Aaron Callies Sr. passed away a couple of months ago as he was doing auditions for Jesus Christ Superstar.  His father was 82 years old.  Aaron Callies Jr. is the first born son in the family who was named after his father.

“I am so sorry.  That is really unfortunate,” I said to him.  “But now your father’s name Aaron Callies will be famous.  Thanks to you,” I assured him.

 

I asked Aaron if it was his idea to make Mr. Ben Vereen play the part of Pontius Pilate.  “Yes,” he answered.  “Because he was nominated for the Tony award for the part he played as Judas Iscariot on Broadway.  I thought it would be a good idea for him to star as Pilate.”

Ben Vereen’s comments on his role as Pilate as posted on his website www.benvereen.com on July 15, 2011:  “I want to be Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar.  His songs, in my opinion are truly amazing.  I love his character and I love the song Pilate’s Dream.  I think I’d either like to be Pilate or Judas.  Mostly Pilate though.  Because you sort of see this side of him that questions if what he’s doing is right, but he does it anyways.”  Ben feels blessed by the opportunity to once again step into a show he loves, and hopes that all of his Texan fans will be able to come out and see him during this once in a lifetime opportunity.

 


BEN VEREEN

 

Ben Vereen’s biography reads like this:

Ben Vereen was born on October 10, 1946.  While still an infant, Vereen and his family relocated to the poverty-stricken neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York.  During his pre-teen years, he exhibited an innate talent for drama and dance and often performed in local variety shows.  At the age of 14, Vereen enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, where he studied under world-renown choreographers Martha Graham, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.  Upon his graduation, he struggled to find suitable stage work and was often forced to take odd jobs to supplement his income.

 

In 1967, the 21-year old Vereen auditioned for and won a part in Bob Fosse’s production of Sweet Charity.  The following year, he was cast opposite Sammy Davis Jr. in the film adaptation.  After developing a rapport with Davis, Vereen was cast as his understudy in the upcoming production of Golden Boy.

 

In 1971, after steady work on Broadway, Vereen earned critical recognition for his dazzling performance as Judas Iscariot in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar.  The following year, Fosse cast him as the effervescent Leading Player in Pippin, for which he won the prestigious Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.  In 1975, Vereen starred with Barbra Streisand in Funny Lady (the sequel to Funny Girl) and hosted a variety series on TV.  In 1977, Vereen was introduced to the world audience with his crafty portrayal of Chicken George in Alex Haley’s landmark TV miniseries Roots.  During the 1980s and 1990s Vereen worked steadily on various television projects. 

 

In 1987, his sixteen-year old daughter Naja was killed in an automobile accident.  Devastated by personal misfortune, Vereen developed a crippling addiction to cocaine.  After curtailing his career, he fell into a deep depression that culminated in his voluntary admittance into a drug rehabilitation program.

 

Shortly after his release from Rehab, Vereen was the victim of an automobile accident that almost threatened his life.  According to People.com, the day of the “three accidents” went like this:  He had just flown back to L. A. from the New York area where he lives in Englewood Cliffs, N. J. with his second wife Nancy, 48, and the younger two of their three children.  Vereen (who kept a condo in L. A.) was looking forward to a meeting with Michael Jackson.  He had just finished an Emmy-nominated role in a CBS miniseries and had just landed a regular role on the late-night CBS series Silk Stalkings.

 

But he was also exhausted and had barely slept in the previous 48 hours.  That’s the conclusion pieced together by members of the Malibu sheriff’s station; Vereen says he has no recollection of the accident.  Apparently, just after 8pm, he dozed off while driving his new Corvette and ran off the highway into a tree.  In the crash, he banged his head on the roof and cut his lip. 

 

After Vereen spent an hour and a half at the sheriff’s station (where he passed a sobriety test), his manager Pamela Cooper took him to her home nearby.  When she headed upstairs to bed, she remembers, he was nursing his lip with a piece of ice.  A couple of hours later, Vereen apparently decided to walk to his rented condo at Zuma Beach which is four miles away.  It wasn’t unusual for him to go for a very early morning walk – that’s how he calms down after a performance, he says. 

 

But Vereen, who may have been dazed by the first accident, somehow ended up out on the lonely Pacific Coast Highway, a beautiful but hazardous ribbon of road running between ocean and cliffs.  The sky was overcast and that particular stretch of road, near Malibu’s Sea Vista Drive, was unlighted.  Vereen was wandering along a white dividing line when he was struck by the dark blue Chevy Suburban driven by none other than David Foster, who was minutes away from his own home. 

 


DAVID FOSTER

 

David Foster is a Grammy award-winning composer-producer of such noted musicians such as The Bee Gees, Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand, just to name a few.  He is regularly called “The Hit Man” because of the numerous hit songs he has written and produced.  David Foster was returning from the Record Plant studio in Hollywood where he had been pulling the finishing touches on a new Michael Bolton album.

 

Foster slammed on his brakes and veered to his right, but Vereen darted the same way.  “The noise of the impact,” remembers Foster, “was jarring, down to the depths of my soul.”  Vereen was hurled 40 feet through the air, rolled another 50 feet then lay in the road.

 

Foster first dialed 911 on his car phone.  “I hit somebody on the highway!” he told the dispatcher, “Oh, my God!” Foster then got out of his car and located the bloodied figure, whom he didn’t recognize.  It wasn’t until paramedics arrived that he learned the man he had held in his arms was Ben Vereen.

 

Ben was pretty close to death when he got to the UCLA Medical Center.  This was the conclusion made by Dr. Gill Cryer, chief of trauma, emergency surgery and critical care.  Vereen, who came in by helicopter was comatose and had suffered traumatic internal injuries (involving liver, spleen, colon and one of his kidneys) requiring 5 hours of emergency surgery.  A 2nd operation was needed later that week to repair the fractured femur in his left leg, and a third, a week later, was performed to drain an abdominal infection.  Because he wasn’t breathing adequately when he arrived at the hospital, doctors were forced to perform a tracheotomy, cutting a hole in the windpipe.  His carotid, the main artery to the brain, had been injured, creating stroke-like symptoms on his right side.

 

Vereen’s manager Cooper and his sister Lady Walker Vereen who lives in L. A. were the first to see him in the ICU.  They leaned down on either side of his bed and shouted in his ears, “Come on, Ben, you’ve got to fight!”  His wife, Nancy a former dancer whom Ben met in a chorus of Golden Boy and married in 1968, arrived that same day.  Daughters Malaika, 22, a college senior Kabara, 17 and Karon, 15 followed later.  (Benji Jr., 26 a Minneapolis-based choreographer who is Ben’s son by his first wife Andrea, kept in touch by phone and later visited his father in New Jersey.)

 

Three days after the accident, when Vereen finally came to, he felt at first that a wonderful dream had come to an end.  He saw his family at his side.  Then he realized he was attached to a small arsenal of monitors.  Malaika explained to him that he had been in an accident.  The doctors told him it was fixable but the recovery will be up to him.  It was another three weeks before Vereen was well enough to leave the ICU.  During that time, he underwent half-a-dozen treatments every day.

 

Vereen commented that what got him through was that his wife Nancy and the kids were there for him.  It was devastating for them.  Nancy realizes that her husband’s indomitable personality and his love of life and people played a great part in his survival.  Even so, Vereen doesn’t deny having bouts with the blues.  “I went through times wondering if I’d ever walk again,” he says.  “If I’d sing again, talk again, even talk on the phone.”  Once, he complained to Cooper, “My career’s over.”  But more than 30,000 expressions of sympathy and encouragement poured in from friends and fans including notes from Michael Bolton, Shirley MacLaine, Gregory Hines and Kevin Costner.  A very good friend Chita Rivera, who was also in a car accident, helped him with his rehabilitation.  Liza Minnelli visited and cajoles him into singing a duet of “Accent-chu-ate the Positive.”  To sing, Vereen had to cover the hole in his windpipe.  That was the first time he had heard his voice since the accident.  “It was hard for me to see anything,” a moved Vereen recalls, “because I was always in tears.”

 

Six weeks after the accident, Vereen was judged well enough to fly back east.  His doctors had estimated it would be a year before he would walk.  But thanks to his athletic body and his unbeatable drive, he has gone – in just five months – from walker to crutches to two canes to one to none.  Still it took hours to relearn how to roll out of bed and to move his hand to his mouth just to feed himself.

 

Blessedly, perhaps, one thing he has not gotten back is his memory of the accident.  According to Dr. Cryer this is not unusual in a way that his psyche uses the memory loss as a defense mechanism.

 

David Foster’s mind did him no such favor.  For four days after the accident, he says he suffered flashbacks.  “My recovery was totally tied into Ben’s” says Foster, who briefly saw a psychologist (Vereen, too, has gone for counseling).  “Every little tidbit of news we got was like a feast.”  Two months after the accident, the banquet arrived when Vereen phoned him.  “David?” said Vereen.  “Good hit!”

 


 

 

In 1993, Vereen staged an unlikely comeback when he returned to Broadway in Jelly’s Last Jam (1993).  He returned to feature films with a role in Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), which starred Halle Berry.  In 2001, he appeared in the drama The Painting and the TV miniseries Feast of All Saints.  While filming Idlewild with the award winning group Outkast, Ben also served as the acting coach for both Andre 3000 and Big Boy.  In addition, Ben has been coaching the singing sensation Usher both as an entertainer and an actor.  In 2004, Ben was nominated for a “Career Achievement Award” by the Le Prix International Film Star Awards Organization. 

The lecture circuit has become an integral part of Ben’s career, as he has become one of the nation’s most requested speakers among audiences of all ages.  His strong sense of social consciousness has enabled him to reach out to his audiences and convey to them a deep feeling of understanding.  His topics range from overcoming adversity, arts in education, Black history, motivational topics, recovery through physical and occupational therapy and the importance of continuing education – to name a few.

In 2009, he performed at the Inaugural Ball and entertained at the reopening of the Ford Theatre in Washington, D. C. which was attended by President Obama. 

And this month August, 2011 Ben Vereen will be playing the role of Pontius Pilate, the executioner and crucifier of Jesus Christ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar presented by The Musical Theater of Houston.

Ben Vereen is also an ordained minister.

 

As I observe these seemingly unbelievable events that have happened in Ben Vereen’s life, I can’t help but notice how his life is somewhat patterned after the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.  Just like God the Father who gave up his only Son Jesus Christ’s life to save the sins of the world, Ben Vereen lost a child and had to endure the pain of grieving for the loss of his own daughter.  Just like Jesus Christ, he is resurrected back to life.  And just like the Holy Spirit, he comes back from almost death and walks around on earth with a new lease on life almost like a ghost.

 

Ben Vereen is recuperated back to life from being almost lifeless.  He couldn’t walk, he couldn’t talk, and he couldn’t dance or sing.  And this is a man who lived a life and made a career in singing and dancing.  He was rehabilitated and it took him years to get back on his feet.  Can you believe this?  Isn’t this crazy?  Yes, it sounds crazy but it’s all true.

 


BEN VEREEN

 

I asked Aaron Callies, “Did you know that Ben Vereen played the character of Will Smith’s biological father in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air?” 

“Yes,” he answers.  How can anyone not know that?  He is so well respected in the industry.  “And,” I point out, “now you’re actually going to be directing him.”

“It’s like I’m living a dream,” Aaron muses.

But you know everything that happened was destined to happen.  Just like my interview with Aaron tonight.  This is meant to be.  Ben Vereen was destined to star in Aaron Callies’ musical in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 2011.  This is because it wasn’t Ben Vereen’s time to die yet when he was severely injured in that car accident where he was hit by the Hit Man David Foster.

 

Ben is like the Holy Ghost because he came back from dead, practically.  He is here alive now to teach us the best lesson ever could be taught, the lesson of life.  And he is here in Houston now to play Pontius Pilate on a musical about the story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

“What was running through your mind when you found out you will be directing Ben Vereen in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar?” I asked Aaron.

“After I got off the floor, I thought it was just unbelievable,” says Aaron.  He prayed, “Please don’t let me faint” or “please don’t make me act like a tourist.”  I laughed and asked him exactly what he meant.  “Like I would be so dumbfounded I wouldn’t know what to do, how to act, how to direct him,” he answers.

I said to Aaron, “I think as long as you don’t faint, you’ll be just fine.  I am confident you’ll know what to do.”

At one point, Aaron tells me, the tedious process of getting permission from the Actor’s Equity which took about two months gave him impending doubts.  Aaron wasn’t sure if the possibility of Tony award winning Ben Vereen to star in his musical would actually happen.  And now it’s actually happening, God willing.

 


(L-R) Jacqueline Grady stars as Mary Magdalene, Tommie Harper as Judas Iscariot and Sam Brown plays Jesus Christ in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR presented by The Musical Theater of Houston August 19 through 20, 2011.  Photo courtesy of the Musical Theater of Houston.

 

“Who did you cast for Jesus Christ Superstar?  Are they all native Houstonians?” I ask.

“Yes,” says Aaron, “they are all from Houston.  Jesus is played by Sam Brown.  Mary Magdalene is played by Jacqueline Grady.  Tommie Harper plays Judas Iscariot.”

“Oh, I know Tommie.  I’ve seen him perform at the Ensemble Theatre.  He is excellent.  How many people are in your cast?”  Aaron says it’s a cast of 43.

“Oh my goodness,” I exclaimed.  “Yeah, that’s what my producers said too,” Aaron laughs.

“That is amazing!  Hey, you know, you might as well put on a show.  You already have Ben Vereen on there.  Do you have an orchestra?”

“We have an 18 piece orchestra.” Aaron says.  They have been in rehearsals for about 6-8 weeks.  They’ve been rehearsing with a stand-in for Pontius Pilate before Ben Vereen’s arrival to Houston.

 

Aaron states that Ben Vereen refuses to appear alone to go on Radio and TV interviews.  He prefers to go with the entire cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.  Aaron points out the fact that this exemplifies how professionally accommodating the dynamic superstar Ben Vereen really is.  He prefers to work and share the spotlight with his ensemble cast.

 

The Cooper Management Company has been Ben Vereen’s management for years.  I was told that he was flying into Houston on August 11th.  Since tonight is the evening of Friday August 12th, I asked Aaron if he has met his superstar headliner yet.  “No,” Aaron says, “I will meet him this Sunday August 14.  And start rehearsals with him on Monday August 15, 2011.”

 

To impress Aaron of my knowledge of this popular ‘70s movie musical, I started singing the lyrics to the first scene.  “Good Caiaphas, the council waits for you.  The Pharisees and priests are here for you.”  And with a low bass voice, “Ah gentlemen, you know why we are here.  We’ve not much time, and quite a problem here.”  And with the higher pitched voices of the crowd, I sang “Hosanna!  Superstar!  Hosanna!  Superstar!”  Aaron Callies laughs and mentions that he thought about an audience participation night where the audience will be singing the lyrics of all the songs.  Why not?  Everybody knows what happens.  The story of Jesus Christ is universal. 

 

I asked him if he has ever directed this musical before.  “No,” he answers, “but I have choreographed it.”

To dig a little bit into his past, I asked Aaron, “What is your favorite musical?”

“If you can believe it: Pippin,” says Aaron.  It was the musical Pippin that inspired him to venture into the career path of Theatre and choreographer.

“Why?  Were you taken by the role that Ben Vereen played in the musical?” I asked him curiously.  “No, I was taken by the story of Pippin.  From the day I saw the musical Pippin as a little boy in a school production was the day that I decided that stage and theatre was it for me.”

“At what age did you know you wanted a career in Theatre?”

Aaron answers, “As early as 8 or 9, maybe even earlier than that.  My brother and sisters and I used to create a stage in our backyard.  We used to play around and the bed sheets hanging on the clothes hanger were the walls of our theater.”

 

The next project for The Musical Theater of Houston is A Chorus Line.  Aaron just got the rights to stage a production of A Chorus Line.  “Wow,” I said to him.  “You just started January of this year and halfway through the year, you’ve got Ben Vereen starring in Jesus Christ Superstar.”  I encouraged him to ride the wave, just enjoy the present moment right now.  Aaron agrees and he says that he plans to have his own theater building by next winter of 2012. 

“But the Wortham Brown Theatre is a big theatre.”  He agrees with a laugh.  He refers to it as an airplane hangar, meaning it’s as big as.

“Would you be adding more shows to Jesus Christ Superstar?” I ask.  “Yes,” he responds, “a matinee on Saturday if they sell out both shows.”  They originally scheduled evening shows for August 19th and the 20th, 2011.  Both shows start at 8:00 pm.

Who is your favorite actor?  After thinking about it, Aaron quickly answers, “Ben Vereen.”  And I said to him laughing, “Yeah, me too.  Right now Ben Vereen is my favorite actor in the whole wide world.”

In closing the interview I added, “I am so happy and excited for you.  Now you’re actually choreographing and directing Ben Vereen in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about Jesus Christ in the big, bad city of Houston Texas where you got carjacked.  Congratulations!”

 

Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that Aaron Callies had Jennifer Hudson in mind when he was first searching for his next superstar.  Come to think of it, Ben Vereen’s tragic life story in comparison to Jennifer Hudson’s is not far off in the scope of drama and catastrophe.  Well maybe some would argue that Jennifer Hudson’s story is a lot more tragic, and I wouldn’t want to argue with that. 

 

As human beings, we (like Aaron Callies) are attracted to the supernatural.  Or at least, we are attracted to those individuals who overcome supernatural and unbelievable tragedy and live to tell about it.  Although the circumstances are different, each story teaches a lesson of astounding survival, a way for you to beat all the odds when all the odds are stacked up against you.  Ben Vereen and Jennifer Hudson’s life stories read like soap operas where each individual have both overcome unsurmountable disparity and have come back with great resilience, strength and endurance.

 

Please don’t miss Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Rock Opera JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR presented by The Musical Theater of Houston.  Directed and choreographed by Aaron Callies and starring Ben Vereen as Pontius Pilate.  The shows start at 8:00 pm on Friday August 19 and Saturday August 20, 2011 at the Wortham Brown Theatre at 501 Texas Avenue, Houston Texas 77002 U. S. A.

 


(L-R) Ted Neeley reprising his film role as Jesus Christ, Yvonne Elliman reprising her film role as Mary Magdalene and Ben Vereen reprising his Broadway role as Judas Iscariot.  (August, 2006)

 

 

EVERYTHING’S ALRIGHT

 

(Mary Magdalene)
Try not to get worried
Try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you
oh Don't you know
Everything's alright
Yes everything's fine
And we want you to sleep well tonight
Let the world turn without you tonight
If we try
We'll get by
So forget all about us tonight

(Apostles' Women)
Everything's all right
Yes everything's all right yes

(Mary Magdalene)
Sleep and I shall soothe you
Calm you and anoint you
Myrrh for your hot forehead
oh Then you'll feel
Everything's all right
Yes everything's fine
And it's cool and the ointment's sweet
For the fire in your head and feet
Close your eyes
Close your eyes
And relax
Think of nothing tonight

(Apostles' Women)
Everything's all right
Yes everything's all right yes

(Judas to Mary Magdalene)
Woman your fine ointment
Brand new and expensive
Should have been saved for the poor
Why has it been wasted?
We could have raised maybe
Three hundred silver pieces or more
People who are hungry
People who are starving
Matter more
Than your feet and hair

(Mary Magdalene)
Try not to get worried
Try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you
oh Don't you know
And we want you to sleep well tonight
Let the world turn without you tonight
If we try
We'll get by
So forget all about us tonight

(Apostles' Women)
Everything's all right
Yes everything's all right yes

(Jesus to Judas)
Surely you're not saying
We have the resources
To save the poor from their lot?
There will be poor always
Pathetically struggling
Look at the good things you've got!
Think while you still have me
Move while you still see me
You'll be lost
You'll be so sorry
When I'm gone

(Mary Magdalene)
Sleep and I shall soothe you
Calm you and anoint you
Myrrh for your hot forehead
oh then you'll feel
Everything's alright
Yes everything's fine
And it's cool and the ointment's sweet
For the fire in your head and feet
Close your eyes
Close your eyes
And relax
Think of nothing tonight

(Apostles' Women)
Close your eyes
Close your eyes
And relax
Think of nothing

Everything's all right
Yes everything's all right yes