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Thursday, June 1, 2006

Singing and Dancing on Top of the Twin Towers?

Posted by DAN SAVAGE on June 1 at 16:56 PM

Depeche Mode may have filmed a music video on top of the World Trade Center in 1990, as Charles pointed out earlier today, but Jesus got there first—Hippie Jesus.

Godspell.jpg

In the 1973 film version of Godspell, Hippie Jesus sings and dances on top of one of the recently completed Twin Towers with his Hippie Disciples. The Twin Towers don’t appear until the final shots in the number, but a still from the sequence was used on the album cover for the movie soundtrack. You can watch Hippie Jesus in action by clicking here. Ever since 9/11 it’s been hard to watch Hippie Jesus and company dance right on the edge of that 110-story drop.

I mentioned all of this in the column I wrote the day after 9/11, which you can read here. And, yes, Hippie Jesus is played by Victor Garber of ABC’s Alias.

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1

If it is possible, I love Victor Garber even more.

Posted by snacky | June 1, 2006 5:29 PM

2

He's hippiriffic!

http://i.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/040211/115825__garber_l.jpg

Posted by Napoleon XIII | June 1, 2006 5:46 PM

3

I like Jesus' little sidekick guy. He's hot.

I saw this movie, in the Dundee Theatre in Omaha Nebraska when it first came out, but had forgotten about it until now. Boy, is it 70's.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay | June 1, 2006 6:33 PM

4

Glad there's at least some socio-political importance to the movie "Godspell." I'd forgotten what a embarrassment that movie is. Same with the stage play. Hair meets Jesus Christ Superstar - not! I've only seen it once (and that's plenty - I remember running from the theatre). What I do find interesting is the fact that Dan has 125 of American musical theatre at his fingertips and he memorizing songs from Godspell?! And those dancers do get awfully close to that edge, don't they? Sort of hoping they would get too close.

Posted by Bauhaus | June 1, 2006 7:20 PM

5

125 years, that is.

Posted by bauhaus | June 1, 2006 7:21 PM

6

I was in Godspell once. I had to memorize the songs—and, hey, some of the songs in that show, bad as it is, are pretty good, Including "All for the Best."

Posted by Dan Savage | June 1, 2006 7:38 PM

7

My personal favorite is "Turn Back, Oh Man" It was one of the little campy clues that hinted that there was a world beyond Omaha.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay | June 1, 2006 7:56 PM

8

Ah, what a trip down memory lane... I actually sort of remember Godspell (as well as Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar!). Clearly we were all under some sort of alien influence back in the 1970s. Now where did I put my bong?

Posted by SDA in SEA | June 1, 2006 10:24 PM

9

I've been thinking about the twin towers lately too. My trip started with the anniversary of the war and lead to fascism, which took me back to the point Bush was really trying to connect the war with, 9/11. I started by watching Iraq type war movies/documentaries which gave way to Viet Nam war movies which gave way to paranoid Big-Brother-shit which eventually lead me to all the 9/11 conspiracy stuff. There is a lot of very slick and scary stuff out there. I don’t know what to think about it. I wish someone very brave would look into it and deconstruct it on a national stage. The thought that I can’t get out of my head is the possibility that in March of 2001 the Taliban blew up The Twin Buddhas of Bamyian and then six months later our Taliban took ours down. It was that movie V for Vendetta that put this into my head. It asked the question, “Would you really want to know?” I feel like a kook saying it aloud.

Posted by Gugh | June 2, 2006 2:29 AM

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