1. UPDATE 8/4/22 (From Ted Neeley.com and Ted's Facebook Page)
TED IS CONTINUING JCS SCREENINGS AND SING-A-LONGS!!! STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES, AS THESE WILL BEGIN IN LATER SUMMER, 2022, NOW THAT TED IS BACK FROM ITALY - STAY TUNED!!!
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 2022-2023 FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY SCREENINGS!!!!!
JCS 2022-2023 JCS SCREENING/SING-A-LONG TOUR - ITINERARY
I’vehad the privilege of watching Ted Neeley perform live since 1973, when he came here to perform in Tommy at Musicarnival.Throughout the years I have seen Ted numerous times in Jesus Christ Superstar (both live onstage and in the film version), and I have also been lucky enough to see him perform in Rasputin (12/18/99), Murder In The First (6/10 & 6/11/00), Waiting For Godot (9/2 - 10/4/04 - (in BeckettFest 9/18-10/4)), theJCS ADTour (2006-2009) and Ted Neeley and the Little Big Band (3/23/13 in Cleveland). I have also been fortunate to perform with him in the JCS YTA Benefitat the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles in August 2006 with the Agape choir. While I could not make the trip to Italy and the Netherlands to see Ted's latest incarnation of JCS (no $$$), I was very glad that he, Barry and Bob stopped in Cleveland during his 2015 JCS 40th Anniversary screenings once he came back to the US. The Superstar Sing-A-Longs by request afforded me my latest visit with Ted, when the screening returned here this past December (12/8/19) to the Cedar Lee Theatre, and as you read this, the Theatre Manager is working with Team Neeley to bring them back for a second visit this year. Spring had originally been proposed for this event, but COVID has pushed everything back. When a date is announced it will be posted here and on the JCS Anniversary Screening Page. UPDATE 6/26/22: Now that Ted has completed his latest JCS Italy Tour, he and Team Neeley have announced that the JCS Screenings for the 50th Anniversary of the film will commence sometime in late August. Here's hoping that Cleveland is included in these dates, as Ted hasn't been here for three years! We won't know about M&G possibilities until the dates happen, because COVID is still very-much alive, but. hopefully it will be calmed down enough to include M&G's this time. If not, well, we ALL want Ted and Company to stay healthy, and WE need to stay healthy. That's always foremost in everyone's minds.
I have alsohad the privilege, as have many of us ("Tedheads," as we are called these days, though I prefer the phrase "Ted Family"), of meeting and spending time with Ted. I have found him to be one of the kindest, most gracious, and most compassionate people I've ever met. I am honored to call him a friend, and to know that he considers me his friend as well.
The Grand Forks ND Herald published an article that, I think, can give the best illustration of the special man that Ted is. It's entitled: "Looking Inside Ted Neeley's Heart". You can find it here:
Ted, to this day, is still humbled by all the attention he gets.When we spoke in June, 2000 in Ventura he told me: "I don't know what I did to deserve all of this, but I must have done something good in a past life." It takes a very special person to be that humble in the face of all the notoriety and fandom that Ted experiences, and this is what makes Ted so special. He is always polite, and never dismisses a fan, no matter how late it gets (he's held fort after shows as late as 5AM, and past the next day's sunrise in the past!), and the best thing is that he remembers everyone he meets, AND where he meets them.
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Then and now: The picture on the top right is my favorite picture of Ted and me, taken backstage after "Rasputin" (12/18/99) at 2:30AM. The one on the top left was taken at "O'Neil's Dennys" on the last night of "BeckettFest" - (10/3/04). The one, just below those, was taken 3/23/13 after the Ted Neeley and the Little Big Band Cleveland concert, just below that is a picture taken 3/30/15 after the JCS 40th Anniversary Screening at the Cleveland Cinematique, two taken before and after (respectively) at the 12/8/19 JCS 40th Anniversary Screening at the Cedar Lee Theatre, and the most current picture, just above this, was taken this past Tuesday (9/20/22) at The Drexel Theatre JCS Screening/Ted's Birthday Party. I'm not usually "curly" these days - and hope I don't look too much older, but Ted - in three "colors" - hasn't really changed much atall!
To illustrate this, I will tell you the tale of our first three meetings.I first met Ted here in Cleveland after Superstar in 1993 (I think), and spoke to him briefly for about 5 minutes.This was in the very first autograph line Ted and Carl had.I mentioned seeing him in Tommy here (in 1972), and he told me that another fan had also mentioned Tommy, and that she had brought a picture he had taken with her at Tommy to show him.A year later, during our second meeting, which was, again, not more than 5 minutes, I showed him a copy of the then 22-year-old program from Tommy (it’s now 48 years old).Well, he was knocked out by it, and showed it to everyone.Three years later I was in line after another performance of JCS, this time in Akron.When I got to the front of the line, Ted turned around to say hello, saw me, and said (and I will NEVER forget this): “We’ve met before.”Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather!I figured, different city, different theatre, 3 years later, and only 5 minutes per previous meeting, there was NO WAY he would connect the two places, or remember meeting me at all.But he did.He even remembered the Tommy program!Whenever I saw him after that, he still remembered, and he remembers today.(We should all have such good memories, shouldn’t we?)
THE "TEDHUG"
I'm sure that everyone who's reading this has either heard of, and/or experienced firsthand, a "Tedhug".If you haven't; then you really need to get one.Don't we all just LOVE these? They are amazing things.Ted hugs you so tight, it's like squeezing the juice out of an orange.I know of no other celebrity (actually no one at all) who hugs people like Ted does.I got the top one on Thursday (10/5/06) in Toledo, OH after JCS (and it's quickly becoming another favorite picture of mine - thank you Sean Grindle!), the one below left after dinner at The Pierpont Inn when we saw Ted in June, 2000 (someone took it on my camera - don't know who - but thank you!) in "Murder in the First" at The Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA.,the below right one in April, 2008 in Pittsburgh at the M&G after the JCS Saturday night performance, and the last two on 2/27/09 after the Friday night Cleveland, OH performance.
If you have not met Ted yet, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you try to meet him after the show the next time he comes to your city, or go to the VIP meetings he sometimes will schedule for a venue.For anyone who doesn’t know this (and I’m sure there are very few who don’t and are reading this), you will probably have to wait for quite some time to say hello, because Ted greets each and every person like they are the only one who came back to say hi. It is true that M&G's were much fewer and rarer during the last leg of the JCS TOUR (Ted needed to stay healthy and well-rested to perform at his best for all of us on the road!), and only happened in the lobby, if at all, rather than at the stage door, the way they did in the past. But, with the first phase of the LBB TOUR, the M&G's were more readily available, and, fortunately, during the JCS screenings are even literally scheduled and mentioned at each venue. With the COVID outbreak, the last two Sing-A-Longs that were held were with the caveat that there would be no Tedhugs, in the interest of all staying healthy during this Pandemic. Once it's over, the screenings and concerts that were postponed will be rescheduled, and Ted promises that the Tedhugs will return. Hopefully, this will continue to be the case. The next time Ted is in your area, if you're lucky enough to get an M&G, or a VIP event, trust me, it’s WELL WORTH the wait.
A quick word about the photo posted above. This is one of many photos taken on 12/13/03 at The Pierpont Inn, where Jenn, Judy and Veth were fortunate to have a private lunch with Ted when weather kept him from appearing in RTC's Winter Wonderland fundraiser. As Ted gave me the nickname on the sign he's holding, this just seemed to be a good spot to post this picture. The nickname came from my main e-mail address at the time: cverbelun@core.com, back in 2003. As Ted explained when he made the request:
"I hope you do not mind my addressing you as, "Cver." Somehow it just seems natural after reading so many E-mail messages from you and they all are addressed, cverbelun@core.com. If you are truly at the core, then it follows that you would also be a receiver of information. Therefore, a term of endearment for one who receives, could certainly be, "Cver." And, I say Cver with the utmost respect."
So it kind of stuck, and even though social media has made Ted and Team Neeley extremely adept at relaying their own messages directly (none of us has access to Ted directly at this time), Ted still calls me "Cver" to this day when we say hello.
ON MY NICKNAME FROM TED - JUST FOR FUN:
(as well as fun with Ted's name)
Saw both of these go-quizzes on Denise's My Space Site (see my links).
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