The Lyrics

MAID BY THE FIRE I THINK I'VE SEEN YOU SOMEWHERE I REMEMBER YOU WERE WITH THAT MAN THEY TOOK AWAY I RECOGNISE YOUR FACE

PETER YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN LADY I DON'T KNOW HIM AND I WASN'T WHERE HE WAS TONIGHT NEVER NEAR THE PLACE

SOLDIER THAT'S STRANGE FOR I AM SURE I SAW YOU WITH HIM YOU WERE RIGHT BY HIS SIDE AND YET YOU DENIED

PETER I TELL YOU I WAS NEVER EVER WITH HIM

OLD MAN BUT I SAW YOU TOO IT LOOKED JUST LIKE YOU

PETER

(ad lib shout)

I DON'T KNOW HIM

MARY MAGDALENE PETER DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE SAID YOU'VE GONE AND CUT HIM DEAD

PETER I HAD TO DO IT DON'T YOU SEE OR ELSE THEY'D GO FOR ME

MARY MAGDALENE IT'S WHAT HE TOLD US YOU WOULD DO I WONDER HOW HE KNEW

The Plot

He ran away from the scene of the arrest, but he couldn't bear not knowing what was happening to his teacher. Small surprise, then, that Peter followed the arresting party to the house of Caiaphas. Unable to enter himself, he warmed up by a campfire outside.

Not the world's smartest decision. Three onlookers (a maid, a soldier, and an old man) all recognize Peter as one of the men who were with Jesus earlier. Each time he vehemently denies his association, just as Jesus said he would, to the dismay of Mary, who wonders how Jesus knew that would happen...

The Analysis

Aside from the soldier becoming a generic "Solo from the Mob" in the currently licensed score, everything has stayed the same in this scene, lyrically and dramatically, since 1970, so time to once again chart the recurring motifs musically.

We've got:

Peter denying Jesus three times (as predicted), to the main theme from "Strange Thing, Mystifying," which originally accompanied Judas' criticism of Jesus' relationship with Mary -- thereby connecting Peter musically with Judas, both of them now betrayers of Jesus, and...

...when Mary points out that Peter did as Jesus said he would, she sings this to the betrayal motif from the Last Supper, even further underscoring Peter's betrayal.

Let it never be said Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't have a purpose in choosing a cyclical nature for these melodies!

Mildly Unrelated Op.-Ed.

In marked contrast to how he's described in the Bible, Peter kind of gets the short end of the stick in JCS. He doesn't have a lot to do as a solo vocalist, aside from "Peter's Denial" and "Could We Start Again Please?" He's pretty much just "one of the boys" in any staging; it's usually hard to even identify who Peter is unless he's singled out from the start, until his big moments in the second act.

Audition notices, no doubt building on what scripture makes him out to be, tend to describe him in terms like "gentle" or phrases along the lines of "slow to find his strength, but when he does, he becomes a stabilizing force among the apostles." But I gotta tell ya... I don't see it. There's not enough material there on paper to cover that ground.

When I've contemplated directing the show over the years, I've begun to pay special attention to the roles of Simon Zealotes and Peter. Simon's sole major appearance is in Act I, and Peter's couple of big scenes are in Act II, both without set-up or real follow-through. Can you see where I'm going with this?

Taking my cue from the recent European tour featuring Ted Neeley, I've thought of casting one performer to play both parts, billed separately due to contractual obligation but essentially a single role. It cuts costs (remember, I'm a producer first and foremost), creates a useful character arc out of two thankless ones without changing a word or note, and as long as there are twelve bodies (and one Jesus) around the table in Act II, those in the audience versed in the source can simply infer that Simon became Peter over the show's course, just like the notoriously temperamental Peter was originally called Simon in the Bible.

Let me go back to that second thing for a moment: "creates a useful character arc out of two thankless ones without changing a word or note." I want to unpack that to further sell my point.

What is Simon, really? He's exuberant, he's militant, someone who clearly jumps in before he really understands what's going on. He calls on his master to overthrow the Romans, only to be told he doesn't get the picture. Maybe, like Judas in The Last Temptation of Christ ("...only you understand it? Well, you'd better make me understand it too!"), he decides to wrestle with that, but he's not quite there yet. When the cops break up the scene, he reverts to form, only to be told, "Dude, not only are you wrong, it is way past the time what you're offering would be helpful. Don't quit your day job." How do you react to that? Maybe you discover you're not the Zealot you thought you were, and when the chips are down, out of both frustration and self-preservation, you deny you even know the guy when cornered by the opposition. And you still cling to the faint hope that this will change: "Alright, you've made your point. Time to unleash the fury, right? ...RIGHT???" Very powerful, fully-realized character there.

It's worth a thought, anyway...

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