Jesus Christ Superstar film actor goes to papal audience

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 18 - American actor and singer Ted Neeley, best known for portraying Christ in the 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar, visited the Vatican on Wednesday but was not able to meet Pope Francis.
    Neeley said he had hoped to meet the pope during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, but Neeley said he was instead "comforted" by a meeting with journalists.
    Neeley, whose film was controversial among Christians at the time of its release, has been performing in Rome in a live version of the original 1970 rock opera that became the basis for the film.
    Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote the original opera.