by: Ellen C. Caldwell
for JSTOR Daily
Amazon recently released its fourth season of Transparent, Jill Soloway’s dramedy about a Jewish American family whose patriarch is transgender.
The show has been met with critical acclaim and many awards and nominations. This season, one of the show’s supporting stars is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1970s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.
The musical is featured heavily throughout the season, varying from a single cast member whimsically singing an acapella tune from Superstar in a flashback scene, to the Pfefferman family singing “What’s the Buzz” on a tour bus as they drive to Jerusalem, to original versions of the songs opening or closing out multiple episodes—as with the season finale moving seamlessly from a cast rendition of “Everything’s Alright” into Yvonne Elliman’s original folksy rendition of Mary Magdalene’s calming refrain.