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He almost missed out on being cast in Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). After inviting director Norman Jewison to see him in a matinee performance of the Who's "Tommy", he was injured during a show just prior to the one Jewison had bought a ticket to see. He recovered in time for the next show; immediately following this, he drove from Los Angeles to Jewison's hotel in Palm Springs...dressed up as "Jesus Christ." (Norman was leaving for Israel soon thereafter, to shoot the movie.) Not only did Jewison accept his explanation and apology, he gave him the title role in said film. The tour bus seen in the opening and closing sequences of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) was loaned to the production by Neeley and his rock band. For Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), he did an unexpectedly thorough job of reenacting Jesus' bull-in-a-china-shop rampage through the Temple's "unclean" flea-market...so thorough indeed, that director Norman Jewison managed only two takes of this scene before running out of unbroken props. Fortunately, Jewison got everything right within the first two tries. He was able to play Jesus throughout his career; in 1975, he appeared in a show with both Carl Anderson and Yvonnie Eliman reprising their roles. In 1992, Neeley and Anderson appeared in the AD Tour. Originally it was supposed to last a year; instead, it went until 1997, touring for five years and grossing over 100 million dollars.