Rating: 
Summary: Inaccurate?
Review: First thing, Jesus was not a sinner like all of us, thus he was not a homosexual. He was certainly a bastard, fatherless most his life, and "the government was on his shoulders". Anyone could rewrite the story of the messiah without making him a homosexual, there are plenty of things you could jump on to make him hated by society. You say he preaches a message of love and tolerance, I would disagree that Jesus taught such a message. Love certainly, but tolerance, I disagree. 'Anyone who causes another to sin is the least in the kingdom of heaven.' Would a tolerant man yell "You brood of vipers!" at the most respected citizens of the time? Tolerance is failure to put your own friendship on the line to prevent someone else from harm, and homosexuality is sin, and sin kills, plain and simple truth. Love and hate aren't opposites, the word used in the Bible for "love" is agape, which is selfless, sacrificial love. Failure to sacrifice your relationships with people to attempt to prevent them from sinning is complete selfishness, and thus the opposite of love. To say Jesus preached a message of Love and Tolerance is just like saying he preaches a message of selflessness and selfishness, which is hipocrsy, the exact thing you are are trying to fight! Don't get me wrong, we should all love one another regardless, but we don't need to tolerate other's sin.Sorry felt obligated to correct the error! ...
Rating: 
Summary: "Christi" a touching account of one man's search for Jesus
Review: For as much nasty publicity as this play has received, I expected a far more abrasive account of a gay passion play. If you are expecting anything remotely pornographic, you will be disappointed. This is a very intimate, touching portrait of playwright Terrence McNally, juxtaposed against the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ, all in the spirit of the playwright seeking a higher awareness of Christ's difficult life and great torments. The narrative is extremely straight forward, and an informed audience should have no problem discerning the differences between McNally's life and Christ's. McNally, no stranger to controversy, has created an entirely new Messiah; one that reflects contemporary human experience and its temptations from flawed, human perspective. Those who do not wish to see the human side of Jesus as an imagined homosexual should mind their business and go to church for their preferred depiction. Anyone interested in how one observant gay man views his own life in reference to Christs's suffering may see more of themselves in the play than they might expect. There is little high drama here, and the play straightforwardly warns against suspense. The storytelling is simple and patient, and worth the time if you have an open mind and especially an open heart.
Rating:
Summary: WOW 2 THUMBS DOWN!
Review: For those reviews who called this blasphemous and inaccurate obviously missed the idea. This was never supposed to be blasphemous and most of all it was never supposed to be accurate. No where does any document ever hint at Jesus being gay. It was a different way of presenting the ideas that Jesus tried to teach. Corpus Christi comes close to presenting its ideas but very minimally pulls it off. The play starts of wonderfully and is incredibly well written with strong symbolism. It is when Jesus realizes his purpose in life and begins to teach that the writing begins to lose its power and effect. What starts off as an abstract idea and is played/written abstractly slowly turns too real and close to the actual events written in the Bible. It's because of this realness that the play loses it's wonder. McNally started of "recreating" the birth and teenage years of Christ and then puts it into its actual context giving the play an odd feel. People remember plays for a strong start and a strong finish, Corpus Christi starts off incredibly strong and has great potential, but the lackluster ending ruins what the play attempts to achieve, which is to have the audience connect and feel Christ's suffering and persecution of his ideas and his love for his disciples. Other than that, the play is wonderful and gives us two great characters for actors to play in Judas and Jesus. As a gay man, I loved the scene in which showed Jesus blessing the gay marriage, totally relevant in today's culture.
Rating:
Summary: A Decent Attempt of Ideas
Review: For those reviews who called this blasphemous and inaccurate obviously missed the idea. This was never supposed to be blasphemous and most of all it was never supposed to be accurate. No where does any document ever hint at Jesus being gay. It was a different way of presenting the ideas that Jesus tried to teach. Corpus Christi comes close to presenting its ideas but very minimally pulls it off. The play starts of wonderfully and is incredibly well written with strong symbolism. It is when Jesus realizes his purpose in life and begins to teach that the writing begins to lose its power and effect. What starts off as an abstract idea and is played/written abstractly slowly turns too real and close to the actual events written in the Bible. It's because of this realness that the play loses it's wonder. McNally started of "recreating" the birth and teenage years of Christ and then puts it into its actual context giving the play an odd feel. People remember plays for a strong start and a strong finish, Corpus Christi starts off incredibly strong and has great potential, but the lackluster ending ruins what the play attempts to achieve, which is to have the audience connect and feel Christ's suffering and persecution of his ideas and his love for his disciples. Other than that, the play is wonderful and gives us two great characters for actors to play in Judas and Jesus. As a gay man, I loved the scene in which showed Jesus blessing the gay marriage, totally relevant in today's culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Creative and SINcere
Review: I had read about this play in TIME mag. about two years ago, and when I read I expected something frustrating and that is what I got. I am so tempted to talk about my faith in comparison to the play and since I am an avid Christian I find it continually difficult to not write about, but instead I am going to tackle it from a theatre student's point of view. It is terribly original. After reading most of the contemporary playwrights I would have to say that McNally's plays are the best, because of his subtley abrasive tone, for one reason. I was constantly questioning whether or not I should consider this play sacreligous and after much deliberation I decided that only the reader/viewer can decide that for themselves. Is McNally mocking Christ's life? I don't know. Is he accurately pouring his emotions out onto the paper? Definetly. In my opinion this play is one of the best "philosophy meets religion" works out there which is testament to McNally's genius. In his preface he contrasts Christ's life to Matthew Shepard, which I thought was really cool. Then he also says "Jesus Christ died again when Matthew Shepard did"...so true. I think that this play really asks the question "what would we do today?" Would we still persecute Him? Would we still laugh and jeer and call him "King of the queers"? Anyway I'm rambling...read the play and judge McNally with an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: this book is just wrong
Review: i have never read this book before, but it doesn't matter. This book is just wrong, have you not read the bible!?!?! it states he's the only man on earth to ever be sinless, and yet the world critizes him. Who are you to judge him this way McNally, seriously, you judge the Son of God, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the king of kings, the Holy one, the Trinity this way is just wrong. i'm not a strong christian, but this is just wrong. i'd give this a negative so low that it take years just to write the number. and to give you guys a thought, how can a sinless man every have a thought coming across him that says gay? Jesus was lead into the desert and TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL HIMSELF, yet he never STRAYED from GOD. yet God says love your enemies.
Rating:
Summary: Where to begin?
Review: I really do not know where to begin. Terrence McNally has been my favorite playwright for years, and I have read every title I could get my hands on, including the obscure ones (Such as "By The Sea..." and "Tommy Flowers"). He deals with sensitive topics with sheer honesty and compassion. He doesn't just write about characters, he portrays humanity on paper, and he does an amazing job. My opinion of Corpus Christi is summed up best with a simple "Wow." I am in awe. Spellbound by McNally's ability to convey the life of Christ in such a touching manner. I'm well aware of all the controversy this stirred upon it's MTC premiere, and have been fortunate enough to view it at a university in my area, which also stirred a little mud of it's own. But what can you expect? I doubt McNally would have published such an artistic play unknowing that it would cause everything it did. But back to reviewing the play: Never before has Christ been depicted in such a way on stage, and I don't believe that the playwright is saying "Christ WAS gay," simply making the notion, and in what better way to do so? When gay culture is at it's peak, TODAY, placing Christ and his followers in society today yet never losing it's honesty. Corpus Christi remains my favorite McNally drama to date, because of it's "In-Your-Face" way of dealing with a subject often swept under the table. I applaud you!
Rating:
Summary: Artistic License is one thing...
Review: It is not unheard of, the gospel of Jesus changed to tell a story in a new way; examples being: "Jesus Christ Superstar", "the Blue-Grass Gospel" and one might even go as far as to say "Forest Gump"; but to make one's
"Jesus Figure" go against the nature of Jesus entirely is disrespectful and evil. Whether you are a homophobe, homosexual supporter, or a christian, it doesn't change the fact that Jesus himself was against homosexuality. By making him homosexual dipicts Jesus as a completely different person. It is like dipicting Ghandi as a soldier. Jesus should remain true to his character. This is not to evangelize or preach, I'm simply stating that in a free society we should be respectful to christians and there beliefs as we expect them to be respectful to everyone else.
Rating:
Summary: Corpus Christi
Review: Just another attempt by homosexuals to pretend that their lifestyle is rooted in Christianity when nothing could be further from the truth.
Rating:
Summary: ?
Review: Terrence McNally is an extremely gifted writer. I have seen two of his shows on Broadway this year. He has the ability to see past the minor issues of daily life and to examine the big picture of human existence. In Corpus Christi he re-writes the passion of Christ from his own perspective. This perspective is that of a gay man growing up in 1950's Texas. There has been much controversy surrounding this play and the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of it. McNally has been vilified by much of the Christian right and many have even gone so far as to ban the production. On its face however the story basically tracts and updates the biblical version of the Passion. The message of the play is that all men must love one another and we must continue to struggle to make the world a better place no matter what one's individual beliefs happen to be. If one takes the time to step away from the controversy and to actually read the words what unfolds is a very moving and deeply Christian worldview. If we don't look closely at past events and hide our heads in the sand concerning the problems of society we have a tendency to repeat the mistakes of the past. This is perhaps the greatest sin.
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