Reverend Ernest Marvin, Pioneer of Rock ‘n’ Roll Musical, Honored with Blue Plaque

A blue plaque has been bestowed upon a Reverend and youth leader recognized for authoring a groundbreaking musical. Reverend Ernest Marvin was one of the initial residents to relocate to the Lockleaze housing estate in north Bristol following its construction in the late 1950s. Subsequently, he collaborated with local teenagers to create a Rock ‘n’ Roll musical depicting the life of Jesus, which was later staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Maria Perrett of the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust stated, “He helped make and shape Lockleaze and invested his time in young people.” The plaque is located on the St James Presbyterian Church on Romney Avenue and was unveiled on Friday by Christine Welsh, an actress from the original stage production. Mr. Martin authored ‘A Man Dies’ a full 11 years prior to the Broadway debut of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, a more widely recognized musical addressing the identical theme. Ms Perrett noted, “It was very controversial and it was claimed it was blasphemous to use rock and roll to depict a religious story and it was even argued about in the House of Commons.” She also mentioned that children lacked evening activities until Mr. Martin established the youth club. Ms Welsh commented, “He was such a lovely man and did so much for the youngsters – he was really ahead of his time.” The Bristol Civic Society (BCS) was responsible for installing the plaque, marking the 43rd such installation by the society throughout the city. Gordon Young, chair of the Blue Plaque Panel at BCS, explained, “The plaques celebrate work rather than just famous people and we like to do the unsung heroes that might have less of a sense of celebrity.” He added, “We get approached by people in the community who think someone is deserving of a plaque and we assess from there.” Young concluded, “We thought that Mr Marvin was really deserving for the ground breaking work he did.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.