I was reading the Wikipedia article "Pharisees." It makes the point that the Gospels that were selected for us as canonical, coming as long after the fact* and full of polemics as they are, present the Pharisees in a very distorted and unfavorable light. So there's a credibility gap between the image of the Pharisees in literature and songs such as Lord of the Dance, and their real role in history and as progenitors of modern Judaism.

*By contrast with the Gospels of Thomas, Philip, and Mary Magdelene, with their very different emphases.