NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live Casts Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene
Tony and Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles has been cast as the Mary Magdalene to John Legend’s title character in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, to air on Easter Sunday, April 1.
The Peacock network’s take on the iconic rock opera will be performed in front of a live audience at the Marcy Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y. Previously announced casting includes rock icon Alice Cooper as King Herod.
“To say I’m excited about this performance is the understatement of the century,” Bareilles said in a statement. “This score and this musical have been a part of me from a very young age and it will be one of the great thrills of my life to sing these iconic songs. It’s incredible to see the beloved medium of musical theatre being embraced by television audiences, and this cast and creative team is extraordinary. I feel extremely lucky to be a part of the project!”
“We’re overjoyed to have Sara Bareilles play Mary Magdalene and I can guarantee that her interpretation of the standard ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ will become an instant classic,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. “I was lucky enough to see Sara in Waitress and she gave as moving and as beautifully sung a performance as I’ve seen on a Broadway stage in a long time.”
Like her music and am certainly looking forward to her version of “Everything’s Alright”. <3
I LOVE this casting. I’ve always been a fan of Sara, and she was flawless in Waitress.
Just don’t ask her to write a love song, cause she won’t.
She’ll be great. But is this Jesus Christ Superstar going to have the staging like NBC’s other live musicals or is it just a concert of the music as the title suggests? Because Fox did that Passion show which was actually more like a concert and it really stunk. Could someone clarify?
I just need Jared Leto or Brandon Urie as Judas please.
Brendon Urie. He was amazing as Charlie in Kinky Boots this summer.
My money’s on Adam Lambert.
He’s touring with Queen pretty close to then, so he probably isn’t available. They seem to be going with safe, friendly casting as well; Lambert belongs in an earlier, edgier production.
Safe and friendly like Alice Cooper?
Compared to casting Sebastian Bach as Jesus? Yes. Given that it’s a fairly common casting choice to throw in an aging metal-adjacent performer as Herod? Yes. Given that Alice Cooper relies on shock imagery but is otherwise known as sociable and TV-friendly, with any issues Firmly In The Past, when if they had to go with the metal frontman contrast for an otherwise anodyne cast they had many more current and technically able options? Yes.
Or Lenny Kravitz
So happy & excited for Sara Wooo :D
Jesus Christ, can the broadcast networks stop with these live musicals? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Seriously, though, nice for the actress, but most of these haven’t been good and it’s time for a new trend already.