Jesus Christ Superstar, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, has been reimagined as an arena rock spectacular. Featuring a cast of rock, pop and R&B superstars, the biggest ever North American arena tour will run from June 9 to August 16 to more than 50 cities including Nashville, New Orleans, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City etc.
Set in the present day and updated for a 21st-century audience, Jesus Christ Superstar is a live two-hour rock concert with over 50 cast and musicians performing a dramatisation of the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Brandon Boyd, Grammy-nominated lead vocalist of rock band Incubus, is confirmed for the role of Judas Iscariot, Grammy-nominated singer and former NSYNC member, JC Chasez will play Pontius Pilate, Grammy Award-winner and former member of Destiny's Child, Michelle Williams, will take the female lead as Mary Magdalene, English frontman of Public Image Ltd (PiL) and Sex Pistols member, John (Rotten) Lydon will play King Herod, and introducing British actor and singer, Ben Forster, who won the UK's ITV Superstar competition in 2012, and played the lead role in the UK and Australian arena tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, who will reprise his role as Jesus.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the U.K. with the intent to bring it to the theater. But they were unable to find a room to stage the production. "Nobody believed back in 1969 that you could present a stage musical about the last days of the life of Jesus Christ," Webber said.
Since they had a musical but nowhere to stage the show, Webber and Rice assembled a cast and recorded a rock album, which came out in 1970. Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan played the role of Jesus, and the popularity of the album convinced Webber and Rice to take the show to stages in the U.S.
"In 1971 Andrew and I were thrilled by the first-ever Jesus Christ Superstar tour of the United States," said Tim Rice. "We certainly did not imagine then that 43 years later we would be witnessing another America-wide tour of our first big hit show. We are delighted and grateful that enthusiasm for Superstar has been maintained over the years and this new production presents the work in its most powerful format - as a true rock experience."
To buy tickets for the Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Spectacular, please visit JesusChristSuperstar.com.
Click to listen Michelle Williams sings 'I don't know how to love Him".
Full Tour Dates:
