Everything You Need to Know About JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

The story: biblical history meets musical theatre

Jesus Christ Superstar takes one of the most familiar stories in the Western canon and puts a deeply human and strikingly modern spin on it.  It is a dramatic retelling of the last week of Jesus's life, in the days leading up to the Crucifixion, with a focus on the interpersonal conflicts and moral dilemmas arising between the apostles, the people of Israel, and the leadership of Rome. In particular, it examines the fracturing friendship between Jesus and Judas Iscariot, who acts as the story's narrator, and Jesus's relationship with Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who falls in love with him.

A glittering performance history

Jesus Christ Superstar was originally written as a concept album in 1970 by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, one of the most successful partnerships in musical theatre history, when the pair were still in their early twenties. Why a concept album and not a stage show? Well, no producer was willing to invest in a rock opera about Jesus Christ. And yet...

The album, which starred Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan as Jesus, became an instant hit, giving birth to a built-in fanbase even before the stage production debuted on Broadway in 1971, earning five Tony Award nominations. The London production opened in 1972 at the Palace Theatre and ran until 1980, becoming the longest-running musical in West End history at the time.

It also inspired a 1973 film adaptation by Norman Jewison, a a 2000 direct to video film and a 2018 live television concert called Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, starring John Legend as Jesus, Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene and Alice Cooper as Herod, which won multiple Emmys.

In 2016, for the show's 45th anniversary, a revival directed by Tim Sheader opened at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, which won an Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. It’s this production that’s now playing in the West End, reuniting the award-winning creative team behind the 2016 staging.

Tyrone Huntley in Jesus Christ Superstar. Photo by Johan Persson.

The score

Jesus Christ Superstar has one of the most recognisable scores in the history of musical theatre. It fuses hard rock, ballad, soul, gospel, and symphonic elements into something utterly unique and groundbreaking. From electric guitars and pounding drums to strings and choral arrangements, the musical style is both anachronistic to and yet oddly fitting with the subject matter.

Notably, Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera in the truest sense of the word: it’s sung through from start to finish, without any spoken dialogue. Despite that, it manages to evoke a coherent sense of story and character development entirely through its music and lyrics. The whole experience feels like being at a rock concert: both immersive and intimate, and the energy in the audience is collectively utterly electrifying and infectious. Drew McOnie's choreographed dance numbers feed into this with raw physicality that often feels primal, resulting in an overall experience that's as emotionally intense as it's thrilling.

In Sheader's production, the supremely talented cast does complete justice to songs that have become deeply embedded in popular culture, accompanied by a 19-piece live orchestra, thrillingly visible through the scaffolding at the back of the stage. From the high-octane opening of 'Heaven on Their Minds' to the soaring, lyrically intense 'Superstar', each song is designed to tell a cohesive, flowing narrative with peaks and dips. Mary Magdalene's sweet lullaby 'Everything's Alright' and ballad 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' are soulful and heartbreaking, while villainous numbers like ‘This Jesus Must Die’ and ‘King Herod’s Song’ straddle the line between campy and chilling. But the real show-stopper is 'Gethsemane', which Sam Ryder screams and sobs his way through as Jesus confronts his impending death, hitting each challenging high note with flawless emotion.

The cast and characters

Eurovision star Sam Ryder, who looks the part with his hippie-style long hair and scruffy beard, embodies every bit of Jesus's raw humanity as well as his magnetism, humanising him to a heartbreaking degree. Tyrone Huntley reprises his Olivier Award-winning role as Judas, playing him as equal parts angry and anguished as he tries to reconcile his love for Jesus and his frustration with Jesus's growing celebrity while the people of Jerusalem suffer. Desmonda Cathabel as Mary Magdalene has a powerful, distinctive voice and a natural charisma that steals every scene.

Aside from the three leads, the rest of the cast is equally gripping and engaging. David Thaxton plays Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, with the same conflicted complexity as Judas, but simultaneously commanding and sinister. My personal favourites, however, were the high priests Caiaphas and Annas, played by Bob Harms and Matty J, whose contrasting bass and countertenor and over-the-top, campy performances make their musical numbers utterly entertaining. 

As for King Herod...

Who's playing King Herod?

The production's most distinctive (and fun) feature is that it doesn't have one actor playing Herod, the villainous King of Galilee, but a rotating roster of big-name stars playing him at different points during the run. In the London Palladium production, we have Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Richard Armitage, Boy George, Layton Williams, and Julian Clary, and at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, we have Matt Bomer, Rob Brydon, Reece Shearsmith, Bob the Drag Queen, Michael Ball, Simon Russell Beale, Omid Djali, and Layton Williams again.

King Herod is one of the most iconic roles of the show. Though he only appears in a single scene, his musical number, 'King Herod's Song', is the most memorable of the performance: high-energy and vaudeville in style, menacing and yet packed with theatrical flair, an upbeat break from the dark, dramatic intensity of the second act. Each actor brings their own spin to this show-stopping cameo. During the performance I attended, Herod was played by Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who was delightfully flamboyant, campy, and a little bit sardonic.

If you're trying to decide when to go watch the show, it may be worth considering which Herod you'd most like to see. Think about each actor's signature style - whether they're a classically trained Shakespearean stage actor, or a screen star, or a drag performer, or a musical theatre veteran - and that should give you an idea of what they'll bring to their portrayal of Herod.

Sam Ryder in Jesus Christ Superstar. Photo by Johan Persson.

Should you go for on-stage standing tickets?

Another unique element of this production is the chance to watch the show from the stage itself, standing in one of four barriered sections towards the back for the duration of the performance.

On one hand, it's an immersive and intimate experience, and a thrilling opportunity to see the actors up close. But on the other, you'll be standing for the length of the two hour run time, and the music can get very loud, so it may not be appropriate for all audience members. It's also worth noting that the show is staged for the house, which means the actors will have their backs to you for most of it, so you may miss key elements of the performance or the emotional nuances of facial expressions.

Why do people love Jesus Christ Superstar?

When it first performed, Jesus Christ Superstar had an utterly radical premise: retelling one of the most sacred stories in Western culture through contemporary music, and from the perspective of the man whose name has become synonymous with the word ‘traitor’. Small wonder it gave rise to a good deal of controversy and even picketing from devout Christians, particularly for its sympathetic portrayal of Judas and the heavily implied romantic relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Today, it's become more commonplace to see religious icons depicted in popular culture, with many Hollywood films based on biblical stories, but Jesus Christ Superstar still feels as relevant and impactful as it did five decades ago. It investigates the human drama that underpins allegory and iconography, and offers a fascinating portrayal of larger-than-life religious figures who are flawed and complex, human and utterly relatable. We find ourselves empathising with Jesus's fear of death, Mary Magdalene's love for a man with a great destiny, and even Judas's moral anguish over his own betrayal.

The show's themes also feel remarkably timely and urgent. In an age obsessed with celebrity, the show offers an exploration of Jesus's growing 'superstar' status and cult of personality, and how it frightens both Judas and the Romans, and the idea of questioning those in power rather than following them blindly. And in a tense geopolitical arena, beset by oppressive regimes and resistance moments, Sheader's production leans heavily into the story's revolutionary themes,  with Jesus and his apostles depicted as rebels threatening the status quo of Roman rule. Tom Scutt's set design evokes a dystopian setting that often feels like a war zone, with a foreboding-looking upside-down cross at the centre.

Fun Facts

• Lloyd Webber and Rice were inspired for their sympathetic and humanised portrayal of Judas by the Bob Dylan lyric "Did Judas Iscariot have God at his side?" from the 1964 song "With God on Our Side."
• Though some of the contents of the show drew ire from many religious groups, in 1971 the Vatican's radio station aired the concept album in its entirety, and in 1973 Pope Paul VI, after a private advance screaming of the film adaptation, remarked "I believe it will bring more people around the world to Christianity, than anything ever has before."
• The original Broadway production was lambasted by many critics, and Lloyd Webber himself despised it, calling it a "brash and vulgar interpretation".
• In 1969, Lloyd Webber came up with the title song's distinctive hook while walking down Fulham Road in London. He popped into a restaurant to ask for a piece of paper, but ended up writing the show's most recognisable anthem on a napkin instead!

Bob Harms and Matty J in Jesus Christ Superstar. Photo by Johan Persson.

We hope that's answered some of your burning questions about Jesus Christ Superstar and gotten you psyched for the biggest show in the West End this year. If you're on the hunt for more shows to watch, check out our list of the 11 Best New London Theatre Openings in July. And if you're hungry to know what else has been happening in the West End, read our round-up of all the hottest news in the West End in June.

Finally, if you're planning on attending the Theatre Royal Drury Lane run, make sure to sign up for our ticket lottery for a chance to win two free tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar!

Jesus Christ Superstar Tickets (London Palladium) Tickets

Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) Tickets