NBC announced Grammy and Tony Award nominee Sara Bareilles has joined the cast of the live musical event, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. Bareilles is confirmed to play Mary Magdalene in the musical special set to air live on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018.
NBC previously confirmed Oscar, Tony, Golden Globe, and Grammy Award winner John Legend will take on the titular role. Alice Cooper is on board to play King Herod. British theatre director David Leveaux will be helming the live musical which will be filmed in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York at the Marcy Armory.
“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,” stated Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “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.”
“To say I’m excited about this performance is the understatement of the century,” Bareilles said. “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!”
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Marc Platt, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius, and Alex Rudzinski are executive producing.
“It’s an absolute thrill to have a Tony-nominated composer as our Mary Magdalene,” said Lloyd Webber. “Not only is Sara Bareilles a brilliant songwriter and lyricist, she commanded the Broadway stage in her show Waitress. Being able to write a successful musical isn’t easy. Being able to write AND star in the leading role in that musical, on Broadway, twice, is something very few people can say they have on their CV. Couple that with her emotionally charged live Oscar and Grammy performances and America can rest easy knowing that Bareilles is going to nail it when we go live April 1 on NBC.”
