NBC’s next live musical production will be Jesus Christ Superstar Live! set to air on April 1, 2018. When the Broadway rock opera featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice opened in 1971, it starred Jeff Fenholt in the title role and Ben Vereen as Judas. The production earned five Tony Awards and Lloyd Webber won a Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Composer. NBC’s music event has Lloyd Webber and Rice on board as executive producers along with Marc Platt, Craig Zadan, and Neil Meron.
NBC hasn’t yet announced who will be directing or who will choreograph Jesus Chris Superstar Live!.
Zadan and Meron have earned multiple Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Emmys, Peabodys, and a Grammy Award, and continue their involvement in NBC’s musical events with the upcoming 2018 live production. They previously executive produced NBC’s The Sound of Music Live!, Peter Pan Live!, The Wiz Live! and Hairspray Live!.
“As we continue to expand the profile of our live musicals, we are thrilled to be partnering with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to bring a new live staging of the iconic Jesus Christ Superstar to NBC,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “Casting has just begun, but we want to fill out this classic show with as many recording artists as possible to give proper voice to what is the original rock opera score.”
In addition to Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice collaborated on the musicals Evita (1976) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968). Webber’s musicals also include Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, and School of Rock. Rice’s theater credits include Chess, Beauty and the Beast, King David, and Aida.
Executive producer Marc Platt’s credits include La La Land, Bridge of Spies, The Girl on the Train, Into the Woods, Drive, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Grease Live!.
