Cynthia Erivo has been performing live for a long time, and she’s only recently fallen under everyone’s radar when she starred in the hit musical Wicked. Now it looks like she’s ready to go back to performing live later this year.
According to her IG post, Erivo will be playing the part of Jesus at a Hollywood Bowl presentation of Jesus Christ Superstar. The show is set to run from August 1-3, and nobody else besides Erivo has been cast yet. The director and choreographer will be Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo, and Tony winner Stephen Oremus will serve as musical director and conductor.
As per Variety, this isn’t Erivo’s first rodeo with Jesus Christ Superstar. She had starred as Mary Magdalene in an all-female version of the musical which released back in 2020. Here’s her rendition of I Don’t Know How to Love Him:
For anyone who doesn’t know what Jesus Christ Superstar is, it’s essentially a musical version detailing the last days of Jesus Christ. The Broadway musical debuted in 1971 and a film adaptation from Norman Jewison released in 1973. There have been several adaptations over the years, with different takes each time.
Traditionally, the part of Jesus is played by a man, but no doubt Erivo can pull the role off. We know she has the vocal range for some of the numbers focused on Jesus; it’s just a question of who else is going to be starring in the show with her. Is this an all-female cast again? Or are they going to genderbend everyone?
Jesus Christ Superstar starring Cynthia Erivo is set to hit the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 1 later this year.
