Platinum-Selling Recording Artist and Broadway Star/Composer of Waitress, Sara Bareilles has been cast as Mary Magdalene opposite John Legend in NBC’s special event “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” to be aired Easter Sunday, April 1. The next incarnation of NBC’s series of live musicals will be an exuberant concert staging of this iconic rock opera in front of a live audience at the Marcy Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” will be executive produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Marc Platt, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius and Alex Rudzinski.Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and 10-time Grammy Award winner John Legend was recently cast as Jesus Christ and rock icon Alice Cooper was previously announced for the role of King Herod. The production will be helmed by esteemed British theatre director David Leveaux.
“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,” said 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.”
Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for the current Broadway musical Waitress. She was nominated for a 2016 Tony Award for Best Original Score as well as earning a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album.
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