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JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE - Cast Shares the Scoop!
Nov 3, 2022
Heaven on your mind already? In just under a month, NBC will present Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, starring Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and 10-time Grammy winner John Legend as Jesus Christ, with Broadway star and acclaimed recording artist Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene, rock icon Alice Cooper as King Herod, and 'Hamilton' alum and 'Power' co-star Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas.
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0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
0:02
NBC is presenting Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
0:08
Easter Sunday, April 1st, with a stellar cast, including John Legend, Sarah Bareilles, Alice Cooper, and Brandon Victor Dixon
0:15
And we caught up with the company during a break in rehearsal. I'm so excited. I mean, what a great role, what a great show
0:22
And the chance to play Jesus Christ, I mean, I couldn't turn it down. Let's talk about the songs you sing, Gethsemane
0:28
I mean, what's it been like working on that song and creating it for this live telecast
0:33
It's a challenge, you know. Obviously, whenever I told someone I was going to do this role, they were like, oh, Gethsemane
0:40
Because that's the song that really stands out that Jesus sings in the show. And it's a huge challenge vocally because it's such a dynamic vocal range and so much emotion that goes into it
0:51
And so I've started working on it, and I feel like in a month I'll be ready to go
0:56
You know, a lot of your fans will be tuning into this and sort of be turned on to this new genre
1:01
of live musical theater on TV. And it's going to change their lives, what that means to you
1:05
I love it. I love that a lot of people are going to connect to musical theater from watching shows like this on television
1:11
And hopefully it'll mean a new generation of young people will be doing these kinds of things in their high school productions And they be the artists that entertain us in the future How excited are you Superstar Live Oh my gosh it just a freaking dream come true This is so exciting
1:30
It's like this cast of characters, and this particular material, and when it's airing
1:36
I mean, it's just, it feels like this beautiful, cosmic moment. I'm really proud
1:40
How about your songs that you do in this? I know. I get these beautiful, beautiful songs. You know, I just feel lucky. This is one of those scores that I could listen to ad nauseum. I just can, you know, you get to the end, you want to start it over again. And Mary's songs in particular are really near and dear to my heart
2:01
I just think, you know, she's got such vulnerability and such power at the same time, which I think is what is so fascinating about her as a character in the show
2:12
So I love that. Working with this cast? Ugh, forget about it
2:16
Day one, goosebumps the whole time. Brandon Victor Dixon opening his mouth for singing Heaven on Their Minds
2:22
I was standing in the back of the room and just like jaw on the floor
2:26
Our ensemble is phenomenal. We just, John is just otherworldly and it really has been exciting
2:34
Was this always a dream show you wanted to do in a dream role No I actually never even thought about it But having on their minds I always loved and I was always like if I could just sing this at an audition somewhere and I did I went in for like a random audition
2:48
for something that like small that I was never gonna do, but just so I could sing the songs like 10 years ago
2:53
and so I've kind of just had it in my pocket. So then when this came up, I was like, and also I didn't even think too much about it
2:58
I was like, I mean, I don't know who they're gonna cast, and it's not gonna be me, but I'm gonna go sing this song
3:03
So I went in there, I just kind of did my version of it because I love singing it
3:07
but I didn't even think about doing the show. It wasn't until like two weeks ago
3:10
that I kind of got word that they were going to call me back in and I was like, oh, this is actually possible
3:16
Oh, okay. And here we are. What's your Judas going to be like
3:20
My Judas is going to be very honest. My Judas is going to be very emotional. He's going to be very sensitive Judas
3:25
I'm a very sensitive person. I'm not a very good actor. I pretty much just play myself all the time
3:29
And I'm in like a sensitive place where I'm dealing with challenges of ideologies
3:34
and philosophy and religion and government. You know, that's where I am
3:39
That's where we are. And that's exactly the moment at which we reach this story, this confluence, these approaching elements of religious ideology
3:48
and of government and of society and of inequality. And it all comes together in a head right here
3:54
and it ends with this large event. How excited are you two We totally bummed That fantastic No I mean you know what could be more reckless or exciting than this What about collaborating you two what that been like
4:08
It's an honour. It's rare that you get to work with fellow directors on shows, and these
4:15
live one-off events, because of their scale and complexity, is one of the few opportunities where you get to do these synergies
4:21
with two directors. But I think it's a very supportive process. It's great to be able to
4:27
share concerns and worries and strategize across the space of many mums
4:33
But it's great. I mean, it's a real privilege. We've been very much connected to the hip since the get-go
4:39
you know, all the conversations about design, of course, and all of that because it's a visual, it's a narrative thing
4:44
But there's also something, and Alex has more experience in this than I do, in terms of what this genre involves, you know, as it evolves
4:51
And it's completely fascinating to me, you know, what the language of this kind of a telecast from a live performance in a space actually requires
5:00
And so, in a sense, it's a fantastic learning curve. They're unique entities. They're very much their own genre, in a sense
5:10
They're hybrids of so many other different formats, and I think that's one of the special things about them
5:14
that you get to work and pull from so many different areas of production
5:19
into creating these unique properties
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