By David Hinckley / New York Daily News
Jesus gets another kind of resurrection this Easter Sunday as NBC rolls out a live revival production of the groundbreaking 1971 rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Telecast at 8 p.m. Eastern (it will air on tape delay at 8 p.m. local time) from the Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, “Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert” will have the feel of a concert event, executive producer Neil Meron told the Daily News.
Accordingly, it stars singers John Legend as Jesus and Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene, with Alice Cooper as King Herod and Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas.
Bareilles, who’s been busy in New York of late starring in “Waitress” on Broadway, which she wrote the music and lyrics for, says she jumped at the chance to play Mary Magdalene and that the role has only gotten more satisfying as the show has come together.
“I think I was a Mary Magdalene believer before, without having done any of my own research,” Bareilles, 38, told the Daily News. “When you do look back on her, you realize she’s not what most people believe she was.
“To me, she’s one of the most powerful figures in the religious sphere — and in this show, she has some of my favorite songs of all time. So I’m incredibly privileged to bring her to life.”
Meron says that “Sara was always one of our candidates for Mary Magdalene. What clinched the deal was that (NBC Entertainment chairman) Bob Greenblatt saw her in ‘Waitress,’ came back and told us she’d be great. We agreed.”
Signing Legend at first felt like a long shot.
“We never thought we could get him,” Meron said. “But we said that if he’s interested, the answer is yes. And it turned out he was.”
Bareilles said she’s always been “a total fan” of Legend’s work, and in this case that quickly evolved into a delightful working experience.
When a collaborative cast is put together, she admitted, “It’s not always a pleasant surprise. There needs to be people you can have a relationship with, which doesn’t always happen. It’s come together in a very good way here.”
Bareilles said she approaches the “Superstar” songs much the same way she approaches her own popular songs.
“Probably because I’m a writer, words are very important to me,” she said. “That’s what I’m a stickler for in any singing.”
Meron said he and his long-time executive producer partner Craig Zadan have framed “Superstar” a little differently from their past live TV productions.
“We saw ‘Sound of Music’ (2013) more as a proscenium piece,” he said. “‘Peter Pan’ (2014) was a 360-degree production. ‘The Wiz’ (2015) was experimental. This is more like a live music production.”
Because it’s live, he said, something will “always” fall slightly off-script — and the audience will almost never notice.
“I’ll notice,” he said. “But most viewers will be so caught up in the story they won’t.”
When Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice introduced “Superstar” back in 1971, Meron noted, it sparked controversy that started with the title and included the theology.
But while it presents a specific portrayal of Jesus and Mary Magdalene during the last week of his life, Meron said viewers ultimately were drawn to the story.
Bareilles agrees. “I’m thinking about the theology as well as the drama,” she said. “It’s hard to separate them. But to me, with Mary Magdalene and Jesus, it’s a love story. The greatest love story.”
She also doesn’t think the story would be too different if he came back in an age when social media has largely supplanted sermons on the mount.
“His message wouldn’t change,” Bareilles suggested. “I think he’d ask people to put down their screens and say let’s talk face to face. That’s what I see. But really, God only knows.”
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