Songstress Sara Bareilles has been added to the cast of NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. According to Deadline, the show will air on Easter Sunday, April 1, and also stars John Legend.
The rock opera has cast Bareilles as Mary Magdalegne who joins rocker Alice Cooper as King Herod. “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.
Jesus Christ Superstar will be done in front of a live audience at the Marcy Armory Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY. Executive producers for the show include Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Neil Meron. British theater legend David Leveaux will direct.
As a six-time Grammy nominee, Bareilles is not new to the theater scene. She briefly played Ariel in The Little Mermaid at The Hollywood Bowl. More famously, she was nominated for the 2016 Tony Award Best Music Score as writer of the music and lyrics of Broadway show Waitress where she’s also played the lead, Jenna Hunterson. The soundtrack also garnered Bareilles a Grammy nod for Best Musical Theatre Album.