‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Arena Spectacular Tours June 9

A redesigned version of Jesus Christ Superstar is set to become the largest North American arena tour for Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The tour, that will cover more than 50 cities, will begin June 9 in New Orleans at the Lakefront Arena. It will then make stops in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto, and others before ending in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Arena on August 17. The North American arena tour follows two highly successful arena tours in the U.K. and Australia.

The tour will include several high profile cast members including: Grammy nominated lead vocalist of rock band Incubus, Brandon Boyd as Judas Iscariot; Grammy nominated NSYNC vocalist JC Chasez as Pontius Pilate; Grammy Award winning member of Destiny’s Child, Michelle Williams, as Mary Magdalene; Lead singer of Public Image Ltd. (PiL) and Sex Pistols, John Rotten Lydon as King Herod; as well as the return of Ben Forster, who played the lead role in the U.K and Australian arena tours of the production, to the role of Jesus.

Brandon Boyd commented on his enthusiasm to be in the production saying, “I grew up on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classics and never imagined I would be playing a role in one, let alone with such an incredibly diverse cast of players. Truly an honor!”

Michelle Williams also commented saying, “I am so excited to be part of such a legendary production alongside an amazing cast! I am truly looking forward to this experience!”

Andrew Lloyd Webber shared in a news release, “’Jesus Christ’ Superstar began life as a rock album…probably because nobody believed back in 1969 that you could present a stage musical about the last days of the life of Jesus Christ. I shall never forget its first live performance in the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh on July 12th 1971. Of course JCS subsequently became a legit theatre stalwart, but I, personally, have always hankered after seeing it again in the arenas where it started.”

Tim Rice added, “In 1971 Andrew and I were thrilled by the first-ever Jesus Christ Superstar tour of the United States. We certainly did not imagine then that 43 years later we would be witnessing another America-wide tour of our first big hit show. We are delighted and grateful that enthusiasm for Superstar has been maintained over the years and this new production presents the work in its most powerful format – as a true rock experience.”