‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ set for live NBC staging in 2018

With a live staging of the hit Broadway musical “Bye Bye Birdie,” starring Jennifer Lopez already slated for the upcoming holiday season, NBC on Wednesday announced you’ll only have to wait until Easter 2018 for the network’s next musical to hit television screens.

“Jesus Christ Superstar,” the 1971 Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice rock musical will air on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018.

“As we continue to expand the profile of our live musicals, we are thrilled to be partnering with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to bring a new live staging of the iconic ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ to NBC,” said Robert Greenblatt, chairman, NBC Entertainment, in today’s announcement. “Casting has just begun, but we want to fill out this classic show with as many recording artists as possible to give proper voice to what is the original rock opera score.”

In addition to Lloyd Webber and Rice, the producing team also boasts Marc Platt, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the latter two veterans of previous NBC live musical telecasts. “Superstar” joins the list of hugely successful live televised musical stagings on the network, which have included “The Sound of Music,” “Peter Pan,” “Hairspray” and “The Wiz.”

Closer to home, the musical is currently being staged in a critically acclaimed production at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, and Lyric Opera has announced the show as part of its 2017-18 season in a Regent Park Theatre production slated for April 27-May 20, 2018.

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