Cynthia Erivo will star as Jesus in a new production of Jesus Christ Superstar this summer in LA – sparking an avalanche of reaction from fans.
The Wicked actress, 38, announced she will take on the male title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s classical musical set to run at the Hollywood Bowl between August 1 and August 3 per Variety.
The current Best Actress Oscar nominee for her role as Elphaba in the blockbuster, wrote on Instagram: ‘Just a little busy this Summer, can’t wait.’
Erivo previously played Mary Magdalene in an all-female version of Superstar in 2020, with Morgan James taking on the role of Jesus.
The casting news divided fans – with some lambasting the casting of a woman as the male religious icon ‘blasphemous’ while others delighted in the fresh take on the project.
One fan wrote: ‘What the actual f**k is going on’ while a second typed: ‘Absolutely friggin blasphemy. You’re mocking Christ the King.’
Cynthia Erivo will star as Jesus in a new production of Jesus Christ Superstar this summer in LA – sparking an avalanche of reaction from fans – pictured this week in London
The Wicked actress, 38, is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Elphaba (pictured with Ariana Grande as Glinda)
Jesus Christ – the central figure of Christianity, the world’s largest religion – is depicted as a male and the son of God
Others wrote: ‘Hollywood really is just a fishbowl of likeminded individuals; good luck with this one.
‘Cynthia should be more careful about the roles she gets. This is just plain disrespectful.
‘This is blasphemy. Jesus Christ is not a woman.
‘F**k it. Whatever. Nothing matters. Set your money on fire, production company. I don’t care.’
Others came out in support of the casting, reveling that Erivo’s role would ‘p**s off those MAGA snowflakes.’
Followers wrote: ‘She is extremely talented and no doubt slay and, doubly, if it pisses off the magabillies and Leon lovers this if GREAT NEWS.
‘Oh no here come the conservatives up in arms because their feelings are hurt that someone isn’t playing “their version,” of Jesus!
‘oh, this is going to piss off a LOT of people, and I am here for it.
The casting news divided fans – with some lambasting the casting of a woman as the male religious icon ‘blasphemous’ while others delighted in the fresh take on the project
Others came out in support of the casting, reveling that Erivo’s role would ‘p**s off those MAGA snowflakes.’
‘plus, she can f*****g SING.
Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo will direct and choreograph the show, while Stephen Oremus will serve as musical director and conductor.
Among the most famed actors to play Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar include Ted Neeley in the 1973 film adaptation and Jeff Fenholt in the original Broadway production of the show.
John Legend also played the Messiah in a live TV production in 2018.
Erivo recently opened up on her Wicked experience and how she feels Elphaba is a representation of black and queer people because of her ‘otherness’.
The actress said the film opened up conversation about racism and queerness, as she discussed the blockbuster in AnOther’s spring/summer issue.
Cynthia stars opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda in the film and the two have been open about the deep bond they formed while filming the two-part epic.
Discussing what it was like to play someone so outcast by society, Cynthia said: ‘It’s a green witch. But I think what they see also is so many parts of me.
‘There’s a deep understanding of what it feels like when you don’t fit, what it feels like to constantly want to be accepted and not be accepted…
‘What it feels like to know what your responsibility is and to have to be brave enough to take it, what it feels like to feel like you have more to offer but nobody believes that you have that in you.’
Ted Neeley played Jesus in the 1973 film adaptation
John Legend also played the Messiah in a live TV production in 2018
‘The green skin is like the umbrella under which the “other” lives. So yes, it’s a conversation about racism, but it’s also a conversation about anyone who’s been othered. It’s a conversation about queerness.
‘The green sets Elphaba apart from everybody else. She is the ultimate other. And I think there’s this added responsibility because I’m a black woman underneath that green, so we can also really have the conversation about what it’s like to be a black woman when nobody wants you there.’
Cynthia also revealed that she has to detach herself from her characters because she gives so much of herself to each role and ‘cares deeply’ about them.
