PHOTO: First Look at John Legend Wearing The Crown of Thorns

By: Mar. 29, 2018
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It's nearly time to revel in the glory of John Legend and his fellow cast members of NBC's "Jesus Christ Superstar Live!" Producer Neil Meron has just shared via Twitter the first image of Legend donning the Crown of Thorns in character, check it out below!

The event is set to air on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018. As BWW previously reported, Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and 10-time Grammy Award winner John Legend has been cast as Jesus Christ, rock legend Alice Cooper has been cast as the flamboyant King Herod and acclaimed recording artist, songwriter and Broadway star Sara Bareilles has been cast as Mary Magdalene.

NBC's"Jesus Christ Superstar Live!" will be a one-of-a-kind live staging of the iconic 1971 Broadway rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. The event will be executive produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Marc Platt, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" was originally conceived as a concept album that hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and eventually made its way to the stage in 1971. It is based on the final week of Jesus' life. The 1971 musical opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway and starred Jeff Fenholt as Jesus and Ben Vereen.as Judas. It was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for Vereen. Lloyd Webber won a Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Composer.



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