Jesus Christ Superstar is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centered on Judas, who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Contemporary attitudes, sensibilities and slang pervade the rock opera's lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional anachronisms.
Hugh Panaro is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his work in Broadway stage musicals, most well known for his role in The Phantom of the Opera being in over 2,000 performances in the Broadway production.
Shoshana E. Bean is an American singer, songwriter, and stage actress. She has released three records and has appeared on many theater cast recordings and film soundtracks. In 2022, Bean received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Susan Young in Mr. Saturday Night.
Max von Essen is an American stage and screen actor, and vocalist.
Aaron John Walpole is a Canadian actor and singer, who placed third on the third season of Canadian Idol. He is best known for playing the role of Lonnie in the 2010 Toronto run of Rock of Ages and Annas in the 2012 Broadway run of Jesus Christ Superstar. He appeared in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, as a part of the ensemble.
Melissa O'Neil is a Chinese Canadian actress and singer. In 2005, O'Neil won the third season of Canadian Idol. As an actress, she is known for her roles as Two / Rebecca / Portia Lin in the science fiction series Dark Matter and as Officer Lucy Chen on the police procedural drama series The Rookie.
Be More Chill is a novel written by American author Ned Vizzini and published on June 1, 2004. It follows unpopular high school student and social outcast Jeremy Heere, who is considered a loser by his peers. Deeply unsatisfied with his poor reputation and lack of romantic and sexual progress with his crush Christine, Jeremy obtains a SQUIP, a supercomputer in the form of a pill that travels to his brain upon ingestion and radically transforms Jeremy’s behavior and social status by giving him advice on how to be cool. The book was received positively for its amusing premise, plot, and humor. It has been adapted to a popular stage musical and a graphic novel.
Drew Sarich is an American stage actor and singer songwriter from St. Louis, who performs in the English and German languages.
Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom.
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway, in the West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He’s also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in London's West End.
Joseph Peter Philip Iconis is an American composer, lyricist, and playwright. He is best known for writing the music and lyrics to the Broadway musical Be More Chill.
Natalie Toro is an American singer and actress for theatre, television, and film.
Gerard Canonico is an American actor and singer, best known for his roles in Broadway and off-Broadway musicals, including Gavroche in Les Misérables and Rich Goranski in Be More Chill. He appeared in the films Not Fade Away (2012) and Stuck (2017).
Jessica Ruth Mueller is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Amalia Balash in She Loves Me. In 2011, she moved to New York City to star in a Broadway revival of musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She went on to receive two additional Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award nominations for her leading roles in Waitress (2016) and the Broadway revival of Carousel (2018).
Josh Young is an American actor best known for appearing on Broadway in the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar as Judas and Amazing Grace, originating the role of John Newton.
George Ernest Salazar is an American actor, singer, and musician known for his work on and off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell. Salazar originated in the role of Michael Mell in the 2015 musical Be More Chill and performed in the musical's 2018 Off-Broadway and Broadway in 2019 at the Lyceum Theater in New York City, New York. He originated the role of Grover in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and starred in Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour Krelborn.
William Frederick Roland is an American actor and singer, best known for originating the role of Jared Kleinman in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, for which he received a Grammy and Daytime Emmy Award. On film, he is known for his role in the drama film One Penny. Most recently, he played the lead role of Jeremy Heere in the musical Be More Chill both off-Broadway and on Broadway.
Be More Chill is a musical with original music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, and a book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini. After a 2015 regional theatre production, the musical premiered off-Broadway in 2018. A Broadway production began previews on February 13, 2019, and officially opened on March 10, 2019. The Broadway production closed on August 11, 2019. An Off West End production opened on February 18, 2020, and temporarily closed on March 16, 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with the production being cancelled on June 3, 2020. In 2021, it was announced that the production, featuring the original London cast, would resume performances on the West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre for a 10-week run starting June 30. A Chicago production was set to open in July 2020.
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert is an American musical television special that was broadcast live on NBC on April 1, 2018 and rebroadcast on Easter Sunday 2020, April 12, 2020. Executively produced by Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, and Marc Platt, it was a staged concert performance of the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. It received positive reviews from critics but had a smaller viewership than earlier musical specials.
Ron Kellum is an American producer, director, artist and choreographer known for being a Broadway veteran and the first African-American artistic director for the award-winning Cirque du Soleil. He was the artistic director for the productions of Koozå from 2015 through 2016 and Volta from 2018 through 2020.
