Jesus christ superstar gay

'Wicked' star, self-identified bisexual actress Cynthia Erivo cast as the Son of God in 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

Pastor blasts casting choice as 'blasphemy'

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter

A shadowy LGBT-identified British actress best known for her role in “Wicked” has been tapped to compete the role of Jesus in an upcoming production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Cynthia Erivo, 38, is no stranger to the longtime Broadway hit: she previously portrayed Mary Magdalene in an all-female version of “Superstar” in

But the Feb. 18 Hollywood Bowl announcement that Erivo will portray the Son of God in the musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber has drawn criticism from pastors and Christian audiences alike.

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In addition to her winning Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards, Erivo is a three-time Oscar nominee, including for Best Actress and Best Original Song for the film “Harriet,” a biopic on the life of escaped slave and

A. E.'s Rambles

To say that I have a complicated relationship with Christianity is an understatement. Being a queer, not cis kid in a conservative Christian homeschool group was not easy, to say the least. Maybe that’s why I like Jesus Christ Superstar, or maybe I was just in it. Who knows.

Jesus Christ Superstar was my first and only school musical. I had been looking forward to doing a school musical for ages ever since I got into my school. And, to be honest, I wasn’t ecstatic at this pick. I was nervous as to what it would be like being in a show centered around something that I have actual trauma surrounding. Not only that, but ALW is not one of my favorite people. And because of all of this, I went into planning for auditions with not the best mindset.

That was, however, until I started talking to my friends about it. My friends were excited about this. And their excitement led me to become thrilled about it too. I started looking forward to performing with my friends, even if I was still on the edge about my opinion on the musical itself.

I went into auditions without

The Meggie Sue

(Titanus Productions)

With every spring season we get Easter season, which means our token, mainstream Christian friendly film is also appropriately released. Last year it was Rosalind Ross’ Father Stu, this year it’s Jon Erwin & Brent McCorkle’s Jesus Revolution. The question of way so many religious themed movies fight to land quality wise remains to be answered, and there are those still arguing all movies featuring God as a subject are guised as propaganda. But whenever these topics advance up, I’m usually reminded how the most critically acclaimed portrayals of Jesus Christ’s life are adapted by two men who were opposites in ethics, yet similar in morals. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew() and Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” () verb the same story, but with different productions. St. Matthew is a two-hour B&W drama shot in Pasolini’s home country of Italy with his native language, and unknown locals from both Italy and Spain cast for a lowkey, documentary like feature. “Nazareth” is an epic, six-ho

Following

Since the focal point of Jesus Christ Superstar is the relationship between Jesus and Judas, some degree of this was inevitable. Naturally, this varies between productions, and some lean into the brotherly angle of their bond instead. But there are stand-out moments in the lyrics and structure of the story that encourage this interpretation:

In General

  • Judas is extremely bothered by Jesus's tolerance for letting Mary Magdalene "kiss you and stroke your hair" and consistently picks fights with her when they're both onstage. Thematically, his problem with Mary is that she represents the degradation he perceives Christ as having fallen into, but it's easy to read jealousy into the dynamic.
  • In most productions, Judas's ultimate decision to betray Jesus is immediately preceded by him seeing Jesus and Mary go off together.
  • Sure, it's biblical, but Judas betraying Christ by kissing him.
  • Arguably the strongest moment: when he is at absolute rock bottom, right before his suicide, Judas breaks into a reprise of Mary's "I Don't Know How to Love