Sara Bareilles To Play Mary Magdalene In NBC’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert’

Singer-songwriter and actress Sara Bareilles will be co-starring opposite John Legend in NBC’s upcoming live production of Jesus Christ Superstar airing on Easter Sunday, April 1.

Bareilles will play Mary Magdalene in NBC’s rendition of the popular rock opera alongside Legend as Jesus Christ, and rock icon Alice Cooper as King Herod.

The televised production will be in front of a live audience at the Marcy Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y., and will be directed by British theater director David Leveaux.

Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert is executive produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Marc Platt, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius and Alex Rudzinski.

“We’re overjoyed to have Sara Bareilles play Mary Magdalene and I can guarantee that her interpretation of the standard ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ will become an instant classic,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment. “I was lucky enough to see Sara in Waitress and she gave as moving and as beautifully sung a performance as I’ve seen on a Broadway stage in a long time.”

The Waitress actress even wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical in which she is currently starring. In 2016 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album.

Bareilles has been nominated for a total of six Grammy Awards and has sold more than 9 million singles and downloads and over one million albums. Throughout her career, Bareilles has released five studio albums with 2010’s Kaleidoscope Heart reaching #1 on the Billboard charts. Her most popular singles, 2007’s “Love Song,” from the album “Little Voice,” reached four times platinum status and “Brave,” from “The Blessed Unrest,” reached three times platinum. In addition to starring as Jenna Hunterson in Broadway’s Waitress,  Bareilles also starred as Ariel in the 2016 production of The Little Mermaid at the Hollywood Bowl.

Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert will be produced by Universal Television, The Really Useful Group, Marc Platt Productions and Zadan/Meron productions.