These days, the musical Jesus Christ Superstar is seen as rather safe. Nothing shocking, nothing to worry about, and there’s much more provocative stuff even on mainstream cable television. That certainly wasn’t the case back in 1970 when Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber couldn’t find any funding for the production and had to release it as a concept album. But it did extraordinarily and surprisingly well and was quickly turned into a Broadway show. After transferring to London, it held the record for the longest-running musical in the west end. Until Cats came along, of course.
More than half a century later, it’s become controversial again because it was recently announced that Cynthia Erivo, best-known for playing Elphaba Thropp in the movie Wicked, will star in the 2025 Hollywood Bowl production. She’s black, a woman, and identifies as queer. This was more than enough to mobilize the conservative Christian media and mob, empowered as they are at the moment by the enthusiastic support of the Trump administration.
Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, for example, said that “With all due respect, and humbly submitted, Cynthia Erivo is too bald, brown, and bi to play Jesus. Casting a woman as Jesus Christ is an intentional form of blasphemy that Hollywood would be fuming over if done to certain other religions.” And so on and so on.
Which was all somewhat ironic because the very same sort of people as these were roaring 50 years ago that the musical itself was anti-Christian and an insult to the church. Now, they’re defending its sanctity. And it is, remember, merely a musical, a secular rock opera that’s a long way from the Gospels, sympathetically emphasizes the role of Judas, and depicts Jesus as being uncertain and even conflicted. But it does have lots of lovely tunes that we can all remember even if we don’t want to!
So, why does it matter if Jesus is played by a gay woman of colour? He was actually a 1stcentury Jewish man, likely oliveskinned and with black hair. Or perhaps a redhead, because there’s a tradition that both King David and Jesus had red hair, a look still found among Jewish people and likely with origins in the Phoenicians who joined the Mosaic exodus from Egypt. What he certainly wasn’t was a north European, yet that’s how he’s traditionally been portrayed, and in medieval art, it was usually Judas who was made to appear the most Semitic. If you doubt me, take another look. Unlike the casting of a musical, this is genuinely problematic in that it led to the expunging of Jesus’ Jewishness and allowed Jews to be seen as “the other” and to be treated accordingly, with horrific consequences.
The negative reaction to Erivo’s casting obviously contains elements of racism, misogyny, and homophobia, but there’s something else, something less directly sinister but deeply disturbing. It’s best described as a fundamental misunderstanding of who Jesus was, what he taught, and what he represents. He was an outsider, a disrupter, and a rebel. A man who owned no property, lived with the marginalized, and preached of a world that had to be turned upside down. As a Christian, I also believe him to be the Messiah, the Son of God, but even for those who reject this, the example of Christ is frighteningly provocative and challenging.
This is especially significant in the age of Donald Trump and Christian conservatism and nationalism, with churches throughout the US, and even some here in Canada, lauding the President and his administration as Christian heroes. So, it’s a good thing and a God thing that we have this casting of someone who in gender, race, and sexuality reflects not privilege and power but rather some of the many victims of Christianity when it’s twisted, exploited, and misunderstood.
It’s Mary Magdalene in the musical who sings, “I don’t know how to love him”, and that question is as profound as it’s ever been. We can only properly love Christ if we properly know him, and if people properly knew Jesus, they’d spend less time being angry at shows, movies, and paintings and more at a world that looks so bad but could be so good. Forgive, empathize, listen, reach out, embrace, bring peace, give rather than take, and live by the words of the original superstar. Not great lyrics, but immaculate teaching.
Who Do We Say That He Is? Faith, Art, and the Power of Perception
These days, the musical Jesus Christ Superstar is seen as rather safe. Nothing shocking, nothing to worry about, and there’s much more provocative stuff even on mainstream cable television. That certainly wasn’t the case back in 1970 when Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber couldn’t find any funding for the production and had to release it as a concept album. But it did extraordinarily and surprisingly well and was quickly turned into a Broadway show. After transferring to London, it held the record for the longest-running musical in the west end. Until Cats came along, of course.
More than half a century later, it’s become controversial again because it was recently announced that Cynthia Erivo, best-known for playing Elphaba Thropp in the movie Wicked, will star in the 2025 Hollywood Bowl production. She’s black, a woman, and identifies as queer. This was more than enough to mobilize the conservative Christian media and mob, empowered as they are at the moment by the enthusiastic support of the Trump administration.
Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, for example, said that “With all due respect, and humbly submitted, Cynthia Erivo is too bald, brown, and bi to play Jesus. Casting a woman as Jesus Christ is an intentional form of blasphemy that Hollywood would be fuming over if done to certain other religions.” And so on and so on.
Which was all somewhat ironic because the very same sort of people as these were roaring 50 years ago that the musical itself was anti-Christian and an insult to the church. Now, they’re defending its sanctity. And it is, remember, merely a musical, a secular rock opera that’s a long way from the Gospels, sympathetically emphasizes the role of Judas, and depicts Jesus as being uncertain and even conflicted. But it does have lots of lovely tunes that we can all remember even if we don’t want to!
So, why does it matter if Jesus is played by a gay woman of colour? He was actually a 1stcentury Jewish man, likely oliveskinned and with black hair. Or perhaps a redhead, because there’s a tradition that both King David and Jesus had red hair, a look still found among Jewish people and likely with origins in the Phoenicians who joined the Mosaic exodus from Egypt. What he certainly wasn’t was a north European, yet that’s how he’s traditionally been portrayed, and in medieval art, it was usually Judas who was made to appear the most Semitic. If you doubt me, take another look. Unlike the casting of a musical, this is genuinely problematic in that it led to the expunging of Jesus’ Jewishness and allowed Jews to be seen as “the other” and to be treated accordingly, with horrific consequences.
The negative reaction to Erivo’s casting obviously contains elements of racism, misogyny, and homophobia, but there’s something else, something less directly sinister but deeply disturbing. It’s best described as a fundamental misunderstanding of who Jesus was, what he taught, and what he represents. He was an outsider, a disrupter, and a rebel. A man who owned no property, lived with the marginalized, and preached of a world that had to be turned upside down. As a Christian, I also believe him to be the Messiah, the Son of God, but even for those who reject this, the example of Christ is frighteningly provocative and challenging.
This is especially significant in the age of Donald Trump and Christian conservatism and nationalism, with churches throughout the US, and even some here in Canada, lauding the President and his administration as Christian heroes. So, it’s a good thing and a God thing that we have this casting of someone who in gender, race, and sexuality reflects not privilege and power but rather some of the many victims of Christianity when it’s twisted, exploited, and misunderstood.
It’s Mary Magdalene in the musical who sings, “I don’t know how to love him”, and that question is as profound as it’s ever been. We can only properly love Christ if we properly know him, and if people properly knew Jesus, they’d spend less time being angry at shows, movies, and paintings and more at a world that looks so bad but could be so good. Forgive, empathize, listen, reach out, embrace, bring peace, give rather than take, and live by the words of the original superstar. Not great lyrics, but immaculate teaching.
The Reverend Michael Coren is the author of 20 books, several of them best-sellers, translated into a dozen languages. He hosted daily radio and TV shows for almost 20 years, and is now a Contributing Columnist for the Toronto Star, and appears regularly in the Globe and Mail, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Church Times, and numerous other publications in Canada and Britain. He has won numerous award and prizes across North America. He is a priest at St. Luke’s, Burlington. His latest book is Heaping Coals. His website is michaelcoren.com
[email protected]Keep on reading
World Day of Prayer Celebration at Holy Trinity, Fonthill
Say Yes! to Kids: Supporting Youth and Children in the Diocese of Niagara
It’s a Family Picnic…and You’re Invited!
St. Paul’s Caledonia Abuzz Over New Beekeeping Project
Honouring our Past, Embracing the Future: St. Matthew’s House Becomes St. Matt’s
Preparing for Climate Justice Sunday: A Call to Action for a Sustainable Future