About The Show

A global phenomenon that has wowed audiences for over 40 years, Jesus Christ Superstar is a timeless work set against the backdrop of an extraordinary and universally-known series of events but seen, unusually, through the eyes of Judas Iscariot.

It was the first musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to be produced for the professional stage and first came to major theatres when it debuted on Broadway in October 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York.

Less than 12 months after the Broadway show opened, the rock spectacle went to London, exploding onto the West End at the Palace Theatre in August 1972 in a hugely successful production. By 1980, after 3,358 performances, Jesus Christ Superstar had become the longest running musical in West End history at the time and grossed $12.3 million.

In all, Jesus Christ Superstar has grossed over $205 million and has been professionally produced in 42 countries around the world!

Current Productions

Recent Productions

The Authors

Andrew Lloyd Webber

» Composer

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of some of the world’s best-known musicals including Cats, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard. His latest musical, the hit stage version of the movie “School of Rock”, opened on Broadway in December 2015.

His awards, both as composer and producer, include seven Tonys, seven Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, the Praemium Imperiale, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, a BASCA Fellowship, the Kennedy Center Honor and a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Requiem, his setting of the Latin Requiem mass which contains one of his best known compositions, Pie Jesu.

He owns seven London theatres including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the London Palladium.

He was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 1992 and created an honorary member of the House of Lords in 1997.

He is passionate about the importance of music in education and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation has become one of Britain’s leading charities supporting the arts and music.

Tim Rice

» Lyricist

TIM RICE has worked in music, theatre and films since 1965 when he met Andrew Lloyd Webber, a fellow struggling songwriter. Rather than pursue Tim’s ambitions to write rock or pop songs they turned their attention to Andrew’s obsession – musical theatre. Their first collaboration (lyrics by Tim, music by Andrew) was an unsuccessful show based on the life of Dr. Barnardo, the Victorian philanthropist, The Likes Of Us. Their next three works together were much more successful – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

Tim has also worked with other distinguished popular composers such as Elton John (The LionKing, Aida), Alan Menken (Aladdin, King David, Beauty and the Beast) and Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Chess).

His first new show for ten years, From Here To Eternity, with music by newcomer Stuart Brayson, co-produced with Lee Menzies, directed by Tamara Harvey, and with book by Bill Oakes, opened in the West End in 2013.

He formed his own cricket team in 1973 and was President of the MCC in 2002. He recently wrote and presented a 52-partseries for BBC Radio 2, American Pie, a trawl through the music and musicians of every American State. He has won several awards, mainly for the wrong thing or for simply turning up.

Relive The Story

Arena Tour (2012)

Filmed as an arena rock opera, the performance features a star-studded line-up which includes award-winning musical comedian, Tim Minchin as the role of Judas Iscariot; pop icon and former Spice Girl Melanie C as Mary Magdalene; radio DJ Chris Moyles in his stage debut as King Herod; and Ben Forster, to take on the title role of Jesus. This award-winning creative team is sure to captivate audiences and transform the hugely popular stage production into a unique, modern, state-of-the-art spectacular.

Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

A bold and fresh adaptation of the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera, this version released in 2000 re-orchestrates and reinterprets the 1970s version, itself a creative retelling of a celebrated, timeless tale. Shot at Pinewood Studios,this filmed stage version starring Glenn Carter and Rik Mayall captures one of the best scores Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever written and is packed with hit songs including “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”, “Gethesmane” and “Superstar”.

Remastered Album (2012)

The original concept album, remastered in 2012. The album features renowned rock vocalist and Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan voicing the part of Jesus, platinum selling solo artist Murray Head as Judas Iscariot and the inimitable Yvonne Elliman in the role of Mary Magdalene. Originally released in 1970, the album achieved huge global fame, most notably in the US where it went to Number 1 on the Billboard Album Chart, keeping other seminal records by George Harrison and Led Zeppelin off the top spot and going on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide.

Perform The Show

If you are involved with an amateur dramatic society, school, college, church group or youth group and would like to stage a musical, then you can’t go wrong with an Andrew Lloyd Webber classic!

The catalogue includes family favourites such as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, Starlight Express and more.

To find out more about how the licensing process works and how much it might cost to put on one of the these world-renowned musicals, visit the Stage a Musical website »

(Photo: Guildford School of Acting’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar)