Entertainment

John Legend Is Starring In 'Jesus Christ Superstar' & He's Even More Excited Than You Are

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Live musicals are all the rage right now, but if you haven't had the urge to watch some of your favorite celebs belt out show tunes before, you definitely will now. John Legend is starring in Jesus Christ Superstar as the titular character, and his reaction makes the news even better. That's because on Tuesday, Dec. 19, the 10-time Grammy winner geeked out over multiple Tony winner, Andrew Lloyd Webber — aka the leading light of Broadway and co-creator of Jesus Christ Superstar. Since Legend is, well, a legend himself, the singer already has a Tony award too, but apparently he still gets excited when his idols tweet about him. Celebrity fandom is adorable.

"Just woke up to Andrew LLoyd Webber tweeting about me. It’s a good day," Legend tweeted. Webber's tweet announced the exciting live musical casting news, writing, "We are thrilled to have John Legend join us as Jesus for Jesus Christ Superstar Live! this Easter." He then included the hashtag "#TeamALW," which apparently means that Legend has officially joined the Broadway composer/producer's crew. Clearly the two superstars — in their own right — have a mutual admiration for one another, and it's a good thing, because this casting is such exciting news.

The live musical will air on NBC on April 1, 2018 — Easter Sunday, as Webber's tweet pointed out. Jesus Christ Superstar originated as a 1971 Broadway musical, and it tells the story of the last week of Jesus’ life.

The show has songs titled things like "Heaven On Their Minds," "Hosanna," and "The Last Supper," but it sounds completely different from most church services that features songs of the same names. Jesus Christ Superstar takes a story of the Christian savior and makes it a rock & roll musical. While Legend might not make you think of rock & roll, another star of the upcoming live musical will. Iconic rocker Alice Cooper was previously cast as King Herod in the upcoming live musical, and he will undoubtedly add to the hard-rock factor of the show. With Legend as Jesus and Cooper as King Herod, it's going to be an epic show.

In a statement on that exceeded Twitter's character limitations, Legend told Variety,

"I’m thrilled to join the cast of this production of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. It’s such a powerful, meaningful musical and I’m humbled to be part of this performance. We’ve already formed an incredible team, and, as we finish casting, I’m certain we will put together some of the greatest talents around to do this work justice."

Of course, many fans have expressed their excitement about seeing Legend in this role, but it also raises the question — will Chrissy Teigen be involved? Knowing Teigen, even as a tree in the background (as one fan on Twitter suggested), she would steal the show. Or, you know, post the best live tweets about the actual performance.

Considering that Cooper is a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and Legend is nearly an EGOT winner, the two together will ensure that the live production of Jesus Christ Superstar Live goes down in history as a huge success. Past live-televised musical performances have included the recent A Christmas Story Live, which starred Maya Rudolph and Matthew Broderick. Not all live musicals have to do with Christianity, though. Past productions also include NBC's Peter Pan Live, The Wiz Live, and FOX's Grease Live which starred Vanessa Hudgens and Julianne Hough.

While the past live-TV productions of Broadway musicals have been pretty epic, the fact that Legend will be Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar Live and star alongside Cooper suggest that the April performance could change the game. It will be exciting to see who else gets cast in the show before that. Considering that Mary Magdalene has a large part in the show and Beyoncé has signed up to star in the upcoming live action of Lion King, maybe queen Bey will decide to take a chance on Broadway, too. Either way, with Legend at the helm, it's guaranteed to be a great show.