Six stars will share the role of King Herod in this summer’s London Palladium run of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
As previously announced singer/songwriter Sam Ryder will make his West End debut in the title role in the production which will play the famous theatre from 20 June until 5 September. He will be joined by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Simon Russell Beale, Richard Armitage, Boy George, Layton Williams and Julian Clary – each will take on the role of Herod for a number of performances.
Tony Award-winner and Emmy Award-nominee role Ferguson (Modern Family, Take Me Out/The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) will play Herod from 20 June to 11 July, before Olivier, BAFTA and Tony Award winner Beale (The Lehman Trilogy, The Tempest) steps in from 13-25 July followed by Olivier Award nominee Richard Armitage (The Crucible, The Hobbit trilogy) from 27 July to 1 August.
Grammy Award-winning singer Boy George (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) will take over from 3-15 August (apart from 8 August) with Olivier Award winner Layton Williams (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Cabaret, Titanique) stepping in from 17-29 August and Julian Clary (Taboo, West End/UK tour, Cabaret, West End) returning to the role he previously played on the 2023/2024 tour from 31 August to 5 September.
Commenting on the six Herods, director Timothy Sheader said: “All different but all fabulous, we are thrilled that these six artists will take a turn demanding Jesus walk across their swimming pool as the infamously camp but lethal King Herod. Choose to see any one of them and we promise, for a golden moment, they will stop this juggernaut of a show in its glitter-filled tracks.”
Presented by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, by arrangement with LW Entertainment, the acclaimed Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production features choreography by Drew McOnie, design by Tom Scutt, music supervision by Tom Deering, lighting design by Lee Curran and sound design by Adam Fisher. The fight director is Kate Waters and the casting director is David Grindrod for Grindrod Burton Casting.
Winner of the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and the 2016 Evening Standard Award for Best Musical, the production sold out consecutive runs at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016 and 2017 before playing a West End transfer season at the Barbican in 2019. The production also embarked on an extensive North American tour in 2019 before returning to Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in a concert version during the summer of 2020. The production also toured the UK in 2023 and 2024.
Angela Thomas
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.