Jesus Christ Superstar Live: All the Best Things About the NBC Production

John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and so many darn good coats starred in NBC's latest live musical production

By Lauren Piester Apr 02, 2018 3:18 AMTags
Watch: John Legend Is Ready to Play Jesus in Live TV Musical

Jesus Christ, Superstar, do you think we'll ever get this song out of our heads?

The first five minutes of NBC's latest live musical event were kind of...odd? They weren't bad, and they were kind of cool with all those electric violins and all that leather, but this show truly came alive when Jesus John Legend sang his first line, like a man who's been destined to play Jesus for his entire life. 

Then, Sara Bareilles appeared to bless us with her own silky voice, and things were so good, as long as we didn't worry about what the heck was going on. 

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Jesus Christ Superstar Live: See John Legend, Sara Bareilles and More in All Their Musical Glory

Hopefully you're not here for a recap of Jesus Christ Superstar with intricate plot details of Jesus Christ Superstar, because we do not know. Our best guess is that most people love Jesus but one guy and some people in extremely cool coats are mad at him, and for some reason everyone is always waving pieces of cloth. 

However, just because we can't follow plots made of only music doesn't mean the show wasn't very good and that we weren't fully invested in Jesus and his incredible cardigan, as well as all the incredible pieces of outerwear. Why Sara Bareilles was wearing a sleeveless dress and a scarf while John Legend got to wear a full sweater we may never understand, but we do understand that this musical was (allegedly) about more than its incredibly interesting wardrobe.

Let's discuss some of the best aspects, shall we? 

NBC

John Legend 

John Legend is our new Jesus. He killed it. 

Of course, we came into this already biased in a very pro-John Legend way, but he met all expectations with some truly difficult songs and we completely understood why everyone was so obsessed with Jesus! 

ABC

Sara Bareilles

There is not a song this woman can't turn into heavenly ear therapy. Like John Legend, we came into this very pro-Bareilles and came out of it even more pro-Bareilles than we thought possible, especially after how pro-Bareilles we were after the Waitress soundtrack came out. 

NBC

Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas 

SIR. Where have you been all our lives other than all over Broadway and also on Power?? Brandon Victor Dixon just went from star to SUPERSTAR thanks to his portrayal of the very angsty Judas, and particularly his performance of the titular song. 

ABC

"Jesus Christ Superstar"

Specifically, the song. We waited all night for it and it did NOT disappoint, thanks to new sparkly fave Brandon Victor Dixon. 

NBC

The Clothes 

While it wasn't about the clothes, we still couldn't stop focusing on the clothes. Those hexagonal coats! Pontius Pilate's ringmaster outfit! John Legend's sweaty tank! Judas' incredible glitter ensemble! Alice Cooper's entire suit! A thousand deep v-necks! We were entranced by every single one of the many, many vibes going on here. 

NBC

Alice Cooper Singing Ragtime 

When Alice Cooper walked in with a skull-topped scepter, we knew we were in for a treat. We didn't even pay attention to who he was playing because we were completely content with him just playing Alice Cooper in that moment. 

For the record, he was playing King Herod.  

NBC

The Staging

It was just...so simple. We loved Grease Live and Hairspray Live and all those, but sometimes it's nice to watch a show performed on a regular stage! 

NBC

The Orgy Scene

It's less about the orgy and more about the fact that to break up the orgy, Jesus picked up a chair, swung the chair in the direction of the orgy participants and then threw the chair away. It just made us laugh, OK? 

Final verdict: That was so great that we don't even care about how confused we sometimes were. Also, Hot Topic should merchandise the costumes. 

Jesus Christ Superstar aired on NBC. 

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBC Universal family.)