Tickets for the musical Jesus Christ Superstar go on sale this week. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s acclaimed musical will take up residence at the Crown Theatre from 13th February 2025.
There’s been a cast update though with the announcement that Robert Tripolino, the Australian actor who starred in the British production will be taking on the role of Jesus when the show arrives in Perth.
When the production was announced last month rock singer Michael Paynter was slated to play Jesus, but he’ll now only be taking on the role for the Sydney and Melbourne seasons.
Robert Tripolino has numerous UK and Australian theatre credits including Marius in Les Misérables, Roger in Rent, Omar in Aladdin, Chino in West Side Story and Jamie in The Last Five Years.
On screen, he has appeared in Holding The Man, Upper Middle Bogan and Mr and Mrs Murder.
He will join Javon King as Judas and Mahalia Barnes as Mary in the cast of this celebrated rock
musical.
Caiaphas will be played by Elliot Baker, who was seen as Don Attilio in The Phantom of the
Opera for Opera Australia and Really Useful Group at the Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre
Melbourne, while Annas will be played by John O’Hara, most recently seen in Perth portraying Phil
Spector in the Australian tour of Tina The Tina Turner Musical.
Also appearing in the show is queer musical artist Adam Noviello, The Voice Australia alum Stellar Perry, and Ethan Jones who starred in the Perth production of The Boy From Oz and recently returned for The Rocky Horror Show.
Producer John Frost said he was excited that Tripolino would be joining the show in Perth.
“I’m delighted that Robert Tripolino is able to take time out from his busy UK career to reprise the role of Jesus, for which he received great acclaim, joining the extraordinary Javon King and Mahalia Barnes.
“The vocal and choreographic demands of the roles are enormous, plus some of the cast play instruments on stage, so it has been a huge challenge to cast the show. We’ve found a powerhouse cast for this rock opera who are going to blow the roof off Crown theatre eight times a week.” Frost said.
The musical has recently marked its 50th anniversary. Jesus Christ Superstar was first released as a concept album, and after it found a lot of fans the full state production was mounted in 1970. Lloyd Webber and Rice would go on to create Evita, Cats, and the lesser-known musical Cricket.
The show is based on the Gospels’ accounts of the passion, the period just before the death of Jesus. Over the years the show as be performed as a stage musical, and as an arena concert production and many famous names have played the parts of Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene.
Over the years such luminaries as Yvonne Elliman, Ben Vereen, Paul Nicholas, Paul Jabara, Julian Clary, Alice Cooper, Rik Mayall, Tim Minchin, Melanie C and John Farnham have appeared in the show.
Everything’s Alright, I Don’t Know How to Love Him, and the show’s title track are the best-known numbers from Jesus Christ Superstar.
