For four decades, Alice Cooper has been the king of camp with his over-the-top live shows so we can’t think of anyone better to play King Herod on NBC’s live version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
The King Herod part only has one song in the production, appropriately called “King Herod’s Song”, but it is a campy, vaudeville number that Cooper should just kill (to reference another part of his live show).
The three-hour live production will air on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018.
Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said of the Cooper casting “Alice Cooper, whose theatricality is the stuff of legend, is the perfect rock star to play Herod in our live production. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote a showstopping musical number for Herod and we all look forward to the ‘King of Shock Rock’ taking on the King of Judea. As the casting for Superstar ramps up, we can feel the excitement building for this brand-new concert experience of what has long been considered the original rock musical.”
The part of Herod was created on the original 1970 concept album by Mike d’Abo of Manfred Mann. The original 1971 Broadway production had Paul Ainsley in the role while songwriter Paul Jabara did the 1972 London West End show.
Cooper is the first role announced for the show.
