Alice Cooper to play King Herod in live TV production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” next year

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m_alicecooper630_jesuschristsuperstarliveportrait_120817

Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/NBC

Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/NBCAlice Cooper will bring a little shock rock to a new TV production of the famous rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, which will air live on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018, on NBC. Cooper has been cast in the part of the flamboyant King Herod.

“Alice Cooper, whose theatricality is the stuff of legend, is the perfect rock star to play Herod in our live production,” says NBC executive Robert Greenblatt in a statement. “[Show creators] Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote a show-stopping musical number for Herod and we all look forward to the ‘King of Shock Rock’ taking on the King of Judea.”

Cooper’s actually the only case member who’s been announced so far.  He previously recorded King Herrod’s showcase tune, “King Herod’s Song,” for a cast album of the 1996 U.K. production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the request of Lloyd Webber and Rice.

Jesus Christ Superstar debuted as two-LP concept album in 1970 that featured Deep Purple‘s Ian Gillan as Jesus and ex-Manfred Mann singer Mike D’Abo as Herod. The musical version made its Broadway debut in 1971, while a film adaptation premiered in 1973. Many revivals of the musical have been staged over the years.

As previously reported, Cooper will launch a new North American tour on March 1 in Windsor, Canada. The trek currently is plotted out through a March 29 show in Indianapolis.

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