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The singer-songwriter Sam Ryder, best known for his 2022 Eurovision hit Space Man, is to play the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium.
Ryder, who turned the UK’s Eurovision fortunes around when he came second in the contest, will make his theatrical debut in the rock opera. It is a reconcieved version of director Timothy Sheader’s production originally created in 2016 for Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, where it had two further runs; it transferred to the Barbican, as well as touring the UK and the US.
Producer Michael Harrison said it was “thrilling” to have a new version created especially for the Palladium, adding: “In Sam we have a true superstar to play the iconic title role.” Describing Jesus Christ Superstar as “one of the biggest institutions in musical theatre the world’s ever known”, Ryder said he was honoured to follow in the footsteps of “rock vocal titans like Ian Gillan and John Farnham”.
The Palladium is owned by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber who created Jesus Christ Superstar with lyricist Tim Rice as a 1970 concept album featuring Gillan as Christ in his final days. It triumphed on Broadway the following year and opened in London in 1972, with Paul Nicholas as Jesus. When it closed in 1980 it had become the longest-running musical in the West End at that time. The title role has since been played by Ted Neeley (in the 1973 film version), Farnham (in a 1992 Australian production) and Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach in a 2002 US revival.
The Palladium version is again designed by Tom Scutt and choreographed by Drew McOnie, who took over from Sheader as artistic director at the Open Air theatre where he is mounting a new version of Lloyd Webber’s Cats next summer. Jesus Christ Superstar will run from 20 June to 5 September at the Palladium, which recently had a smash hit with a version of Evita that also started life in Regent’s Park. Director Jamie Lloyd’s hit show made headlines for a scene which found its star, Rachel Zegler, performing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from the theatre’s balcony to crowds on the street below.
A new staging of Jesus Christ Superstar directed by Paul Hart at the Watermill theatre in Newbury won best musical production at the UK Theatre awards 2025. That version adventurously used the theatre’s grounds, with its garden standing in for Gethsemane.
