Get The Buzz! Marc Platt & Neil Meron Talk JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE

Last week, executive producers Marc Platt and Neil Meron met with members of the press to share some insight on NBC's upcoming JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE IN CONCERT. NBC's highly anticipated special event is set to star John Legend as Jesus Christ, Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene, Alice Cooper as King Herod, and Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas. The event will air live Easter Sunday, April 1, and will be presented as a concert staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic rock opera. It will be performed in front of a live audience at the Marcy Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Neither of the two are strangers to producing live television musical events. Platt worked on FOX's GREASE: LIVE (2016) and more recently, A CHRISTMAS STORY LIVE (2017). In addition, he has produced countless films and stage productions including LA LA LAND (2016), LEGALLY BLONDE (2001), and WICKED (2003). Meron has been involved in producing all of NBC's live musicals, starting with THE SOUND OF MUSIC in 2013. His film credits include such musical hits as HAIRSPRAY (2007), CHICAGO (2002), and ANNIE (1999). Their clout gives so much reason to all the buzz around the forthcoming JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE.

In preparation for their latest production, check out what Marc Platt and Neil Meron have to say about the cast and creatives, their individual histories with the musical, and so much more!

When asked about his thoughts on Alice Cooper being casted as Herod, Meron said: "Alice Cooper actually has a history with the Jesus Christ Superstar. There was album probably about ten years ago and he recorded the role of King Herod. And so when we were going forward with this production Tim Rice said, "What about Alice?" because he's in the family. He's terrific. He would lend that rock authenticity. He has that outrageous persona that seems to be very right for King Herod. And we reached out and he was very interested and we were very happy about that." Platt added, "And so to have a iconic rock star like Alice Cooper participate in it feels like it elevates the evening and is both organic but also makes a real exciting, exciting enterprise. And the thing about Superstar it's for all ages. Of course there are those of us who are older who remember it and its impact on us when we were much younger. But it's also something for those who might not know it to be rediscovered and so Alice sort of covers all the bases in that regard."

They went on to share their thoughts about some of the other cast members. In regards to John Legend and Sara Bareilles, Platt said "John Legend is not only one of the great sort of pop stars and personalities of our, you know, of our time now but he
has THE VOICE that is distinctive and singular. And we all know it and we're all familiar with it. And so to have the role of Jesus sung by that masterful vocalist and of course he appeared in La La Land among other things will be a great joy and will do justice to the challenge of that score and that particular role. And the same thing can be said of course of Sara who we all know both from her vocal career, her pop star career, her now Broadway career both as a write and appearing on stage. So to hear her voice sing those gorgeous melodies that we're all so familiar with and have lasted through time is also its joyous and it's exciting and you really lean into it."

(Pictured above: John Legend meets the press in New York on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 -- Photo by: Dia Dipasupil/NBC)

Meron then tacked on his thoughts about the casting of Brandon Victor Dixon in the role of Judas, saying "And regarding Brandon Victor Dixon we spent and inordinately long time auditing many, many actors to play Judas. And Brandon came in very, very early and he was always THE ONE to beat. And but we did a lot of due diligence because there were a lot of people that want to play that role. And Brandon just has this incredible quality not only vocally but he's also a Tony nominated actor. He's coming off of Hamilton and so it just seemed to make sense for this particular project."

The duo then went on to address the creative choice to present the musical as a concert instead of a full out theatrical staging. Meron started with, "You know, the basis of Jesus Christ Superstar was this live concert album. It was a rock opera. And then when the album started coming out, when the album first came out unauthorized concert stagings of the piece starting popping up all over the US. And so I think that was Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's original inclination was to have it done very, very concert-like. The Broadway production that was done in the early 70s kind of deflected from that and gave it a little bit more - a lot more theatricality which was very controversial at the time. But Andrew and Tim really wanted to go back to what the essence of the piece was which was presentational-like in front of a live audience and more concert-like." Platt continued with "And that is organic to what their intention was and we are delivering a concert. But it does have as many concerts do actually these days sort of the bells and whistles of wonderful visuals and enough storytelling you to sit down so you feel the concert, you feel the musicians and the music being
played live. But it does have some of the eye-candy pyrotechnic fun and GLORY that you would expect at a concert and that you would expect also of a story that is Jesus Christ Superstar."

(Pictured above: Executive Producers Neil Meron and Marc Platt in New York on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 -- Photo by: Dia Dipasupil/NBC)

The upcoming production is being directed by British David Leveaux. On why they chose to go with a theatre director, Platt said, "There were a number of directors interested but David was very aggressive in pursuing it both because of his personal love of the material and his passion for it. And he's a noted stage director.You know, people probably hear him - probably know him best from the Revival of the Nineveh I would think from - with (Stronach) and Tony Banderas. So his work on stage is quite accomplished. And I think that he grew up with a particular love of Jesus Christ Superstar as a younger person and now as an artist. And a director he has the passion for it. And so he was just utterly convincing to us that he felt the music, he felt the
characters. He loved the concept of the concerts. He's worked with camera
before so that marriage of stage and camera felt organic and he kind of won us
over in that regard."

When asked whether this production would add or cut songs from the original score, Meron said, "Right now -- and we expect it to stay this way -- everything is intact from the way that Andrew and Tim wrote it."

Finally, the two touched on their personal histories with the show and its music. Meron shared "My first experience was getting the album and putting it on and just being
knocked out by the sound. I was always a fan of musical theater. But for some reason, you know, and I was a Jewish kid growing up in Brooklyn at the time. And just getting Jesus Christ Superstar just took me to another level. And I listened to it over and over and over again. And I knew who Murray Head was and Barry Dennen and Yvonne Elliman. And these people became important to me. And then when it opened on
Broadway I had seen it five times so I loved it. And of course it introduced the world to Ben Vereen at the time as Judas." Platt added, "I think my first - I never saw it on Broadway back in the day. I think was "I Don't Know How to Love Him", a single, released as a single in its day... That's what I remember. Yes that's what I remember first as a youngster hearing that song on the radio and I.hearing that song which was a big hit hearing it over and over and that led me to go buy the album. I remember it had the
brown album cover with like the gold embossed Jesus Christ Superstar on it. And so I can literally remember holding that album in my hand and then hearing the rest of the music and like Neil kind of being sort of God-smacked by it."

"Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert" will be executive produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Marc Platt, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius and Alex Rudzinski. Also in the cast are Tony nominee Ben Daniels as Pontius Pilate, Tony nominee Norm Lewis as Caiaphas, Broadway veteran Jason Tam as Peter, "M. Butterfly" star Jin Ha as Annas and Swedish rock star Erik Gronwall as Simon Zealotes.

Rounding out the full, award-winning creative team is Emmy Award-winning live television director and executive producer Alex Rudzinski ("Hairspray Live!," "Dancing With the Stars"), Emmy- and Tony Award-winning costumer designer Paul Tazewell ("The Wiz Live!," "Hamilton"), Grammy Award-winning music producer Harvey Mason Jr. ("The Wiz Live!"), musical director Nigel Wright ("Jesus Christ Superstar" world arena tour), production designer Jason Ardizzone-West ("Adele Live in NYC") and choreographer Camille A. Brown ("Once on This Island").

(Pictured above: (l-r) Marc Platt, Executive Producer; Nigel Wright, Musical Director; Neil Meron, Executive Producer; Harvey Mason Jr., Music Producer; Jason Ardizzone-West, Production Designer; Camille A. Brown, Choreographer; Paul Tazewell, Costume Designer; David Leveaux, Director; Alex Rudzinski, EP/Live Television Director in New York on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 -- Photo by: Dia Dipasupil/NBC)

"Jesus Christ Superstar" is based on the final week of Jesus' life. The album hit #1 on the Billboard charts and made its way to the stage in 1971. The 1971 musical opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway and starred Jeff Fenholt as Jesus and Ben Vereen as Judas. It was nominated for five Tonys, including Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for Vereen. Lloyd Webber won a Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Composer.

Since then, the musical has been considered a classic and has become a staple of theatre and music organizations throughout the world. It has been performed in nearly 20 countries and translated into 18 different languages. There have been many revivals of "Jesus Christ Superstar" over the 46 years since its debut, including 2000 and 2012 Broadway versions that each earned a Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Musical. The 1973 film was directed by Oscar winner Norman Jewison and starred Ted Neeley.

Photo by: Dia Dipasupil/NBC