Cynthia Erivo said she “can’t please everyone” when asked about the online anger directed at her casting as Jesus in August’s Hollywood Bowl concert staging of Jesus Christ Superstar. The Emmy-, Grammy- and Tony-winner was replying to conservative commentators—posts amplified by Elon Musk among them—that called the engagement “blasphemous” and “anti-Christian bigotry”.
The production plays the 17,500-seat venue on 1–3 August, its first appearance at the Bowl since 2016. Erivo headlines a company led by director-choreographer Sergio Trujillo and music supervisor Stephen Oremus; Adam Lambert will sing Judas. The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced the show in February as a centre-piece of its 2025 summer season, driving early ticket demand across the three-night run.
Criticism erupted almost immediately after that announcement and surged last week under hashtags such as #NotMyJesus, promoted by right-wing influencers and a Florida pastor during a livestream that drew 120,000 views on X. In a separate interview Erivo argued that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s score “has always belonged to outsiders,” describing Broadway as “the gayest place on Earth” and inviting sceptics to experience the work before judging it.
Historians note that Jesus Christ Superstar has long encouraged non-traditional casting, from all-female ensembles to productions anchored by rock musicians, positioning Erivo’s appearance within a pattern of reinterpretation dating back five decades. Theatre writer Myles Spicer said the uproar “reflects wider cultural anxiety rather than genuine theological dispute,” pointing to earlier Bowl revivals in which artists of color re-imagined canonical roles without incident.
Supporters further highlight that Erivo sang Mary Magdalene in an all-women London concert version in 2014, evidence, they say, of both her vocal fit and her respect for the piece’s spiritual themes