The Knockturnal caught up with Sara Bareilles about her role as Mary Magdalene in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.
Set during the final week of Jesus’ life, the story is told from the perspective of infamous betrayer Judas Iscariot. As more and more followers flock to Jesus, Judas grows concerned that Jesus is becoming arrogant and losing sight of his principles. So when Jesus attacks the money changers in a temple, Judas finally turns on his teacher, setting both on a path to tragedy. Originally conceived as a concept album that hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, the show eventually made its way to the stage in 1971 and garnered five Tony nominations in addition to winning a Drama Desk Award for Andrew Lloyd Webber. Now this globally celebrated classic comes to NBC in 2018 for a one-of-a-kind live staging on Easter Sunday that’s sure to amaze with jaw-dropping spectacle and an all-star cast of beloved recording artists.
The Knockturnal: You ever thought you’d secure the role?
Sara Bareilles: No, I never thought I would be. I never imagined this. I never even in a million years would’ve. It has been just a great honor. You know, when I got an invite – or, asked if I was interested – I was like “Yes! Where do I sign?” You know? So, I love this show. I grew up on this show. I love this music. I think that this score is one of the greats. And her [Mary Magdalene’s] songs, in particular, I’ve always really loved. And so it just feels like I’m really lucky I get to do this.
The Knockturnal: How did you combine elements of the previous shows into your performance, particularly that of Yvonne Elliman?
Sara Bareilles: Well, you know, I listened through all of the recordings – and her’s is the one I come back to the most often. And I love that she-she had such a unique take on it, and it’s so – her interpretation is the iconic – that’s the one. What I love is that people love this song. There’s lots of covers of this song out there in the world and I think that ultimately, I just want to come to it honestly and sort of simply. I’m not trying to put a lot of – like you don’t want to put a hat on a hat – it’s a beautiful, simple song that is meant to be emotional. That’s kind of my approach for it. I just want to give it what I have from a real honest and authentic place.
The Knockturnal: What would you want your audience to take from your role specifically?
Sara Bareilles: I guess I want – I hope to sort of embody how powerful Mary was. I did a little bit of outside research on her and I’ve been really amazed that most of what I knew about her growing up Catholic, going to Catholic school – most of what I was taught about Mary is incorrect. And she’s not necessarily a prostitute. That was an interpretation that a Pope made in sermon and it stuck. She’s absolutely a disciple. She was most likely – you know, there was a love relationship there. She has such deep devotion to the message of Jesus. She was a great champion of him. She bankrolled his campaign. She was a really powerful figure on his behalf. And that was kind of mindblowing to me because that is not what I was told about her, you know? And what I think – in this culture of really looking at female figures, she’s one of the first people that got diminished because she was a woman. There was no place for her in the Church so she got kind of cast aside in this role. But she was a really powerful figure. So I hope that can translate in the performance. Her love for him was complicated but she was a powerful person in her own right.
The Knockturnal: How can you help the public determine that love is love and this is something we need? Especially since this’ll be a live performance and people will be able to Tweet out their feelings.
Sara Bareilles: My opinion about Twitter is that I think it’s the lowest vibration of people’s expression so much of the time. And I don’t engage a lot. I don’t read a lot; I don’t read comments. I want to come to this with the most open-hearted interpretation of this beautiful story and this beautiful music. And I’m sure there will be plenty of – they will be lots of good and lots of bad. And I think, you know, people say what they say. I mean, John is coming to this from such a sincere place. Brandon Victor Dixon is coming. There’s so much sincerity in the room, that I hope that translates into how people receive it. They may or may not. I mean, I think that’s the gamble we take. But I’m so proud of NBC for doing this and for taking on this story because it is touchy. But that’s the kind of conversation I wanna be a part of, and in furthering – I don’t want to shy away from uncomfortable subject matter. I think we need to have those conversations. As John was saying last night, “we’ve seen a lot of depictions of Jesus that looks like he’s from Norway.” This is probably much closer to what actually was going on, being someone who was born and raised in the Middle East. I think we have to keep lovingly pushing this conversation.
Jesus Christ Superstar Live premieres on NBC on April 1st. The special will air from 8-10: 15 pm ET/PT.