JCS Teases Return on IG

They're using the British date format... perhaps it's the rumored Jamie Lloyd revival coming to fruition in the West End?

It's one of three things, all of which I have heard rumored recently.

Rumor #1: An East Coast transfer of the Hollywood Bowl concert following the end of the Wicked: For Good press junket, for which only Lambert and Erivo are reportedly confirmed to remain. Madison Square Garden and an arena in Brooklyn have both allegedly been scouted for this possibility, with ALW naming the former in a recent interview. Likelihood: it could only be for a limited engagement, because Cynthia's schedule is packed; she's got the one-person Dracula in London in the spring, and she might be attached to a new movie as well.

Rumor #2: An announcement of production beginning on a film remake, to which Baz Luhrmann and/or his team have been attached since immediately post-Moulin Rouge. Reports of increased activity on this project have significantly ramped up lately. Likelihood: Based on what I've been hearing from agent friends who have clients they plan to submit, let's just say it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Rumor #3: A recent production by the Komische Oper Berlin with an enormous cast (at least 400!) is rumored to have so impressed ALW that he has begun exploring the possibility of a Broadway transfer or a presentation at Studio Seaview, possibly with Lambert and Erivo attached for star value rather than participating in a straight-up clone of the Bowl show. Likelihood: if Erivo is attached, probably not happening until late next year, both because of her schedule and because the recent West End Evita revival seems to be trying to target the 2026/27 season for a B'way transfer, and ALW doesn't wanna compete with himself at the Tonys.

All are equally likely, but for some je ne sais quois reason, I'd put my money on 2.

As long as there are no plans to bring in Ivo van Hove's Dutch production...

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "There's also a fourth option... none of the above. Suddenly my eyes are on the West End..."

I thought it was a recording of the Hollywood Bowl.

Is Jamie Lloyd really supposed to helm a Superstar revival? It would surprise me, considering Lloyd Webber seems to have cooled on him (probably because, for all the hype, the revivals haven't been cash-cows--which I think is all Lloyd Webber cares about).

joevitus said: "Is Jamie Lloyd really supposed to helm a Superstar revival? It would surprise me, considering Lloyd Webber seems to have cooled on him (probably because, for all the hype, the revivals haven't been cash-cows--which I think is all Lloyd Webber cares about)."

The only thing he said is he wanted to do it. However, after this announcement I don't think it'll happen any time soon, personally. 

 

binau said: "joevitus said: "Is Jamie Lloyd really supposed to helm a Superstar revival? It would surprise me, considering Lloyd Webber seems to have cooled on him (probably because, for all the hype, the revivals haven't been cash-cows--which I think is all Lloyd Webber cares about)."

The only thing he said is he wanted to do it. However, after this announcement I don't think it'll happen any time soon, personally."

Agreed. In the same breath as saying he wanted to do it, he also said the Regent's Park staging did pretty much everything he would've done with it, so it would seem ALW has taken that statement as encouragement to get this one out again and stick it in the Palladium, hoping to replicate his "summer of Evita."

As a JCS connoisseur, this one didn't grab me as much as it did other people in this thread; quite frankly, seeing the U.S. tour back in 2021 inspired me to write 12 pages of rant about everything from the choreography (if one can call it that; frankly, I mostly laughed at it and wondered how the hell Drew McOnie ever won an award, praying this was not representative of his other work), to the lack of clear storytelling, to the pacing, just about all of it honestly. The costumes were all Kanye hoodies and pandemic leisurewear; the actor-musician shtick wore thin fast. Pretty much the only thing I unabashedly dug was Herod, who seemed ported in from another production entirely. (Speaking of, why start the biblical references at that point with the servants' heads on plates? Nothing else in the show prepared you for that.) Didn't find a lot to love. If you want to do a modern AU JCS, as the kids put it, you have to make sense; apart from a thinly drawn premise suggesting it was clearly meant to emphasize "superstar" more than "Jesus Christ," I just shook my head most of the time.

Generally, I don't care for that take on it. This was written to be the actual story, but in modern language and a more human light, seen from an unusual vantage point. You were supposed to be able to make connections to today's world yourself, without it being spelled out for you. That said, if you're going to do a contemporary parallel to ancient events, you can't throw too wide a net; you have to be hyper-specific, or it just raises serious worldbuilding questions, much as the 2012 arena tour did. It's not for nothing that James Joyce once said, "In the specific lies the universal."

 

Updated On: 11/9/25 at 10:08 AM