The Jesus Christ Superspecial

This Christmas, to celebrate 50 years since Jesus Christ Superstar first opened on Broadway, we’ve dedicated an entire episode to unwrapping its magic. What is it about the rock opera that makes it, as one Times critic wrote, ‘the one masterpiece of Lloyd Webber’s career’? Why, after five decades, does it still give pause for theological thought? And how can one piece of music connect such disparate-seeming artists as Dmitri Shostakovich, Googoosh, Lin Mannuel Maranda, and Kanye West? Featuring interviews with Sirs Tim Rice and Karl Jenkins, Alain Boublil, Peaches and Nico Muhly, this is … The Jesus Christ Superspecial.