Cynthia Erivo will star as Jesus in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Hollywood Bowl
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Cynthia Erivo is taking on another musical for her next role.
It was announced Tuesday that the Wicked star and three-time Oscar nominee will play Jesus in the upcoming Hollywood Bowl production of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Jesus Christ Superstar.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner’s performances at the iconic LA venue will take place Aug. 1-3.
“Just a little busy this Summer,” Erivo wrote in her Instagram Story about the news. “Can’t wait!!”
Jesus Christ Superstar, which features lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Webber, is a rock opera about Jesus Christ’s final days, according to a press release.
It focuses on “the complex relationship between Jesus and his disciple-turned-betrayer, Judas Iscariot,” the press release continues.
Songs that are featured in the musical include “Superstar,” “Gethsemane” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”
The upcoming summer production will be led by Sergio Trujillo, who will direct and choreograph, and Stephen Oremus, who will serve as musical director and conductor. It will also be produced in association with Neil Meron and Robert Greenblatt.
The news about Erivo’s next role comes on the heels of a whirlwind awards season for the actress.
Erivo was nominated for an Oscar in January for her performance as Elphaba in Wicked. This awards season, she’s also earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role, a Golden Globe nomination for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy and a Critics Choice Award for best actress.
Blake Lively filed an amended version of her lawsuit against her It Ends with Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni on Feb. 18.
The actress’s lawyers said in a statement that the new version “provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims” and “includes previously undisclosed communications” as well as “numerous other witnesses.”
The amended complaint alleges that Lively was not the only woman to voice concern over sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us.
Lively’s complaint notes that in May 2023 “another female cast member reported her own concerns regarding Mr. Baldoni’s unwelcome behavior” and that the cast member came forward despite “considerable reservations” because she felt “the work on the Film was suffering as a result of Mr. Baldoni’s behavior.” She claims Baldoni then “responded to that cast member in writing, acknowledging that he was aware of her concerns and that adjustments would be made” but that conditions didn’t approve.
“Later, another female cast member confided to Ms. Lively that she too felt uncomfortable on set,” the amended complaint reads. “All of this occurred, and was documented in writing, almost one year before the editing of the Film began.”
Lively’s amended complaint alleges that Baldoni’s “false narrative crumbles under the indisputable truth that Ms. Lively was not alone in complaining about Mr. Baldoni and raised her concerns contemporaneously as they arose in 2023, not in connection with some imagined power play for control of the Film in 2024.” Additionally, it alleges Baldoni “acknowledged the complaints in writing at the time” and “knew that women other than Ms. Lively also were uncomfortable and had complained about his behavior.”
Lively argues in her amended complaint that Baldoni’s public persona of having “portrayed himself as a leader of the male feminist movement” is a “stark contrast” to his private behavior, which she alleges “is replete with hypocrisy, misogyny, and retaliation.”
The actress’s attorneys said in a statement of the amended complaint, “Over the next several weeks, we will move to dismiss the utterly meritless lawsuits brought against Ms. Lively and Mr. [Ryan] Reynolds, and we will move full speed ahead with discovery that we expect will reveal shocking details about the depth to which the Defendants have sunk in their unending efforts to ‘bury,’ ‘ruin,’ and ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively and her family.”
The amended complaint has also added a new claim for defamation, which, according to Lively’s attorneys, is “based on the repeated false statements the defendants have made about Ms. Lively since she filed her original complaint.”
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, issued a statement in response to Lively’s amended complaint, claiming in part that it “is filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims.”
“Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported Ms. Lively’s false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behavior will be enlightening,” he continued. “What is truly remarkable here is Ms. Lively’s lack of actual evidence.”
Netflix has premiered a new trailer for its upcoming Western miniseries, American Primeval.
The show stars GLOW‘s Betty Gilpin as a mother on a journey with her son across the “harsh landscape of freedom and cruelty in the American West.” The cast also includes Friday Night Lights‘ Taylor Kitsch, who plays a guide to Gilpin’s character.
Filmmaker Peter Berg, who previously worked with Kitsch on FNL, will direct. The screenplay is by The Revenant cowriter Mark L. Smith.
Page 114/Why Not Productions/Pathé Films/France 2 Cinéma
Karla Sofía Gascón is making history with her 2025 Oscars nomination.
With her best actress nomination for Emilia Pérez, Gascón becomes the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Gascón plays the titular role in the film, a Mexican drug cartel leader who — with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldaña — fakes her death and undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Years later, Emilia attempts to right the wrongs of her past and reconnect with her former wife, played by Selena Gomez, and her children.
The Spanish actress previously won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival — shared with co-stars Saldaña, Gomez and Adriana Paz — and was nominated for a Golden Globe. In addition to her Oscar nomination, she is up for a Critics’ Choice Movie Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Elliot Page was previously nominated for an Oscar for his role in Juno in 2008, prior to coming out as transgender.
Emilia Pérez is the most-nominated film of the year at the 97th Academy Awards, having scored 13 nominations — including Gascón’s and a coveted best picture nod.
Other nominations for the film include best supporting actress for Saldaña, best cinematography, best director for Jacques Audiard, best film editing, best international feature film, best makeup and hairstyling, best original score, best original song for “El Mal” and “Mi Camino,” best sound and best adapted screenplay.
Find out if Gascón can take home the trophy when the 2025 Oscars air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 2, beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
