JOHN LEGEND | Jesus Christ

First time:

Musician Legend’s entree to the show came while he participated in show choir during high school. “We would sing songs from musicals, and one we did was an Andrew Lloyd Webber medley,” he says. “I never watched the entire thing until it was time to prep for this.”

Messiah mind:

“I was raised in a religious home with many ministers,” says Legend, “but it’s also important to think about how Andrew and Tim thought about him, not just how religious folks think of him.”

Racial blowback:

Neither Legend nor Brandon Victor Dixon, who played Judas, heard racially based protests over their casting. “Anyone who thinks for one second about where Jesus was born and raised, he probably doesn’t look like the Nordic people who’ve played him in the past,” Legend says. “The idea was to make the cast diverse, like America.”

Bonus hallelujah:

“I managed to get through without any lyrical flubs,” he laughs.