Julian Clary joins Jesus Christ Superstar tour

National treasure Julian Clary has joined the upcoming touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which kicks off this autumn.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s much-loved classic, which has been staged across the world, will return in a new touring version of Timothy Sheader’s production first seen at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2016. It then also ran at the Barbican in the summer of 2019, and was remounted for a socially distanced run during the Covid lockdowns of 2020.

Olivier Award-winning Drew McOnie choreographed the original production, which had musical direction from Tom Deering, design by Tom Scutt, lighting design by Lee Curran and sound design by Nick Lidster for Autograph.

The piece includes famous tunes such as “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”, “Gethsemane” and “Superstar”.

As announced last week, set to appear are Ian McIntosh (We Will Rock You, Follies), who will play Jesus, alongside Shem Omari James (Dreamgirls UK Tour) who will play Judas and Hannah Richardson (Sting’s The Last Ship) who plays Mary.

It has now been revealed that Julian Clary will also appear in the show, taking on the role of Herod in Manchester, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Liverpool.

Clary said today: “I am so thrilled to be a part of this amazing production and look forward to presenting my crazed, queer, imperious King Herod. I’m thinking Putin meets Cleopatra with a hint of Biggins.”

The tour will open at Manchester’s Palace Theatre from 11 September 2023. It will then visit Newcastle, Hull, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Wolverhampton, Bradford, Nottingham, Ipswich, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leicester, Stoke, Bristol, Crawley, Southampton, Norwich, Eastbourne, Birmingham, Oxford, Wimbledon, Woking, Sunderland, Canterbury, Sheffield, Llandudno, Torquay, Dartford, Cheltenham, Blackpool, Bromley, Inverness and Truro. Further tour dates are to be announced.