See ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ 50th Anniversary Sneak Peek Video

Last year, NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert — which starred starred John Legend as Jesus alongside Sara Bareilles (Mary Magdalene), Alice Cooper (King Herrod) and Brandon Victor Dixon (Judas) — introduced an entirely new generation to the iconic rock musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Now, in anticipation of a 50th Anniversary North American tour, producers have released a sneak peek music video.

As Lloyd Webber explained to Rolling Stone last year, “Superstar was written like a radio play, because that was the closest thing we had available to us. I think it works best when it’s closer to a rock concert than to a stage show that’s shoehorned into a proscenium theater.”

Since its beginning, many have slammed Superstar as blasphemous, and the show was even briefly banned by BBC as “sacrilegious” in the U.K. But Pope Francis enjoyed a recent production in Rome, so times have certainly changed for the rock opera.

The video is picking up on the energy of the TV special, which also earned the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) last year, it also meant Legend, Rice and Lloyd Webber all joined the distinguished list of EGOT winners since the trio were rewarded as executive producers on the NBC live musical.

The new North American tour launches this October in Austin, Texas and will play in 50 markets. This production first premiered at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2017 in London and received the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.