The show opened on October 12, 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York with the London production opening on August 9, 1972 with Paul Nicholas, Stephen Tate and Dana Gillespie. By the time it closed, after some eight years and 3,358 performances, it had become the longest-running musical in West End history. The recording of the score of the show, with Ian Gillan (Jesus), Murray Head (Judas) and Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene), topped the American album charts three times.

The most recent West End revival staged at the Lyceum Theatre in 1996 starred Steve Balsamo as Jesus, and there have been many rumours circulating that there will be another revival in the not so distant future.

The show was performed in Kilkenny six years ago by Kilkenny Musical Society, and one KMS cast member will make a return to the role in which he was highly acclaimed. Stephen Murphy from Kilkenny was well known as a local rock singer and was asked to perform as Judas in the Kilkenny Musical Society production in 2004; he accepted and became the talk of the show with his passionate portrayal of Jesus’s right-hand man turned betrayer. His voice was perfect for the role and Starlight was delighted to acquire his services to return to the stage in their production.

Playing opposite Stephen in the title role is his former CBS Kilkenny school friend Jason Paul Ryan, who has played leading roles in musicals both at home and abroad. Jason has starred as Galileo in We Will Rock You, Donny in Puppy Love, Thomas Barnardo in The Likes Of Us and Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

The whole Starlight cast is very experienced and have all played their roles in this show before. Castlecomer’s Sharon Molloy plays Mary Magdalene, Carlow’s Jonathon Casey is King Herod, Kilkenny man Danny Moloney is Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate is played by Eoghan Fingleton from Laois.

The score of the show has hit after hit with chartbusting songs such as I Don’t Know How To Love Him, Everything’s Alright, and Superstar, along with memorable chorus numbers such as Hosanna, Christ You Know I Love You and the comical King Herod’s Song.

Jesus Christ Superstar will be performed at the Set Theatre, Kilkenny on April 8 and 9 at 8pm each night. Tickets are on sale from The Set on 056 77 65133 and online at www.set.ie. Group bookings can be made through Starlight by contacting 085 2022038.