August 1, 2025, director Sergio Trujillo—a Tony-award winning choreographer—brought his new version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar to the Hollywood Bowl in California for three nights only. An event praised by The Los Angeles Times as “the musical theater version of the Avengers,” the production starred leading Broadway talent, and its sold-out performances were attended by A-list celebrities.  

But take one look at videos of the performances and it is clear that what was marketed as the theatre event of the year and called “refreshing” and “revelatory” was really a mockery of God.  

A Female Jesus Christ 

The most newsworthy aspect of last weekend’s production was the casting of Cynthia Erivo, an award-winning LGBTQ+ British actress, to lead the production as “the first female Jesus Christ.” 

Yes, Erivo has incredible vocal talent, and sure, she very well may be a once-in-a-generation performer. But her recent performances in Wicked and Jesus Christ Superstar are a far cry from many of her more classical performances from years past.  Like many in her industry, Erivo has taken a turn toward the demonic and spiritually dark side of the entertainment industry. 

But to Trujillo, her New Age lifestyle and irreverence toward God are no concern—“I see the hand of God in her,” he told The Los Angeles Times.  

The Musical’s Legacy 

It is important to note that the musical has been met with controversy before and was known to be unbiblical before any of this. From its conception, Jesus Christ Superstar shocked audiences with its suggested romance between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, sympathetic—and at times heroic—portrayal of Judas, and the finality of Christ’s death (the musical ends with no resurrection in sight).  

Listen to the lyrics, and you will hear many troubling phrases. Judas opens the show telling Jesus, “All your followers are blind.” Jesus tells the crowds, “There’s too many of you … there’s too little of me … heal yourselves!” Mary Magdelene sings, “I want him so.
I love him so—.” All of these questionable lyrics are sung before the end of Act One.  

A Direct Attack Against God  

Trujillo’s production takes the original material further: with the gender-bent casting, but also in a deeply concerning attempt to mischaracterize God.  

Erivo’s version of Christ is weak, overwhelmed, and selfish.  

As Playbill describes it, Erivo’s character “was visibly overwhelmed when the sick and poor begged her for miracles—she doesn’t extend a hand to save them and instead opts to protect herself.” Erivo wastes her God-given vocal talent on a demonic and blasphemous portrayal of Christ. 

The Role of Theatre in Culture 

Many were quick to defend the new production and its intentions, like co-star Adam Lambert who told Billboard that the musical “is supposed to provoke and challenge” and that “that’s the point” of theatre.   

An avid theatregoer, I understand that theatrical works can provoke powerful emotional responses and raise important questions. In college, I had leading roles in theatrical works that told fun, wholesome, and innocent stories, but also in a few productions that challenged my beliefs and raised deep moral questions. I have sat in all kinds of theatres—from the Hollywood Bowl to the West End to community theatres—and often experienced firsthand the power of the arts to provoke internal reflection and promote dialog.  

Yes, performing arts can be an avenue for cultural conversation—but they must facilitate just that: conversation. Lambert is wrong to suggest that the new production provoked or challenged audiences. The show and production built around one message—the mockery of God and His son Jesus Christ—went much further than starting conversations about God. There is no question about it: the production preached only the powerlessness of Jesus and the malevolent nature of God.  

Would Hollywood ever produce a similar work attacking the Muslim faith? 

The Entertainment Industry and its Anti-God Messaging 

It comes as no surprise, however, that the production took this turn. For years, the entertainment industry has traded its desire to be thought-provoking for the promotion of an anti-God agenda.  

Not only is the anti-God agenda encouraged, but it is also rewarded. Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl had one agenda—to mock Christ—and last weekend it did so to the cheers and standing-ovations of sold-out audiences in California.   

Look closely, and you will find the erasure of God is key to the growth and success of the entertainment industry. Make celebrities our idols and fame our god, and our culture will be too distracted and entertained to see its need for the true God or to follow Christ. Keep Americans out of their Bibles and hooked on entertainment and the industry will not only have revenue for years to come, but it will also be able to distort truth about the character of God. 

Like Trujillo attempts in his Jesus Christ Superstar, the entertainment industry and culture at large favor trading the holiness of God and Christ for a selfish, angry being and favor trading the beauty of the Gospel for a brutal story that ends in death.  

But God will not be mocked. No matter how powerful the anti-God narrative in Hollywood and no matter how fiercely they message an anti-God ideology, God reigns as the Almighty Author of Truth.  

In a culture that wants to keep you so distracted and entertained that you never sit with your mortality and never find your identity as a child of God, know your Bible, know that Christ is coming back, and guard your mind. The day is coming soon when, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11).