The creative team behind the acclaimed 2016 staging of Jesus Christ Superstar will reunite next year for an 11-week run at the London Palladium, producers announced on Thursday.
The revival brings back director Tim Sheader, choreographer Drew McOnie and designer Tom Scutt , the same trio responsible for the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production that won an Olivier Award and toured internationally. The new staging will feature a company of 30 and stars singer-songwriter Sam Ryder as Jesus in what will be his West End debut.
The run is scheduled to open on Saturday 20 June 2026 and close on Saturday 5 September, with press night set for Tuesday 7 July. Tickets go on exclusive presale from 10.00 on Tuesday 25 November 2025 and on general sale from 10.00 on Wednesday 26 November. Organisers are offering a presale sign-up on the production’s website.
Jesus Christ Superstar, the rock-oratorio by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, dramatises the last days of Jesus’s life from the perspective of Judas Iscariot. First staged in 1970, the show has become a staple of musical theatre and pop culture; its score includes well-known numbers such as I Don’t Know How to Love Him, Gethsemane and the title track.
Sam Ryder is, of course, known for his rise via social media during lockdown and then for representing the UK at Eurovision 2022 with the song Space Man (which he would have won if it hadn’t been for the popular vote going to war-torn Ukraine). He has since achieved commercial milestones including a number-one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart and billions of streams worldwide.
The announcement reunites a creative team widely praised for their 2016 revival, which transferred some of the open-air staging’s immediacy to larger venues and attracted strong critical and audience attention. Moving the production to the London Palladium , one of the West End’s most prominent houses , signals an ambition to reach broader summer audiences in central London. Whether there’ll be a balcony scene like there was for Evita, where she came outside the Palladium to play to oiks in the street, has yet to be announced.
