Touring Wicked and Pretty Woman star Olivia Valli has joined the cast of Studio Tenn's upcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar. Valli will play the "I Don't Know How to Love Him"-singing Mary Magdalene opposite original Rent star Adam Pascal in the title role and Grammy-nominated Broadway favorite Mykal Kilgore as Judas, both as previously announced.
The Tennessee production of the rock opera will perform May 7-24, 2026, with additional casting to be announced. Studio Tenn Artistic Director Patrick Cassidy is directing.
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“Bringing Olivia to this role completes a trio of extraordinary vocal and acting talents,” says Cassidy in a statement. “This is the kind of casting and creative energy you expect to find on Broadway, and we are beyond proud to share it with Franklin in a production that will be talked about for years to come.”
Valli is the granddaughter of Frankie Valli, later playing her own grandmother in the Four Seasons biomusical Jersey Boys Off-Broadway. Valli previously co-starred with Pascal in Pretty Woman on tour.
Pascal shot to fame in a Tony-nominated debut as Roger Davis in the original cast of the late Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. Since that time, the gifted performer has appeared on Broadway as Radames in Aida, Billy Flynn in Chicago, the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret, Huey in Memphis, Shakespeare in Something Rotten!, Chad in Disaster!, and Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman: The Musical. On the other side of the Atlantic, he was seen as Ryuk in Death Note–In Concert and opposite Josh Groban and Idina Menzel in a concert staging of the Tim Rice/ABBA musical Chess.
Along with his Broadway appearances in Motown and Hair, Kilgore has appeared on screen in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wiz Live. The lead single from his debut album A Man Born Black was a 2021 Grammy nominee for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Jesus Christ Superstar, initially released as a concept album in 1970, premiered on Broadway in 1971 and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Original Score for Lloyd Webber and Rice. The show was subsequently revived in 1977, 2000, and 2012. A long-running London production debuted in 1972.
Norman Jewison directed the 1973 film version starring Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Yvonne Elliman. NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert premiered in April 2018 with John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Brandon Victor Dixon, Norm Lewis, and more.
For more information about the Studio Tenn production, click here.
