Glenn Close in Jesus Christ Superstar

From Cruella to Norma Desmond and now King Herod, three-time Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony winner Glenn Close is bringing her formidable range to Jesus Christ Superstar, closing out the production’s star-studded Herod rotation in its final week at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in January 2027.

Glenn Close in Jesus Christ Superstar

Close will play Herod in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar for the final week of its London season, from 4 to 9 January 2027 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

She is the ninth and final guest star to take on the role during the production’s run, following Matt Bomer, Rob Brydon, Reece Shearsmith, Bob The Drag Queen, Michael Ball, Simon Russell Beale, Omid Djalili and Layton Williams.

Jesus Christ Superstar‘s cast also includes Sam Ryder as Jesus, alongside Tyrone Huntley as Judas Iscariot, Desmonda Cathabel as Mary Magdalene and David Thaxton as Pontius Pilate.

The production, directed by Tim Sheader with choreography by Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie and design by Tony and Olivier Award winner Tom Scutt, reunites the creative team behind the original 2016 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre staging a decade on. Following a sold-out summer season at the London Palladium and its extended Drury Lane run, the production is then heading out on a UK tour from February 2027, led by Sam Ryder.

Book tickets to see Glenn Close in Jesus Christ Superstar

About Glenn Close

Glenn Close is an American stage, film and television actress widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. She has won three Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards and a Golden Globe, and has received six Academy Award nominations.

She made her professional theatre debut in Harold Prince’s 1974 Broadway revival of Love for Love. Her other early stage credits include The Crucifer of Blood in 1978, and The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs in 1982, for which she won an Obie Award and starred in its 2011 film adaptation.

Close landed two of Tony Awards for her performances in The Real Thing and Death and the Maiden, both of which were directed by Mike Nichols. Her third Tony was for Sunset Boulevard, directed by Trevor Nunn, in which she originated the role of Norma Desmond on Broadway – a performance that also won her a Drama Desk Award, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and a Dramalogue Award.

She reunited with Nunn for his National Theatre revival of A Streetcar Named Desire in 2002, and returned to Broadway for the first time in 20 years in 2014 to lead the cast of Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning A Delicate Balance.

Close made her West End debut in 2016, reprising Norma Desmond in a semi-staged production of Sunset Boulevard at the London Coliseum.

Theatre credits

Close’s stage credits include Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), and Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (Los Angeles, Broadway and the West End), for which she won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and a Dramalogue Award.

Her other theatre credits include:

The Real Thing and Death
The Maiden
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Delicate Balance
Love for Love
The Crucifer of Blood
The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs

Film and Television credits

Close is six-time Academy Award nominee, she has appeared in more than 35 films, including The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, The Natural and Albert Nobbs, which she also co-produced and co-wrote.

Among her best known screen roles are Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons, and Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians.

Close has also produced and starred in nine television films, including the Sarah, Plain and Tall series for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. She won Emmy Awards for her performances in Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, and the TV series Damages, with the latter earning her a Golden Globe Award.

She has also received a SAG Award for her performance as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter.

Book Jesus Christ Superstar tickets

Close plays Herod for Jesus Christ Superstar‘s final week in London – from 4 to 9 January 2027 – before the show heads out on a UK tour from February 2027. Given the critical acclaim of this production of Jesus Christ Superstar and Close’s legendary status, early booking to see her performance is strongly recommended.

Glenn Close Links & Socials

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