Have revised my answer. I now understand you mean should she play Jesus.

Unequivocaly no. There is no way that Madonna would be a good fit as Jesus.

A gender reversal in the role will completely destroy the central themes of Jesus Christ Superstar. The whole movie is inextricabally tied to the life and times of Jesus. To have a woman in the role, any woman, shatters that premise and removes the suspension of disbelief as a moviegoer.

It becomes absurd. The women at that time in Rome had no power. There is no way that Jesus could be portrayed as a woman.

Now if you mean, should Madonna cross genders and play Jesus as if he was still a man? Again I think this is impossible because people will still see her as Madonna. The singing parts are not in Madonna's vocal range. Why not just get a man to play it?

Also, you are talking here about a very specific piece of art. The musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice. It's got a specific, set story and several songs and themes. To simply drop a woman into the main role, or have a woman play the main role as if she was a man, does not work.

Now, I could see *some* adaptation of Jesus' life, somewhere, that portrayed a woman in the role of Jesus, or that portrayed Jesus as a woman. But Jesus Christ Superstar can't really handle it.

I am sorry that I am not providing sources, but in this case, this is largely an opinion based question. I can provide sound reasoning as to why I believe what I believe, but I do not think that the question lends itself well to source material. Nevertheless, I'll try to dig some up below in replies.

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