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In between her two Wicked films, Cynthia Erivo has not been taking time off. Just a few months ago, she released her new album I Forgive You, and more recently, she starred in a three-day revival of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Held at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, the production was heralded as a spectacular retelling of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-penned show. Even though the number of performances and even the thousands of people who witnessed the performances of fellow stars like Adam Lambert and John Stamos (who subbed in for Josh Gad for one night) was extremely limited, the event has led to massive upticks in consumption of the album - all of them, actually.
Between August 1 and 4, the original 1970 concept album, which started it all for Jesus Christ Superstar, experienced a 288% increase in streams in the United States. It racked up 430,000 plays, according to Billboard. That sum is compared to the weekend before the show lit up the famed venue - July 25-28.
The 1996 London cast recording enjoyed the most dramatic jump of all versions of Jesus Christ Superstar. Streams of that set rose 583% during the same period, as it collected more than 235,000 plays in only a few days.
NBC adapted Jesus Christ Superstar a few years back as part of its series of live musicals, and the album, which features contributions from stars like Sara Bareilles and John Legend, also grew, thanks to the Hollywood Bowl production. From August 1 to 4, that project saw its tracks played 92,000 times - up 192% weekend-over-weekend.
In 1973, a movie was made of Jesus Christ Superstar, and, unsurprisingly, many fans of the musical, as well as those who simply wanted to be a part of the action, turned to the soundtrack on streaming sites. That album's stream count rose to 155,000, up 151% from one weekend to the next.
The original Jesus Christ Superstar concept album became a shocking breakout success in the early '70s. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, emerging as a relatively uncommon success from the musical theater world - even if the title hadn't yet made it to the big stage on either side of the Atlantic. Several other recordings have also landed on the same tally throughout the years, but none have come close to matching the power of the first.