To be fair, the live crucifixion musical is a format that has existed in The Netherlands since 2011, but their population is only about 40% Christian and more than 40% non-affiliated. There are so many ways this could go wrong and/or verge into unmitigated camp that it’s absolutely unbelievable.
You can just see someone tapping his or her fingers together and thinking, “What if we did a live musical about Jesus? That thing would be huge!” No one stopped to think that maybe a musical about the death of Jesus broadcast live from New Orleans, which culminates with a 20ft illuminated crucifix being paraded through the streets, would be a good idea. And speaking of The Passion, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is still the country’s highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, with $370m in ticket sales. That’s about the same number that tuned in for The Bible miniseries on History Channel in 2013, which was a big shock to just about everyone. The very Christian production of Dolly Parton’s A Coat of Many Colors brought 13 million God-fearing viewers to NBC last week. Religious programming has also been a huge boon for broadcasters. The Wiz Live!, which just aired earlier this month, scored 11 million viewers – still considered a giant audience though only half that of its predecessor.
Live musicals have been huge since NBC introduced the much-derided, but widely watched, Sound of Music Live!, which attracted nearly 22 million viewers in 2013.