For many of our subscribers, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” was one of the first songs we heard from the young Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice duo. Who knew they would each go on to such acclaim—and knighthood?
Lloyd Webber and Rice created "Jesus Christ Superstar" as a concept album in 1970 (when ALS and Rice were 22 and 26 respectively. It moved to Broadway in 1971 and has since been produced on West End and hundreds of other stages around the world (with a Broadway revival in 2012) and a 1973 film. This piece is from the 2000 masterpiece performance.
In this song, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” Renee Castle plays Mary Magdalene, a female disciple. She meets Jesus as a man, not as a savior in this last week of his life. She is unsure of her emotions and doesn’t know if she should treat him any differently from the way she has treated other customers. In her self-searching, she discovers a spiritual core.
