- June 15, 2025
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Ann Morrison is a Broadway veteran and a luminary in the regional theater firmament. She lives to perform — and she’s a natural born performer. On top of that, she empowers other performers and knows what makes them tick. (That’s why she and Blake Walton led the SaraSolo festival for 10 years.)
Her passion burns deep; her theatrical toolbox overflows with talent and imagination.
Morrison's had many claims to fame over her long career. But her portrayal of Mary in the 1981 premiere of Stephen Sondheim's ill-fated "Merrily We Roll Along" is the one most theater fans know about. It was a rare flop in Sondheim’s incandescent career.
“Merrily” closed on Broadway after a mere 16 performances — and tanked a few careers along with it. Its untimely fate inspired “The Worst Best Thing That Ever Happened,” a 2016 documentary by cast member Lonny Price.
It also prompted Morrison’s “Merrily from Center Stage." Her one-woman show won the 2023 Bistro Award for Outstanding Solo Musical. On a merry note, the 2023 revival of "Merrily We Roll Along," won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. A new generation of Sondheim fans became tantalized by the tale of the original flop. And speaking of resurrections …
Morrison recently put her spirit and her skills to work when Asolo Repertory Theatre colored outside the lines of casting. And gave her the role of King Herod in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Seriously?
King Herod? Ann Morrison?
Seriously.
You wouldn’t think she’d be perfect for the part. But she is.
The story begins with director/choreographer Josh Rhodes. His longstanding relationship with Asolo Rep includes “Guys and Dolls” (2016), “Evita” (2017), “The Sound of Music” (2019) and “Cabaret” (2022). Last fall, Peter Rothstein, Asolo Rep’s producing artistic director, tapped Rhodes to direct and choreograph “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
They discussed finding a fresh take on the musical and its casting. Why not put women in roles where you wouldn’t expect? Why not?
With that, Rothstein had an epiphany … “Hey, what do you think about casting Ann Morrison as King Herod?”
Rhodes thought it was a great idea.
“I immediately laughed,” Rhodes says. “I thought Annie would be absolutely perfect for our approach.”
The director called Morrison. “Hey. We have an idea … how’d you like to play King Herod?"
She loved the idea. But she had one question. Why?
Rhodes replied, “Because Herod’s scene is a musical number, it's a cabaret number, and that's what you're known for in town.”
Morrison happily got on board. In the months that followed, she and Rhodes continued to brainstorm.
And Morrison had her own great ideas.
Morrison’s take on King Herod’s character wasn’t Josh Mostel’s glam version or Alice Cooper’s big bad. It was an original insight, one informed by her legacy as a performer.
She realized that “King Herod’s Song” was basically an audition. “He was making Jesus perform tricks like a trained monkey,” she laughs. “’Walk across my swimming pool! Change my water into wine!’ It was Tim Rice’s revenge on every Broadway bully or overbearing director.”
What if Jesus had performed a miracle and passed the audition?
“Oh, I think Herod was keeping his finger on the chess piece,” she says. “If Jesus had walked across the pool, Herod would’ve said, ‘I knew you could do it all along.’”
Morrison also observed that Herod wasn’t just auditioning Jesus. He was also performing for his own entourage. Rhodes describes the character as a “spoiled, deluded narcissist playing to a crowd of sycophants.”
Morrison agrees. “Herod knows how to get what he wants,” she says. “That’s not hard — nobody ever tells him ‘no.’ He’s just never had to grow up.”
Rhodes loved Morrison’s performative approach to the character – and let her do her own thing in the King Herod scene. It’s a pivotal story point. That said, it’s only one big number in the second act.
But Asolo Rep's "Jesus Christ Superstar" has a small cast. Rhodes asked her to play another role in the first act, as well.
Morrison had ideas for that, too.
For her first act appearance, Morrison crafted a female character with a backstory — Joanna, the wife of Chuza, and the manager of Herod’s household.
Historically, Joanna was said to have followed Jesus after he’d healed her. Morrison sees her as a grounded, maternal presence — a sharp counterpoint to Herod’s swaggering absurdity.
“Joanna’s the complete opposite of King Herod,” she says. “That’s what makes her fun.”
Morrison adds that this role is purely internal. It’s not a speaking part.
“Joanna’s not in the cast list,” she explains. “But I can’t play a generic female chorus member. The audience might not know it, but I need to know who I’m playing.”
That’s the theory behind Morrison’s characterizations.
They came together during rehearsals. And came to light on the Asolo Rep stage.
Morrison steals the spotlight in a single, dazzling scene as King Herod. A 1920s-style song gives her license to unleash her full theatrical arsenal of comedic timing, sarcastic bite, big Broadway vocals and a meta-textual awareness honed by decades on stage. Her bravura performance takes the audience by surprise.
The campy English music-hall number is buried like a time bomb in the rock opera’s second act. Before “King Herod’s Song,” the arid, stony set is harshly lit. Without warning, the stage explodes with a sudden burst of gold.
According to Morrison, the razzle-dazzle is a much-needed release valve. She collaborated with Rhodes on the concept, and also cooked up some bits of physical comedy. “We do faux healings, visual gags and even have a puppet Jesus,” she says. “It’s sacrilegious but hilarious.”
It's a star performance. The Asolo audience gets a kick out of it. But needless to say, Jesus is the superstar in question in “Jesus Christ Superstar.” King Herod isn’t the lead role.
Morrison’s cool with that. “I’m not the star,” she says. “I’m used to it, and I love it! I’m the second woman, and that’s always my favorite part.”
According to Morrison, the “second woman” is theater jargon for a secondary female lead. A foil, romantic rival,or friend, typically flamboyant.
Morrison remembers bringing it up in a conversation she had with her son, Huck, when he was 7 years old. As she recalls it …
“Mom, do you see your life as a movie?”
“Well, yeah, I guess so.”
“You're the lead, right?”
“No, I’m not the lead.”
“You’re not the lead in your own life?”
“No, I’m the second woman. They have all the best lines.”
Morrison laughs at the memory.
“And I thought, ‘What a great metaphor!’ So, I live my life as though I’m the second woman. There’s so much drama in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ But I’m not in that play. In the movie of my life, I’m in a comedy. And consciousness is the playwright and director.”
She notes that acting is a spiritual act. “You’re a bard, you’re a channel,” she explains. “It’s not about ego, but about dissolving ego.”
To Morrison, all the world really is a stage.
“There’s a larger consciousness behind our individual personalities,” she says. “That awareness is really playing us. So, in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ Ann Morrison will be playing the roles of Herod and Joanna. The role of Ann Morrison will be played by consciousness.”
Far out, as they used to say back when "Jesus Christ Superstar" first burst onto Broadway in 1971.
