Should a woman be cast to play Jesus?

[dmcsherr]

A local public school is considering Jesus Christ Superstar as their musical. The school has an award-winning drama program. They might cast a female in the role of Jesus. Given the vocal range required for the role, there may not be a suitable male voice. Since the message of Jesus is the whole point, does it matter if the role is played by a female? Should Christians in the community be concerned about this?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Since this is a secular play being produced by a public school, I don’t think there’s much likelihood that it will cause confusion for Christians if a woman is cast as Jesus. In the history of the theater there has been a longstanding tradition of men playing women’s roles, so there doesn’t seem a problem if a woman plays a man’s role. The only caveat seems to be that it should be clear to the audience that the character in question is a man and not a woman.