John Lydon, Michelle Williams to tour with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’

It sounds a bit like an announcement that should’ve been made on April Fools’ Day, but evidently it’s no joke.

A new production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” will tour the United States and Canada this summer with a truly odd cast of mixed-and-matched pop stars, including Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child as Mary Magdalene and John Lydon -- formerly known as Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten -- in the role of King Herod.

The show is also to feature Brandon Boyd, the hunky frontman of L.A.’s Incubus, as Judas Iscariot, in addition to ‘N Sync’s JC Chasez, who will play Pontius Pilate. The role of Jesus himself will be filled by Ben Forster, the winner of a British reality TV competition who’s played Jesus on earlier tours of the rock opera.

PHOTOS: Unexpected musical collaborations

Boyd and Williams appeared Friday morning on “Good Morning America” to announce the tour, which Williams described as “an arena spectacular.” It’s expected to kick off June 9 in New Orleans and wrap Aug. 16 in Philadelphia; scheduled Southland dates include July 20 at Anaheim’s Honda Center and July 26 at Staples Center.

With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice (who’d previously teamed for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”), “Jesus Christ Superstar” depicts the end of Jesus’ life and climaxes with his crucifixion. It first appeared as a concept album in 1970, then debuted the following year on Broadway.

Since then the musical has been produced many times onstage (including a Broadway revival in 2012 and a tour with Sebastian Bach of Skid Row in 2002) and was adapted for a 1973 film directed by Norman Jewison. Lloyd Webber and Rice went on to create the similarly successful “Evita.”

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Twitter: @mikaelwood