Cultural Attaché’s Icons 2025 continues with another Broadway star, Raúl Esparza. This was one of our most popular interviews in 2025.
Esparza was in the early stage of rehearsals for the Hollywood Bowl production of Jesus Christ Superstar that starred Cynthia Erivo in the title role. The production was quick to sell out and earned rave reviews from fans and critics. I’ve heard through the grapevine that there might be more life in this production, but exactly what that will be and when remains to be seen.
Raúl Esparza has yet to win a Tony Award in spite of 4 nominations (Taboo, Company, The Homecoming and Speed the Plow.) He just might get his fifth nomination when Galileo: A Rock Musical comes to Broadway. That hasn’t been announced, but he implied that might be close to coming to fruition.
Our conversation was one of my personal favorites from 2025 and runs the gamut from understanding Pontius Pilate, religion today, why Taboo was so hated by people and the intricacies of his performance as Bobby in Company.
One acknowledgement I should make, I erroneously stated at the top of this interview that Ted Neely had sung the role of Jesus in the original concept album. That was actually Ian Gillan of Deep Purple.
This is an audio only interview, but is filled with images of Raúl Esparza from throughout his career. We spoke on July 24th and the interview was posted on August 2nd.
To read the print version of this interview, which includes clips of Raúl Esparza performing in Road Show, Company and Taboo, please go HERE.
Main Photo: Raúl Esparza (Courtesy RaúlEsparza.com)