Jesus Christ Superstar comes to Birmingham

Jesus, or, rather, the impeccably-talented Glenn Carter, who plays the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar at Birmingham's Hippodrome from Monday until November 7, is a long-time leader of the British branch of the international UFO religion, the Raelian Movement.

As I understand it, the movement is predicated on the following belief: humans were created by four foot tall aliens.

Glenn, however, says that's too simplistic a view. So when I ask him about religion, he launches into a 10-minute explanation that is simultaneously breathless, bewildering and brilliant.

We'll cut out the main parts, for at the end of his explanation, our heads were spinning like plates on a circus performer's spike.

"I am Raelian, I just am. It's not a coat I put on. I am it all the time. It's just part of who I am, it's like breathing. The Raelian Movement is an atheist human rights movement. The movement is all about human rights. It's also a religion of science, though it's not scientology.

"It's about science being pursued without limits, then being limited once it's discovered something. I run a campaign for therapeutic human cloning to be legalised. It sponsors science. It's a philosophy, it's not faith-based."

On the subject of God, Jesus, or, rather, Glenn, is particularly forthright: "There is no God. God was a translation mishap." So that's that sorted, then. Phew. 2,000 years of confusion and religious wars ended in a sentence. Similarly, Glenn's got his thoughts in good order regarding one of the key modern theories that repudiates religious doctrine: Darwinism.

"Darwinism was disproved in 1991 by a scientist called Dr Michael Behe." I look it up on Google. He's right – in the minds of some. And then Glenn offers a six-minute, unpunctuated explanation as to why Darwin was wrong. Much as I love a good theory, it's tough to follow. "We were created by people who came from the skies," is how it ends.

So there we have it. No God. No Jesus. No Natural Theory of Evolution. But there were 4ft tall people in spaceships. Sorted.

Religious theories aside, Glenn will take to the stage from Monday until November 7 in one of the region's blockbuster productions for autumn. Jesus Christ Superstar will play out at The Hippodrome and the production has already been described as 'an unforgettable musical triumph'.

Glenn is well placed to take the leading role. He's featured in Jesus Christ Superstar on five separate occasions. Not that Glenn is bored of it, far from it. The productions have all been very different and he's more excited by the new production than those that went before.

"It never gets boring. It has the greatest song for a leading man in musical theatre, Gethsemane. It's the most emotionally complex song I know of. I personally think it's the greatest song written for a leading man to sing in musical theatre."

Glenn has remarkable pedigree. He got into musical theatre by chance, having formerly played professional football for Chester FC. He suffered a catastrophic injury – somebody broke his leg – so he ended up working in clubs. He got a gig as a tour manager for the 1970s pop band Imagination and sang in hotel bars afterwards. "One of the girls told me I should start singing and go to acting school." So he did. It was all very casual. And he's never stopped working since.

One of his biggest recent hits was Jersey Boys. Glenn was part of the cast that made it a West End smash, taking the lead role of Tommy DeVito. "It was a massive, massive hit – although it was not a hit at all when we started. We worked and worked and worked."

Glenn is looking forward to playing in Birmingham "I love Brum and I love the Bull Ring; I can't wait to do a bit of shopping."

By Andy Richardson