I have to start by pointing out that "gaysian" is not a word. Let's not pretend that's a thing.
Of course, neither is it true that Judas Iscariot was a gay Asian at an American high school that falls in love with fellow classmate Jesus Christ, betrays him, gets him crucified, then celebrates being in control of his own narrative, nor is it true that Jesus and Judas were both girls using masculine pronouns.
What is true is that I don't even know how to rewrite that last sentence with the correct pronouns. Jesus and Judas were men. The girls playing them are using masculine pronouns and saying they are gay men that are playing gay men in the musical.
I'm stumped.
The entire premise of the new musical by Sophie H. Kim is purposefully confusing and heretical.
Kim explains,
"Jesus and Judas are high school seniors at a fancy high school in Hollywood. They are both kind of outsiders in the preppy club of the Disciples. They team up to win prom king and then shenanigans ensue. There's a betrayal. There's a crucifixion."
"It's pretty much ‘Wicked' meets ‘High School Musical' and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,'" Kim added.
Maddie Sebastian, the girl portraying Judas says,
"The message of the show is not that religion sucks, or that God isn't real, or Jesus isn't real. We're not saying any of that. It is merely just a retelling of a work of literary merit," she added.
Of course, calling the biblical story of Judas's betrayal of Jesus a "work of literary merit" that can be changed into a high school musical featuring a homosexual love story shows that none of them really believe that the God of the Bible is real.
And it shows that they have utter contempt for anyone that does.
As the production team emphasizes, there's much more to the story: It's as much, if not more, about self-worth, representation, and Asian American identity as it is about Jesus and Judas.
"I was very excited to join because of the message that it was sending: How an Asian-American character can be in the spotlight and take a hold of their own story, which isn't usually seen in regular pop culture," said co-music director Jennifer G. Arakaki '26.
Yeah, I don't know if I'd celebrate the most infamous traitor in history as a win for Asian-American representation...
I guess it's no surprise that Harvard is hosting the show. After all, this is the school that elected an atheist as its chaplain.
