It may sound like an unlikely match — an evangelical Hollywood veteran producing a musical about a teenage Catholic saint. But for "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer, the story of St. Bernadette Soubirous — a young French girl who reported multiple apparitions of the Virgin Mary between February and July 1858 at a grotto in the village of Lourdes — proved impossible to forget.

"You can't turn your back on this," said Grammer last week at Chicago's Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture, where he and some cast members previewed the American debut of "Bernadette: The Musical."

'I wanted to be part of it because the simple beauty of this young lady who told the truth and stuck to it through amazing pressure, she earned her sainthood.'

“This young girl had a ... stick-to-itiveness and tenacity that can only come from the innocence of a child," Grammer continued. Already a hit in France, the show depicts the young Bernadette persisting in her claims despite skepticism from townsfolk and the local priest.

"That energy in the face of pure innocence becomes a really interesting battle,” said Grammer.

Soubirous subsequently became a nun, dying at 35. She was canonized in 1933. The site of the visitations is now the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, a popular pilgrimage site for believers seeking miraculous healings.

Simple beauty

Introducing a selection of songs from the musical, Grammer emphasized the connection he felt to the project.

“I wanted to be part of it because the simple beauty of this young lady who told the truth and stuck to it through amazing pressure, she earned her sainthood,” he said.

“Man’s search for faith on this planet is part of why we're here. Part of our understanding of being a human being is to figure out where we fit in the universe and what our relationship is like to the creator of that universe, and I'm delighted to be here to take the story further for people.”

'Jesus made a difference'

Grammer has made no secret of his Christian faith. In 2023 he starred as Pastor Chuck Smith in "Jesus Revolution" — a role he said helped him find peace with God in the face of his own past struggles, which included drug and alcohol addiction as well as the murder of his younger sister in 1975. "Jesus made a difference in my life," he told USA Today while promoting the movie. "That's not anything I'll apologize for."

Speaking alongside show director Serge Denoncourt and fellow lead producer Pierre Ferragu, Grammer recalled being introduced to "Bernadette: The Musical" by his friend Fr. Mark Haydu, former international director of the Patrons of the Arts at the Vatican Museums.

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Mic drop

Grammer said he was particularly moved by the "mic drop" moment in which Bernadette finally convinces her priest of the truth of her visions.

The vision tells her, "Tell them you’re speaking to the Immaculate Conception." ... She goes to the priest, and he asks "Who is it?" She says the Immaculate Conception, and he falls to his knees and is convinced. Because in her own limited history of faith, she does not know what they would even mean.

Grammer remains one of Hollywood’s most unapologetic and outspoken conservatives. A longtime Tea Party supporter and climate change skeptic, he has repeatedly endorsed President Donald Trump and spoken proudly about his beliefs. As he told the Times earlier this year, “It’s great to have somebody who actually means what they say [in office].”

"Bernadette: The Musical" will begin its nationwide tour in February 2026 at the Athenaeum Center in Chicago and is slated to tour at least 13 major cities.