CHICAGO, ILLINOIS- From the moment American CIA operatives plucked him from Taliban obscurity, folks like area theater producer Mike Polaski could tell that John Walker Lindh was special. After seeing recent publicity photos of the accused Al Qaeda soldier, Polaski decided to cast Lindh in an upcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Chris Superstar.

"He's already got the whole Jesus thing going on," said Polaski. "Forget that he may or may not have conspired to kill American soldiers in an effort to bolster a harsh theocratic regime. He's a gaunt guy with a big scruffy mess of dark hair. He's perfect."

But how could Lindh attend rehearsals while in jail awaiting trial? Evidently, this is a question Lindh's new agent Anita Bath has been hearing quite a bit lately. "The answer is three words: Robert Downey Junior."

Bath says that the process of procuring a work furlough for Lindh was surprisingly easy, much like checking a book out of the library- except with desperate killers instead of books and a heavily fortified military installation instead of cozy book stacks.

Polaski says that Lindh also brought another intangible element to the table: notoriety. The recent trend for big-dollar Broadway productions has been to cast celebrities, both famous and infamous, more for their name recognition than for their singing and dancing skills.

A recent wildly successful production of Grease starred former combatants on Fox's Celebrity Boxing. Vanilla Ice may not have wowed the crowds as Danny. But Tanya Harding's Sandy left not a dry eye in the house.

"When we approached him about the role, he was already in character. He was doing the whole 'angry Jesus vs. the money changers' bit. He was all 'how dare you insult my faith by asking me to portray this man' and everything. It was great."

Using Lindh's remarkable stage presence, Polaski plans to present a daring alternate staging of the play. Instead of nailing Jesus to a cross at the end of the show, uniformed soldiers will duct tape him to a stretcher.

Given that government officials have described Lindh as an enemy of the state, desperate and dangerous, it is surprising how smoothly he seems to have adjusted. As for how well Lindh is getting along with fellow cast members, Polaski admits that he has yet to meet most of them yet.

"He's been very cordial at the few rehearsals we've had so far- of course, he was heavily sedated and restrained during most of it."

"When he's awake, he really shines. John is an incredible improviser, diverting into his 'death to the infidels' thing whenever possible. It always gets a laugh, but just like a pro he stays in character."

Polaski says that Lindh's antics, however repetitive, continue to crack up cast and crew. Whenever the group sends someone out for White Castle hamburgers during late rehearsals, Lindh always refuses, preferring instead to stare at the packaging.

"What do you crave?" asks the bold printing on the bag.

Lindh responds with a sad monotone voice, "I crave...martyrdom."

With more than a hundred pages of dialogue and nearly a dozen songs to memorize, Lind has his work cut out for him. The show opens in early July. Call Ticketmaster for details.