haha...

so apparently, i was really REALLY excited about my last post and decided that since my computer was frozen, i could simply keep pressing the button and it would show up...well, it did...and three times. heheh...like mr. burkett, this blogging thing takes a while to get used to...
today is being devoted greatly to working out musical/band kinks and adding the lights and tech to the show...it's very encouraging to see things developing so quickly and watching everyone keep up. yay!
the summer is quickly approaching, and even though there's a lot of apprehension (getting things memorized, learning how to set the whole production up), i have so much excitement for all the experiences that await this fantastic group!

wow..

so much has been going on these past...week? yeah, i think it's only been a week and some change. crazy how it feels we've been doing this show for a month or two, getting all the kinks worked out.
i have never been more impressed with a cast. they're all so hard-working, yet they still know how to have tons of fun at the same time. and the same goes for the band. everyone is really working at pulling their own weight.
a lot of the cast members have been afflicted with sickness...things from laryngitis to kristen's "esophagitis" (hehehe), to just being really worn out and tired...and yet the cast finds ways to pull together and make the time completely profitable.
and "the powers that be" (professor shamburger, professor burnett, kristi shamburger) are working right alongside us...and it's just really encouraging.
yes, there have been hard times. BUT...there have been great times that seem to let the bad times vanish. the group is bonded, we all laugh together, cry together...it's a beautiful community that i am SO blessed to be a part of. and this feature of the group, more than anything else, will be the message that people walk away with. they will see a group of people who love to be together.
*sigh*
GOD is good.

How Godspell was conceived….

The following is an excerpt from an interview with John-Michael Tebelak that appeared in the Janaury 1975 issue of Dramatics. He remembers the events leading up to selecting his thesis project for graduation from Carnegie Mellon:

“...Finally, I turned toward the Gospels and sat one afternoon and read the whole thing through. Afterwards, I became terribly excited because I found what I wanted to portray on stage—Joy! I found a great joy, a simplicity—some rather comforting words in the Gospel itself—in these four books. I began immediately to adapt it.

I decided to go to Easter sunrise service to experience, again, the story that I had gotten from the Gospel. As I went, it began to snow which is rather strange for Easter. When I went into the cathedral, everyone there was sitting, grumbling about the snow, and the fact that they had already changed their tires. They weren't going to be able to take pictures that afternoon. Snow was upsetting their plans. As the service began, I thought it might be a little different. Instead, an old priest came out and mumbled into a microphone, and people mumbled things back, and then everyone got up and left. Instead of "healing" the burden, or resurrecting the Christ, it seems those people had pushed Him back into the tomb. They had refused to let Him come out that day.

As I was leaving the church, a policeman who had been sitting two pews ahead of me during the service, stopped me and wanted to know if he could search me. Apparently he had thought I was ducking into the church to escape the snowstorm. At that moment—I think because of the absurd situation—it angered me so much that I went home and realized what I wanted to do with the Gospels: I wanted to make it the simple, joyful message that I felt the first time I read them and recreate the sense of community, which I did not share when I went to that service. I went to my teachers at Carnegie and asked if I could work at my own special project for my masters' degree, and they agreed. That following fall, in October, we began rehearsals at Carnegie.”

As we prepare to begin our Summer 2006 tour, we say that the purpose/message of Godspell is to present the joyful message of the hope of Christ through a musical celebration of the gospel according to Matthew.

Meet the other, other Jeremy

I've never really blogged before so I have no idea of the format of these posts so if I'm doing this in a weird way, go ahead and laugh it up, then get over yourself.

My name is Jeremy Burkett and my main role in this whole thing is to play the bass. I've never really acted in the recent history of my illustrious career (except for the show-stopping White Knight I played for my 8th grade production of "Alice in Wonderland". And yes, I did all my own stunts!) So a lot of this is new for me. I really enjoy the music of this show and I hope the people who will see and hear it can get as much out of it as I already have.

More to come later......

Costumes, by Ella Burnett

Well, we spent 2 hours doing costume fittings last night, based on that it appears I still have another shopping trip or 2 to take in before dress rehearsals start on Saturday - of course, this is after 3 major all-day shopping trips thus far.

Basically, I'm trying to make sure everyone has 2 separate outfits that they can choose between while on the road. I like the idea that, costume-look-wise, the show may never look the same twice - randomness. Of course, each of the actor's 2 costumes fall in the same color range, so I'm not upsetting things asthetically. Also, having 2 costumes helps to have more time between laundry runs and therefore less wear and tear on the clothes by the end of the summer. Hope it works, I guess we'll see starting Saturday.

Shall I talk about concept? Sure, why not - I'll warn you, when it comes to design, I'm an intellectual, philosophizing nerd - always a reason behind color choices, silhouette lines, etc.

To begin with, for this particular production of Godspell, we wanted to get away from the old-fashioned, hippy clowns that most people think of when they hear Godspell. We wanted it to be hip and up-to-date for a modern audience; or at least as hip as a bunch of middle-age theatre profs with kids can be hip. Honestly, I had to research fashion magazines for about a month before I semi-understood recent fashion trends - and I'm still not sure I have a great grasp on them.

After studying the fashion scene, I began to look at characters, which for this show is a little hard, since the actors usually are more an exagerrated version of themselves rather than a fictional character. But, Jesus and John the Baptist/Judas are more traditional characters, so I began with them. Looking at Jesus, I was trying to find a modern connection. What would he look like as a modern day carpenter turned teacher? Norm Abrams? No, too stuffy. Hmmm...Ty Pennington?!? And I'm off, looking at photos, researching Extreme Makeover: Home Addition (do they even make the other addition anymore?) This leads David and Mike into a "construction site" concept for the rest of the show that goes well with the "rennovation" message Jesus presents in the Gospel of Matthew. With these ideas beginning to firm, I move on to color - what palette should I use?

Going back to my recent fashion research and my pictures of Ty Pennington, I looked for a trend in this season's colors. What I found was that shades of browns, greens, blues, and oranges are quite popular, which I connected with earth colors - dirt, grass & leaves, sky & water, sun & fire - God's creation. Ty Pennington, if you haven't noticed, wears quite a bit of brown (probably cause it hides dirt and dust well). I saw this as a perfect color choice for Jesus - God in earthly flesh. John the Baptist could be no other color but blue (all that water stuff he does, ya know). After that, the colors become random on the characters, based more on what colors in the palette I could find for the different styles I chose for the other actors. And, I tried to keep a range of styles - dressy, sporty, casual, relaxed, etc. so that different audience members could hopefully personally connect to a least one actor on stage.

Okay, there it is - the thoughts and ideas behind the Godspell costumes. Not quite as deep as I usually go, but probably more than most people will ever expect when they actually see the show. Enjoy!