Preview Review

Rev. Patrick Jones, who serves as the Healthy Church Ministries Director of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, was invited to sit in on a pre-tour performance of Godspell. He posted notes about the show on his ClusterCoach blog.

Once again I was struck with the remarkable way this story presents the psychological, social and relational trends that represent us as sinful human beings through the centuries and then gives voice to Jesus speaking the truths of the Sermon on the Mount and familiar parables into those trends...This is a great opportunity to reach into the lives of our pre-Christian, unbelieving friends with a high quality, Scripturally sound presentation of the Gospel. It gives a foundation for further dialog with your friends about the Gospel, and just may serve as the bridge to see them coming to faith in Christ.

Read Pat's entire review here: http://www.ubonline.org/clusters

Production Notes

After seeing a run-through of the show on Wednesday, John Paff wrote the following introduction for the performance program. The links below point to "little known facts about Godspell" on the show's official website at Huntington University.

Welcome! The purpose of Godspell is to present the joyful message of the hope of Christ through a musical celebration of the Gospel.

Jesus came to Earth in an era very much like our own – an age of conflicting philosophies and religious perspectives. The opening scene of Godspell captures this Babel of competing worldviews. If you are left a bit confused by all this, then we have done a good job of setting the stage for what is to come.

Onto the scene steps our Jesus. Unlike earlier productions of Godspell , which cast Jesus and his disciples as a traveling band of troubadours, we interpret Christ as the master carpenter of the ultimate world makeover show. Jesus comes to help his followers remodel their lives.

You will immediately recognize Jesus’ stories. The script of Godspell is drawn nearly verbatim from the Gospel according to Matthew. The parables are punctuated with memorable songs by Stephen Schwartz that combine 18th century hymnbook lyrics with 20th Century rock'n'roll.

There is a fair amount of reverent silliness in Godspell , particularly in the first act. Playwright John-Michael Tebelak reminds us that the teachings of Jesus were thought ridiculous and absurd in His own day. Godspell reacts against the dour, ivory-tower intellectualism that robs our faith of joy.

The second act focuses on Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion. In one particularly poignant scene, Jesus helps his disciples pack up the construction tools they have used in vain attempts to rebuild their own lives. Through His death and resurrection, the Master Builder completes construction of the new life. The finale is a joyful celebration of the risen Christ.

Costume II, ii

To the list in my earlier post, add...

5 ladies tops
4 ladies tank tops
3 shopping trips
2 men's t-shirts
1 belt

And a very tired costume designer....

Hmmm this sounds familiar...

Why, hello...

Hey, everybody... This is my first post on this Godspell blogsite or whatever, so... yeah...

Things are going well. I was in around 1-2 feet of space on the top part of the trailer putting trusses, lights, and ladders up there. It was pretty cool. I'm officially named "Grease Monkey" for my ability to squeeze into small places and move stuff around. Today, we head off for the Nazerene Church here in town. Should be pretty cool, I think. My personal goal is to destroy our load out/setup/strike/load in time from yesterday, which I think is definitely feasible.

K, I guess that's all I have for now, gotta head to rehearsal. Have a great day :D.

Costumes II

Well, I spent most of the weekend costume shopping and watching dress rehearsals and, of course, more shopping. Things are going fairly well and things are working for the most part, just a couple of shirts/tops that keep giving me trouble. And shoes...

I calculated (approximately) last night that for 13 actors/performers (7 ladies + 6 men) I have bought a total of:

27 pairs of shoes (11 for the men/16 for the ladies)
16 pairs of men's shorts
19 pairs of ladies' capris
2 skirts
15 ladies' tank tops
22 miscellaneous ladies' tops
15 men's t-shirts
15 miscellaneous men's shirts (i.e. button-downs, polos, etc)
10 belts
15 plastic shoeboxes
13 make-up boxes
40 regular hangers
28 hangers w/pant clips
6 cans of odor-eater spray for shoes
6 hanging odor "destroyers" for the wardrobe
1 iron
1 portable steamer
1 ironing board
2 collapsable laundry hampers
the makings of 2 emergency sewing kits
and I don't know how many pairs of socks, miscellaneous laundry supplies, and other costume "accessories"

...all purchased in one of 8 major shopping trips (not counting quick runs to Wal-Mart or K-Mart) covering over 400 miles and a little over 40 hours

Schwartz's First Impressions of Godspell

From an Interview with Stephen Schwartz on www.stephenschwartz.com

Stephen Schwartz had his first encounter with Godspell on March 7, 1971 at the Café LaMama off-off-Broadway:

“It was a pretty shaky time in my life. I had been musical director of a show that had just flopped and I had just lost my job at RCA Records. I got a call from Charlie Haid, whom I had known at college; he was working with two producers, Edgar Lansbury and Joe Beruh, who had heard me audition the score for PIPPIN. He told me they were thinking of moving a show called Godspell from LaMama to Off-Broadway and asked if I would be interested in writing a score for it. I went to see it that night. I remember the energy and freshness and being astonished that John-Michael Tebelak, the conceiver/director, had discovered so much humor in material which I had always seen treated with ponderous solemnity. Above all, I remember feeling the joy I shared with the other members of the tiny audience.

Five weeks later, we went back into rehearsal with my score (and one song we retained from the LaMama production, the lovely “By My Side.”) The rehearsal period was intense and strenuous, though full of laughter, and there was a kind of focus that I didn’t know then was unusual. We did not think at all past opening night, about things like hit or flop, reviews and ticket sales. There was no second-guessing. I remember late in previews, one of the cast members saying with wonder, “Do you realize critics are going to write about us?” and all of us looking at him with astonishment. It had never really entered our minds.

I know there was a sort of innocence and purity about that experience which I spent too long trying to find again. But Godspell will always be a special show for me, and that spring of 1971 a special time.”

Another quote from Schwartz:

"I come not from a Christian upbringing and therefore I really didn't know the New Testament. I was reading some of these parables for the first time and the hymns that I set with new music for the show are all from the Episcopal Hymnal. I basically was responding to the material fresh,
for the first time."

whoa...technology...

part of the cast went to see x3 tonite...mixed feelings about it. it was good to have some more fun with these kids. its been a long and productive week and i really feel like the cast is beginning to gel (not that there wasn't a chance we wouldn't) and have ridiculous amounts of fun, even outside of rehearsal. i'm getting antsy about being on the road (clairify: excited-antsy...an-c.bus, if you will), but we have a ways to go and plenty of time in which to do it. tomorrow we start load in practice-ness, so lets pray nobody gets too injured. my legs (along with several other's) look like a small school boy's after a game of soccer...knees too. its worth it though. i'm a sucker for the stories...ok...3 am and my bed calls. God bless