Take Two Productions recently performed Godspell in the small theatre in Third Baptist Church. That would seem an appropriate location for a musical based on the Gospels. But the room has little if any religious iconography or symbolism in it. Which is fine for Godspell, which keeps things simple and direct. Director Chris Moore and Choreographer Cady Bailey made fine use of the limited space, not only with the traditional march up the aisle at the beginning of the show, but throughout the performance by moving the cast off the small raised stage in the room and out closer to and among the audience. Immersive theatre, if you will, keeping the audience directly involved.
When asked why the Resurrection was not included in the play, the composer of the score Stephen Schwartz responded, “Godspell is about the formation of a community which carries on JESUS’ teachings after he has gone. In other words, it is the effect JESUS has on the OTHERS which is the story of the show, not whether or not he himself is resurrected. Therefore, it is very important at the end of the show that it be clear that the OTHERS have come through the violence and pain of the crucifixion sequence and leave with a joyful determination to carry on the ideas and feelings they have learned during the course of the show.”
This production’s intimacy made visible that development of a community in the players as they began to participate in the cleverly staged acting out of Jesus’ parables and in their responses to his sermons. The audience, too, became a part of it.
Godspell has evolved over the years, from John-Michael Tebelak’s master’s thesis at Carnegie-Mellon University through Off-off, Off, and Broadway, with Stephen Schwartz picked up along the way. Tebelak is still credited for the book, though directors and designers have taken many liberties with it, with casts of clowns and hippies, and even liberties with Schwartz, adding works by other composers and librettists.
Take Two Productions gave us pretty much the show as I remember seeing it, with some variations here and there. They followed the tradition of using the cast members’ own names for the characters they played, identified by the songs they sang. The exceptions were Jesus, John the Baptist, and Judas. Jacob Schmidt radiated natural leadership qualities as Jesus, with a fine singing voice and command of the stage. Kelvin Urday, again following tradition, played both John the Baptist, a stirring preacher and sympathetic baptizer of Jesus, and a confused and pitiable Judas. He too has a fine voice and was a convincing actor in both roles.
With regrettably brief mention, the fine ensemble members were Jacob Swanson, Donald Kidd, Ashwini Arora, Cady Bailey, Victoria Lininger, Rachel Parker, Victoria Pine, Macy White, Ian Brinkley, Joe Simpson, Drew Fisher, Ian McCreary, Lindsey Grojean, Rachel Hallicks, Grace Erickson, Sabrina LeBlanc, Bradley Fritz, and Aaron Kamphoefner.
Music Director Kanisha Kellum was responsible for the fine sound of the production. The minimal scenic design was by Lily Tomasic, with the casual everyday costumes designed by Lauren Smith, Lighting Design by Ryan Thorpe, Sound Design by Russell Sides.
I enjoyed the thoughtful and well-crafted way that Take Two Productions revived (resurrected?) Godspell for us.
—Bob Wilcox
Photo by Kim Smith
