Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Deacon's Bench

Home
Catholic
Religion News
"Godspell" gets born again

"Godspell" gets born again

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:17 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

"Godspell" gets born again 2015-03-13T17:17:07-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

With “Godspell,” as with so many things, you never forget your first time.

Mine was in the spring of 1973, on an 8th grade class trip that took us down to Ford’s Theater in Washington to see that “hippie musical about Jesus,” as one of the nuns in the school disdainfully called it (though to this day, I think she had it confused with “Jesus Christ, Superstar”). Anyway, in 1973 all the kids at St. Peter’s School in Olney, Maryland knew the music. “Day by Day” and “All Good Gifts” had become staples at guitar masses. We were expecting a nice time (and a day off from school). But nothing quite prepared me to be so captivated by Matthew’s gospel, told in clown face and wacky pantomime, with references to “Laugh In” and Richard Nixon thrown in. I certainly wasn’t prepared to find myself so moved at the finale, as they carried the body of Jesus down the aisle of the tiny theater and then broke into a joyous dance. “Long live God…Prepare ye the way of the Lord!” When the cast came running back down the aisles for the curtain call, the whole theater was on its feet screaming and I found myself clapping until my hands hurt.

Just three years later, as a frizzy-haired high schooler, I was cast in a community theater production of “Godspell,” and this time, I was the one running down the aisle at the end to the thumping chords of “Day by Day,” and watching from the edge of a rickety wooden stage, looking out at the beaming faces of people who just got it – they got the gospel, the exuberance, the uplift, the joy. I remembered what I had felt like back at Ford’s Theater a few years earlier. It was a blast to give some of that back.

So this week, when I took my seat in the audience at the Circle in the Square for the Broadway revival of “Godspell,” I had to wonder: would it be that good? Would it give me that “Godspell“ glow I remembered from all those years back?

Oh yeah. And how.

This “Godspell” has it: the energy, the wonder, the joy and – most magically — the sense of surprise. Expect the unexpected.

So: expect the wooden stage to be transformed into a pool – the better for baptisms, of course, and to provide a place for Jesus to casually walk across the water. Expect that same pool to become a fizzy, smoky, glowing table for the Last Supper. Expect trap doors to pop open and for the stage to reveal, suddenly, trampolines. Expect musicians to materialize in the audience with guitars, and for people sitting near the stage to be drafted, without any warning, as extras in the Greatest Story Ever Told As a Party Game. (Advice: practice your “Pictionary” before you buy your tickets.) Expect to encounter Donald Trump and Oprah and jabs at “The Lion King” and even gags about Occupy Wall Street and Steve Jobs.

Expect a cast that is gifted in, well, everything – improvisation, impressions, gymnastics. And singing. Yes, of course, the singing! These kids have amazing pipes. Every rendition of every song made me turn to my wife and say, “I gotta get the album for this.”

And expect, too, to find the material – the parables, the lessons, the dramatic reenactment of the gospel – played with a sense of both mischief and mission. It’s all done with a kind of irreverent reverence that is the hallmark of this show, and it just clicks.

Of course, for all its fun, “Godspell” won’t work if it doesn’t stir the heart, and this one does. The actors connect with one another in a way that makes them believable disciples. As a result, when Jesus is torn away from them, you feel it. The crucifixion – with Jesus bound to a steel beam, paper flowers dangling from his wrists – is still unexpectedly moving.

And if you have the kind of memories of “Godspell” that I have, you’ll also feel by the finale that you have witnessed something wondrous. For a couple fleeting hours, this production stirs up, in its own impish way, 40-year-old memories of another age and another time that I thought were long buried.

This isn’t just a revival. This is something better – and something “Godspell” needs to be.

It’s nothing less than a resurrection.

And I gotta tell you: I’m a believer.

Music

My world and welcome to it

Previous Post

October 26, 2011

UN: Catholic Church not contributing to population boom

Next Post

October 27, 2011 "Amazingly, the clergy sex abuse scandal did not deter men from answering God's call..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism education Education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for his brother?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jacob Esau Laban Joseph

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »