Godspell - 1996

History

From the director...

Twenty-five years ago, a couple of young students at Carnegie-Mellon University got their big break. Godspell, their drama project at school, was picked up by backers and sent to Broadway where it sold lots and lots of tickets. It still does.

Today, however, the show seems to be a tiny "time capsule" from 1971. The words and music of Stephen Schwartz seem to outline the pop tune styles of that year. It's like he had an entire 70s juke-box in his head when he wrote his songs. There's a great "Judy Collins/Joan Baez" folk ballad, a vaudeville number, a funky, get down kind of "Laura Nyro" groove thang, a Yee-Haw! country number and even a sweet and sincere "Burt Bacharachy" jazz-waltz tune in the mix. Some of the fun of the show is identifying these little nuggets of cultural history.

Choreographer Carlos Jones and I even went one step further. Since each of the show's numbers were distinct units, we had fun paying tribute to different Broadway choreographers. If you watch closely, you'll find an "hommage" or two to Michael Kidd, Bob Fosse, Agnes de Mille and even Kathryn Dunham in the witty movement by Mr. Jones.

Godspell is presented by special arrangement with Theatre Maximus.