Godspell

No. Only off-Broadway.

Thanks Finding Namo!

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That's not all I asked and I was just starting a convo! UHHHH! I can't even post on this board!

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It's long been one of my favorites. I very much enjoy the music and love to sing along with the various songs if I play the musical in the car. I got the dvd for Christmas, and enjoy watching it. It's kind of funny to see a young Victor Garber playing Jesus. The only disappointment was that they replaced one song from the stage production with Beautiful City. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the song I'm referring to though -- talk about an intellectual interruption!

Just curious, what do you find hard to understand? It's the Gospel according to Matthew, with a couple of the more familiar parables, like the Prodical Son.

Re: The Ambassador.... Looks as if Chicago may have broken that curse. (moving to the theatre and then closing shortly thereafter)

I liked the Godspell Tour of 2001 which I saw/worked on. Great show -- the CD is amazing... and they didn't cut WBT (yes, yes I realize you're talking about it being cut when it was on Broadway. I just thought I'd mention)

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Oh okay -- now see, this is what happens when you only have 3 1/2 hours of sleep and never saw the Broadway production!

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I'm currently in rehearsels for Godspell, and yes- it is an amazing show. The music is fabulous- and I LOVE the off Broadway CD. Barrett Foa is absolutely amazing, as is the entire cast. I didn't know it ran in 3 Broadway theaters, though. Wow. I saw pictures of the original production, and I almost threw up. The clown make-up thing is ridiculous (We're changing that in my show) and they all look like a mix of indians and hippies. Ugh!

GODSPELL is very much a show of its time. I remember seeing the first national tour, and I was moved beyond belief -- and I was only about 12 or 13. The key, I think, to a good production of GODSPELL is the cast...there has to be such a camaraderie there that it spills over into the show. And I don't think you can fake it, either.

I've done the show thrice, and seen numerous productions of it. While the original concept was "clowny" and to our 21st century tastes, is a bit corny, it worked. Treating GODSPELL like a book show never works, IMHO. The cast has to have a personal investment in it, on whatever level. You can't "act" it, you have to "be" it. The best productions are the ones where the cast contributes heavily to the material, I think...those parables can be done in so many different and witty ways.

The worst production I ever saw was when the concept was the cast were business people, and the "Tower of Babble" was done while they were walking to work, on the subway, etc. I think John the Baptist made his entrance as a homeless man in the subway station or some such crap. Erg. Too, too..."stagey".

JP, sometimes they don't even know they blew it at all.

You know my other pet peeve about productions of GODSPELL? When they use the names of the original cast (Peggy, Stephen, Gilmer, Lamar, etc.) as the actual names of the roles! Any idiot can figure out that those were the names of the original cast, and that your cast should use their first names when referring to each other onstage and/or listed in the Playbill. When I see that, it's a warning signal of things to come when the show starts. IMHO

Speaking of Godspell...What is the best recording to purchase?

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I'm perplexed about the person who couldn't understand the lyrics to GODSPELL. I never had problems with them. Could this particular cast be having difficulty with their diction? Could the sound system be in bad shape? GOSPELL has fairly simple lyrics. This is not a Sondheim piece, but an enjoyable one, nonetheless!

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