Godspell and Sweet Charity movies?

Sweet Charity has some fantastic musical numbers -- Fosse did an amazing job recreating, expanding and even improving his own choreography and stage work. Maclaine is solid and Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly and several others are excellent. However, the book scenes with John McMartin really tend to drag, injecting far too much melodrama into a simple cartoon of a musical. Fast forward through those and you should have a good time.

It's been too many years since I've seen Godspell, so I'll let someone else comment on it, but I seem to have only lukewarm memories of it.

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All I remember about the Godspell movie is that Victor Garber plays Jesus. And he was really, really skinny.

I believe it WAS pretty loyal to the stage version, though. Sorry I can't offer anything more insightful than that.

The Magic Show is a musical with a score by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Wicked, Godspell). Mind you, the "musical" part of the show is basically there just to separate Henning's big magical illusions.

Pippin is a film of the stage show done after the Broadway run had concluded (I believe the ensemble is from the national tour). It's worth owning for Vereen's Tony-winning performance and Fosse's brilliant staging which manages to conceal how weak the book and the overall show are (though the score has a few gems in it).

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Love the movie version of Sweet Charity but I wasn't fond of Godspell onscreen. I've enjoyed every live production I've seen of it, though!

What's great about the Godspell movie is the fact that it takes place in New York City. It's beautiful to see the panoramic shots of Central Park, whole city streets empty, and even a number on the top of one of the Twin Towers. It cuts out a couple of songs and changes some of the parable/song connections, but it's Godspell and you really get the feel of the show and its spirit. If you don't like the show, you won't like the movie. If you love the show, you'll appreciate the movie. It's interesting to see people like Victor Garber and Lynne Thigpen in it (even though they are more well known than the others, they did start out in the stage production), but it's also nice to see many of the original cast members in the movie. Using people who have done the stage version gives the movie a nice sense of authenticity. Is it the best movie? No, it's not, it's still circus-like and abstract. I think it's a fun movie, though. See what you think about it.

O and listen out for Paul Shaffer, David Letterman's keyboardist. He plays keyboards in the film and has an amazing organ solo during the credits at the end.

~Steven

I enjoyed the "Sweet Charity" film but I did not care for "Godspell" even though I love the song "Day By Day". The rest was a bore. I got it for free with "Rent".

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I highly recommend the Godspell movie but only if you like the show itself. It is an amazing movie. Do rent it.

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