Godspell question

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:11pm

So I am doing Godspell in April and I was wanting some opinions on the show. Character wise I know you use your own name and all but does that mean on stage you are playing yourself or is it better to find a character? I hope that makes sense. Thoughts, opinions. I have never seen the show and I am do it with a professional company so I wanted to get some opinions.

[MadProps86]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:22pm

I think it depends on how the production is staged. For instance, I was in the show my senior year of high school. Instead of the eight "disciples" of Jesus, we had about twenty people in the core group as well as a chorus. Each character is definitely played up to their different strengths, and that can really be seen in the script, such as lines and the songs each character is assigned. It was harder for our group since most of us never had only one character's line. Just getting an idea of the character based on your reading or the direction the director wants you to go seems to be the best way to portray the character(s).

There's a fan page for Godspell that had this breakdown of characters listed below. The characters get their names from the actors who originally portrayed them, so it's traditional to use the new actor's name, at least from what I know.

Jesus- Must be the most charismatic individual in the cast. High enegy, charming, funny, gentle but with stregnth. He is the sort of person others instinctively follow.

John the Baptist/Judas- He has attributes of both Biblical figures: he is both Jesus' lieutenant and most ardent disciple and the doubter who begins to question and rebel. Like Jesus, he is also charismatic, but in more of an overt revolutionary way. Usually played by someone handsome and masculine, with an undertone of sexuality. He is the most "serious" and intellectual of the group, though as with all the actors, he must still possess a good sense of physical comedy.

Jeffrey- Very high energy. Impish and playful. In the original, he played several musical instruments, including concertina and recorder.

Lamar- Not the brightest in the bunch, he is a little slow on the uptake. But there is a great sweetness and innocence about him. Because he sings "All Good Gifts," he must be a very good singer.

Herb- The comedian, the class clown. The guy who can do a hundred voices and imitations. This is also the role that sings the least, so it is wise to cast it for a comedian rather than a vocalist.

Robin- A bit of a tomboy, but basically open and sweet. She is the first of the group to commit to following Jesus in the song "Day by Day."

Joanne- The confident one, the show-off. The first one to vounteer, sometimes jumps in before she really understands what's going on.

Peggy- The shy one. Sometimes a little slow to get things, but when she does, she commits all the way. Has an "earth mother" kind of warmth to her.

Sonia- Sassy and slightly cynical, the most urban of the group. Also the "sexy" one, but her sexiness contains a large element of put-on, in the manner of Mae West or Madonna(who in fact once played this role).

Gilmer- The female equivalent of the class clown. Goofy and a cut-up. this is the female role that sings least, and therefore should be cast with a strong comedienne.

In addition to each individual being able to stand out, it is important that all be able to function as an ensemble, without any feeling that any one(other than Jesus) stands out above the others. Other important traits to look for in casting are comic ability and skill at improvisation.

Information from http://www.geocities.com/cugodspell/characters.html


Updated On: 1/31/08 at 11:22 PM

[george95]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:38pm

When I did "Godspell" in high school, we used our own names for character's names, but we still referred to the guy who played Jesus as Jesus. But at one point during the show, the Jesus character referred to me as "George" several times in one scene, like he was supposed to, and I finally just called him by his real name instead of Jesus, and the rest of the cast kind of gasped and we moved on.
So I agree with one of the previous posters--it depends on the way it is staged. The other weird part of our production is that the last time our director had done Godspell was in the 70's, and he insisted that we use all these 70's pop-culture references that none of us had ever heard of.

[roquat]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 12:01am

I love GODSPELL, but I've seen (or participated in) so MANY awful productions--I think it is best when you play yourself putting on the various characters required by the parables. Ideally, the script should be a taking-off place, not taken literally. The cast and director should do a great deal of experimenting and workshopping, coming up with contemporary characters and pop-culture references. That's why it's such a good show for colleges and high schools, who have the freedom to use that approach--it's really a show about the theatrical process itself. The best production I ever saw of GODSPELL did one parable as a Judge Judy episode, one as a "Titanic" takeoff, one as a "Family Feud" show pitting the cast of "Married With Children" against the cast of "The Beverly Hillbillies", etc., etc. Obviously very dated references now, but that's the point--no two productions of this show should ever be quite alike. That's why I hate it when summer-stock theatres trot out GODSPELL as a "can't miss" warhorse, using the same old 1960s flower-child/magical junkyard concept that we're all sick of.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 12:20am

It definitely depends on how it's staged. When I did it, I cast people with personalities similar to those of the original characters', which worked best in terms of the songs and parables. We did, of course, update it and used references to American Idol, Austin Powers, Mike Myers' Linda Richman from SNL, Silence of the Lambs, and so forth. Most of these are also dated now, but as roquat said, the show should always adapt to the times.