Basking in the miracle of Godspell’s existence
Jesus is a woman, and she teaches love conquers all
How to explain the enduring appeal of Godspell?
Originally a university project, the student production went on to become an off-Broadway hit in 1971. With new numbers from composer Stephen Schwartz (who would go on to write the score of Wicked, among others), the musical went on to have runs in London and Toronto (the latter being a production that is now famous for its cast, including SCTV alumni Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Martin Short, as well as SNL’s Gilda Radner and musical director Paul Shaffer).
A movie version in 1973 gave the property another boost. It appeared on Broadway in 1976 and again in a 2011 revival, and it has played all over the world and with numerous touring companies as well.
Yet Godspell remains very much what it started out as — an earnest, almost naive school production that attempts to align Christian teachings with the hippy-dippy ethos of its time. Structurally, it’s a top-heavy monster. The exhausting first act focuses on each member of the 11-person cast in turn, in song-and-dance numbers and in illustrated parables. These set pieces are interspersed with explanations of the parables — which are drawn from the Gospel of Matthew — by Jesus Christ. I’m not even making this up. The second act is a smoother, shorter ride, with more music and less windy didacticism, but with — this should not be a spoiler — a kind of a downer ending, despite the singing and dancing that wraps up the show.
The Arts Club Theatre Company’s, and director/choreographer Sara-Jeanne Hosie’s, twist on the material is to make Jesus a woman. This turns out to be a smart move, not just for its talking point gimmickry, but because of who has been cast in the role.
Jennifer Copping brings loads of charisma to a part that essentially consists of sermonizing, encouraging other cast members to give themselves over to the teachings of the Holy Father, and a lot of weird foot fetishism (“Did you know I can read feet?” Jesus says at one point, seemingly apropos of nothing). The unfailing generosity of spirit that Copping channels in the role props up the unwieldy structure.
She leads a cast — including another interesting choice, 13-year-old Aubrey Joy Maddock as John the Baptist — that rises to her example. For this two-and-a-half-hour production, the actors not only sing, dance, and act like sheep and goats (it’s a parable), but also play instruments. As a result, Schwartz’s enduring melodies — in songs such as Day By Day, Beautiful City, Light of the World — shine. These are uplifting moments, exuberantly performed.
Hosie and her cast inject wit into the material where they can. This comes mostly in the form of updating the dialogue with modern-day props and pop culture references. One of the parables is presented as a film noir-ish vignette, another is performed with Star Wars characters, another is presented as a Ted Talk.
In the end, I’m not sure what to make of Godspell. The music endures, as does the message of goodwill and community. But what seems most fascinating about the show is that its blend of religion, the Age of Aquarius and musical theatre was ever attempted at all, and that it’s lasted, even thrived, this long.
The summer of 2015 is a long way away from the Summer of Love, or the summer of the Sermon on the Mount, for that matter. But the final show of the Granville Island Stage season brings a healthy dose of love-will-conquer-all sunshine. And that can’t be a bad thing.