aislesay.com
Nobody intends to write a dated musical, but the cannon of Stephen Schwartz would seem to indicate a
predilection. But it’s a curious one, for, far from choosing trendy subjects and stories (a la Cy Coleman), he
often seems attracted to ageless universal verities: the quest for ultimate fulfillment that leads to
compromise ("Pippin"), the rituals of parents and children as they grow and change ("Children of Eden"),
the allure of illusion ("The Magic Show") and–fine debut for a nice Jewish boy–the Christ story ("Godspell").
The recent attempts by the author to update and/or revise have seemed like benign exercises, from worthy
("…Eden") to unhelpful ("Pippin"), so one approaches the notion that he is at it again with some wariness.
Thus it is a great surprise and pleasure to report that the revival of "Godspell" currently housed in the
Theatre at St. Peter’s (a.k.a. the present home of the York) is just dandy.
Using the parables of St. Matthew as a jumping off point, "Godspell" enacts the Christ story through an
unpretentious ensemble of young singer-actors, whose clowning irreverence is a strangely eloquent act of
devotion. When the show debuted in the 70s, the notion of clowning was taken literally. As the young
people assembled to loosely take on the roles of savior and saints, they also, in front of the audience,
donned clown make-up and regalia. As they went through their paces–which often brilliantly gave the
illusion of improvisation–they used the slang and patois and references of their generation.
Under the direction of Shawn Rosa, this new "Godspell"…does pretty much the same thing, with the
differences being: (a) the clown regalia is less literal, adapted from casual gen X/Gap/streetwise/rocker
fashion (no makeup) rather than circus imagery; and (b) it is the current contemporary diction that fuels the
playful tone. Why should this updating work so fluidly and freely when so many other "updates" of other
musicals seem labored and artificial? Because, all creative team protestations to the contrary, the basic
concept of "Godspell" has been utterly unchanged. What has been altered is merely the cosmetic shell that
allows you to believe "Godspell" is fresh in the hands of the current young generation. Which it must be in
order to work properly. Curiously–and unique to this odd-duck musical–such updating might well be
viewed as part of the concept: its references, "improvisations" and style comments have to stay current for
the show’s crucial core notion–an unpretentious, iconoclastic, relevant and above all youthful telling of the
Christ story though parables and theatre games–to remain secure and unaltered. (Oh, yes: Schwartz has
revised some lyrics and reconfigured some music too, but the new material has remarkably little effect on
the subject at hand; let’s just label the tinkering "author’s prerogative" and say that if the score hasn’t
gained much æsthetic enhancement in the process, nor has it suffered any damage. Schwartz has merely
re-thought a few things to his liking and on aggregate, the effect is pretty much the same as it has been for
thirty years.)
The cast of ten are a rainbow coalition of fresh, funny, talented new information–some of them likely
musical theatre mainstays (or even stars) on the come–and they are Shoshana Bean, Tim Cain, Catherine
Carpenter, Will Erat, Barrett Foa, Lucia Gianetta, Capathia Jenkins, Chad Kimball, Leslie Kritzer and
Eliseo Roman.
How much you fall under God’s spell is up to you. But the spell cast by this ensemble, and the production
they inhabit, is one of the nicer surprises of the summer–and in terms of understanding why that should be
so, one of the more interesting recent revelations in the American musical theatre. ~David Spencer, aislesay.com
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