 | Godspell (an archaic spelling of the word gospel) is a 1970 musical by Stephen Schwartz (see photo) and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since. Several cast albums have been released over the years and one of its songs, "Day By Day" from the original cast album, reached #13 on the Billboard pop singles chart in the summer of 1972. |
| The structure of the musical is that of a series of parables, taken primarily from the Gospel of Matthew. These are then interspersed with a variety of modern music set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ treated briefly near the end of performance. It started as a college project performed by students at Carnegie Mellon University and moved to La Mama in Greenwich Village. It was then re-scored for an off-Broadway production that was a long-running success, but most people are familiar with the film version or have seen a local high school production of the musical. Although Godspell was produced in many cities throughout the world, the Toronto production in 1972–1973 had a lasting effect on the city's theatrical community and the entertainment world as well. Before Godspell, Toronto's theater community was essentially limited to short runs and touring companies of Broadway and West End plays. When Godspell opened at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, it was expected to be a run of a few dozen performances for what was largely an audience of subscribers to the theater's season. However, the Toronto run had a cast drawn entirely from local performers instead of using a touring company. After an enthusiastic response from the audience, the show moved uptown to the Bayview Playhouse in Leaside after its scheduled run at the Royal Alex ended and ran until August 1973, setting what was then a record run of 488 performances. This record was not broken until the Toronto production of Cats in 1986. Godspell established Toronto as a major theater center that could support its own productions with its own talent. In September 2007, Paul Kerryson directed an all new cast for a Revival UK Tour of Godspell that opened at the Peterborough Key Theatre, and is set to run throughout early 2008. The Show currently stars Tom Bradley (Grease is the Word finalist) as Jesus, Ryan Molloy as John The Baptist/Judas, and the cast also includes Christopher Bartlett, Yildiz Hussein, Paul Ayres, and Tiffany Graves to name but a few. Godspell will return to Broadway in the summer of 2008. It will be directed by Daniel Goldstein and produced by Adam Epstein. It will play in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It will start previews Sept. 29 for an opening date of Oct. 23. It will star Gavin Creel, who was most recently seen in the West End as Bert in Mary Poppins, as Jesus. | |
DAY BY DAY sang by Robin Lamont - Godspell, the film (1973) adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical Godspell | |
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