GODSPELL

GODSPELL

Brentwood Operatic Society at Brentwood Theatre

05.11.2014

All those YouTube philosophers, draped in blackout curtains, swept away by the colourful hippie world of John the Baptist [happy vest] and Jesus of Nazareth [tasteful white and grey].

Jacob Allan and Ian Southgate [director and musical director for BOS] have given us a stripped down Godspell – all the colour is in the costumes – with lots of cheeky detail: the mineral water, the wristbands, the selfie.

Musically, it was a real pleasure to hear these familiar numbers done unplugged; the choral singing was excellent, in We Beseech Thee, for instance, which was also very successfully staged. Some impressive solo work, too, from Emily Funnell in Day By Day, and Fleur Moore-Bridger in Learn Your Lessons to name but two. By My Side is superbly, touchingly done by the Women Taken In Adultery [Nicole Campbell and Jennifer Bell]. There were opportunities for most of the performers to shine, such as Jack Lloyd in Beautiful City. Good use of percussion, too: drum for the Parable of the Debtor, wood block for All For The Best, nicely put over in a circular vaudeville style by Ben Martins as The Baptist [later Judas] and Stewart Briggs as a gentle Jesus. His voice is on the light side, but his performance is sincere and engaging; this Messiah is a consummate communicator.

The stories and parables, acted out literally and naively by disciples and converts, risk slowing the action and making the actors look like Play School presenters. But generally there was enough enthusiasm and inventiveness [the Ark, the political hypocrites] to carry the narrative from Jordan to Gethsemane and the Crucifixion.

GODSPELL

GODSPELL

Cut to the Chase at the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch

19.05.2014

for The Public Reviews

Somewhere between Hair and Superstar there was Godspell, a free-love, feel-good take on St Matthew with some pretty good songs.

Matt Devitt's bold re-staging almost convinces that it's worth reviving. The playground is now a grungy concrete wilderness, skateboard ramp, wire fences and graffiti which includes some sneaky sacred imagery. Plus of course a keyboard and drum-kit for the actor/musicians who power the show. The clowns are now random performers, in hoodies for the opening, where the philosophers and thinkers [plus L Ron Hubbard] are googled, kicking off with an Essex-accented Socrates.

Musically the show sounds superb [the MD is Julian Littman], with a super-charged rock-rhythmic pulse for the noisy numbers, and, just as effective, simple guitar accompaniment for the more reflective moments, like The Willows, or By My Side, a survival from the original stateside student entertainment that started it all. Wisely, the crosstalk vaudeville All For The Best remains unrevised, and is brilliantly delivered. Only Turn Back O Man disappoints – superbly sung, but really needs a slinky chanteuse to make sense of the style.

The show is eager to please, with its naïve joy in the word of the Lord, but can seem predictable with each parable acted out with naïve enthusiasm, and one clap-along worship song after another. So Devitt skilfully keeps things fresh with constant clever touches: the hypocrites in a supermarket trolley, the water into wine, George Formby and his ukulele as Abraham, Alan Sugar as the rich man – nice to think he'll never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And, alongside all the cartoonish New Testament characters and the sketch-show acting, there are moments of real reflection. The prog-rock crucifixion, red ribbons against the wire fence, foreshadowed in the Baptist's washing of Christ's out-stretched arms, is followed by the simple sincerity of the Deposition. We are left with a more typically upbeat finale, of course, All You Need Is Love on the screens, the audience clapping along to the Megamix medley.

Wonderfully outgoing performances from these ten actor/musicians; Queen's newcomers Patrick Burbridge and Deborah Hewitt impress instrumentally, too, on guitar and violin. Sean Needham is a darkly powerful presence as Judas, and also John the Baptist in the opening sequence, in which Sam Korbacheh's Messiah is discovered wrapped in a blanket. His Jesus radiates intensity and love – a very charismatic figurehead for a cult.

The original Godspell struck a chord, on both sides of the Atlantic, with the generation who went to Sunday School in the 50s and to college in the revolutionary 60s. Does it have any resonance today, when the cynical Book of Mormon is our West End view of religion ? Or, even in this eager-to-please reworking, is it just a feel-good sequence of songs and sketches ?

production photograph by Nobby Clark

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

THINGS TO COME - GODSPELL

GODSPELL

The Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, is to present a new production of the divine smash hit musical – Godspell, from 16 May – 7 June.

This almighty celebration of friendship, loyalty and love is bursting with boundless energy and features a multi-talented cast – all members of cut to the chase…, the Queen’s professional resident company of actor-musicians. It’d be a sin to miss it!

From John and Judas to prophets and parables, Director Matt Devitt’s stylish urban-inspired production retells the timeless story of Jesus - as told in the Gospels - in a gloriously colourful way.

With music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz – the Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer ofWicked - Godspell’s wonderfully uplifting soundtrack is jam-packed with soul-stirring pop, folk and rock hits such as Light of the World, Prepare Ye, Day by Day and many more. All music is played live on stage by the brilliant cut to the chase… company.

In a bid to inject more joy and energy into church congregations, creator John-Michael Tebelak originally wrote Godspell as part of a project in the drama department of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. Since opening off-Broadway in 1971, it has been performed in thousands of shows on Broadway and in the West End, becoming one of the most popular and enduring musicals in modern history.

The cast includes cut to the chase… company members Ellie Rose Boswell, Patrick Burbridge,Georgina Field, Deborah Hewitt, Callum Hughes, Sam Kordbacheh, Megan Leigh Mason, Sean Needham, Sam Pay and Sarah Scowen.

Godspell is directed by Queen’s Theatre Associate Director Matt Devitt, with set and costume design byMark Walters, musical direction by Julian Littman, lighting design by Mark Dymock, sound design by Rick Clarke and choreography by Donna Berlin.

Godspell runs at the Queen’s Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch from 16 May – 7 June. Tickets cost £12.50 - £26.50. Call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or book online at queens-theatre.co.uk

GODSPELL

Billericay Operatic at the Brentwood Theatre

07.10.09

It's so long since I heard Godspell that I'd forgotten the Babel of philosophers at the start. Their confusing theories, in Tebelak's creation, are replaced by the word of the Lord, a message so simple a child could understand it.

And that is the key to the show. This is a Sesame Street Testament, all primary colours and boundless enthusiasm. Sometimes, in Wayne Carpenter's energetic production, the PlaySchool parables did begin to pall. But the show was saved by the verve and vigour of the large cast, and by Stephen Schwartz's timeless songs, well reproduced by MD Derrick Thompson.

The classic numbers include big happy clappy choruses – Day by Day, Bless the Lord – as well as solos and duets, like Prepare Ye, Turn Back O Man – both brilliantly delivered here – and the catchy All for the Best, in the safe hands of the only two credited soloists, Philip Cousins and Wayne Carpenter.

Carpenter, in casual fatigues, was a strong Baptist, as well as Judas in Act 2. Cousins, in cool white, looked liked an American TV evangelist, but was a sincere singer with a very pleasing vocal style, accurately capturing the heart and soul of the show.

Good use was made of the small stage, with Paradise “to let” as a backdrop.