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Mostly cloudy early, then afternoon sunshine. High 46F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..
Partly cloudy. Low near 35F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: April 24, 2024 @ 12:13 am
Tor Campbell (center of circle in gray sweats), director and choreographer of the Beverly Theatre Guild production of “Godspell,” works with the cast rehearsing a dance number. In the foreground, wearing the black cap with his back to the room is Ben Walker who plays John the Baptist/Judas in the production. (photo by C. Flynn)
Tor Campbell (center of circle in gray sweats), director and choreographer of the Beverly Theatre Guild production of “Godspell,” works with the cast rehearsing a dance number. In the foreground, wearing the black cap with his back to the room is Ben Walker who plays John the Baptist/Judas in the production. (photo by C. Flynn)
In 1973, Chicago’s legendary film critic, the late Roger Ebert, reported that he had to be almost dragged to the theater to see the musical play “Godspell.”
“Its subject matter,” Ebert said, “sounded so depressingly contemporary.”
However, he had positive comments after he saw the play.
“What caught my heart was its simplicity, its refusal to pretend to be anything more than it is,” Ebert wrote. “It’s a series of stories and songs, like the Bible is, and it’s told with the directness that simple stories need. For a musical based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, ‘Godspell’ is strangely irreverent, wacky and endearing.”
Now, “Godspell” is coming to the community as the final production for this year’s season of the Beverly Theatre Guild (BTG), Chicago’s longest running community theater group.
The BTG will perform “Godspell” on Friday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 4, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m., at the Baer Theater at Morgan Park Academy, 2153 W. 111th St.
In the first act, “Godspell” presents Jesus as a very human young man, sharing his parables, stories that illustrate moral lessons, with a group of people from all walks of life. They act out the parables, gain an understanding of the messages that they share through song and dance, and they become his disciples. The stories include the well-known Prodigal Son and Good Samaritan.
Humor is used in acting out the parables, and the songs and dances are lively and enthusiastic. Many of the songs have hymn-like qualities, like the play’s best-known song, “Day by Day,” which made it to the Billboard charts and was recorded by numerous artists.
The second act, presented more seriously in tone, covers the Passion and crucifixion of Jesus. The promise of redemption, however, still comes through joyously in song and dance.
“Godspell,” which debuted in 1971, was the first musical written by Stephen Schwartz. He went on to win an Academy Award for the score of the Disney animated feature “Pocahontas” and a Grammy Award as composer and lyricist for “Wicked.”
In 2011-2012, Schwartz updated the lyrics of “Godspell,” and a revival came to theaters. One reviewer wrote that the lyrics “pop,” with “a simple, laid-back charm and opportunities for the cast to stand out, with each receiving at least one lead vocal part in the bouncy, infectious score.”
According to Tony Zawila, BTG producer of the play who has worked with BTG for nine seasons in various capacities, BTG is staging the 2012 revival, and things are coming together nicely.
“It’s been really wonderful watching the cast evolve. Even at the auditions and callbacks, they instinctively started to interact and bond with each other, and that’s important because that’s really what this whole play is about,” said Zawila. “Even though they have differences of opinions, they come together.”
Zawila gives much of the credit to Tor Campbell, the director/choreographer, for bringing the production along.
“He has great vision and energy for this production,” said Zawila, “and encourages and coaches the staff.”
For his part, Campbell, who is working with BTG for the first time, has been focusing on bringing “Godspell” into today’s time, and it’s set in today’s world.
“The story is of the Bible; we know it is about Jesus and that’s very Christian,” said Campbell. “We are taking it beyond that, so that whatever religion you are, these parables are talking about finding the good self in you as a person. That’s number one.
“Number two, we are making this into a journey of current Chicago. On the set, you’ll see recognizable things like Navy Pier and statues and sculptures from Chicago. The characters are going to journey through Chicago with Jesus in today’s world.”
Much of the set relies on images projected on the stage through new technology and lighting that BTG acquired through a grant, bringing both the play’s setting and the production itself into 2024.
There are only two roles in “Godspell” defined by biblical names. These are Jesus, and John the Baptist/Judas. BTG always does a good job with casting, selecting actors well-matched for their roles. After interviews with the actors performing the lead roles, that appears to be true for this production.
Jesus is being played by Sterlin Johnson, who has done five productions with BTG.
Johnson said he is “blessed” to be cast in the lead role, and he was attracted to the play for a good reason.
“It doesn’t matter what religion you’re behind,” he said, “you just want to get behind what Jesus is trying to do.
“Jesus was created to be perfect, to be God, yet he was constantly looking out for the little people who everyone else would probably step on. He teaches people to be altruistic and selfless, to treat others the way you would want to be treated, and everyone can agree that these are important things to go by.”
Johnson said it’s a bonus “to also be able to be a clown and move around and dance and sing and be a fun-loving person as well.”
The actor’s own sincerity in delivering the messages of the parables comes through when he talks about what he hopes the audience will take away from the show.
He wants to make sure everyone has fun, but also that they really listen to the messages with an open mind and an open heart.
“Jesus was saying some really, really important things,” said Johnson, “things that I believe if we took them as seriously as we take them in the show, we can make the world a better place.”
Jesus is ushered into the show by John the Baptist, and his exit is hastened by Judas, the disciple who betrays Jesus. Both roles, as intended by Schwartz, are played by the same actor. For the BTG production, that actor is Ben Walker, in his second BTG production.
“John the Baptist and Judas are both conflicted characters,” said Walker. “John motivates people through the threat of burning forever, and then Jesus preaches love and acceptance. Judas and Jesus are friends and colleagues, but Judas speaks up, tap dancing around, to challenge Jesus’s message.”
Walker was conflicted about being in “Godspell.”
“I wasn’t raised in any faith, so the religion part of it was uncomfortable for me,” Walker said.
Presenting Jesus as the Harlequin, as well as the “silliness and goofiness” of “Godspell,” also made Walker uncomfortable.
“Then I thought, isn’t this a growth opportunity, to go outside of my usual comfort zone?” he said. “That is part of the message of ‘Godspell.’ “It’s an opportunity as well as a challenge to think through what helps those messages hit home with a modern audience.”
“According to Sharon Mason, the BTG music director for ten years, “Godspell” is a difficult musical to stage.
“The arrangements, the vocalizations, are very different and involve a lot more than the original ‘Godspell,’” said Mason. “We have 22 people on stage, and they are singing up to eight different parts at the same time. So, that’s a lot of layering.”
However, Mason said the cast “is doing just a phenomenal job.” While in the original “Godspell,” it was all young people, the BTG has all ages because “Jesus is here for us all.”
Mason said that most of the songs start with a solo part because that character is “getting it now,” responding to Jesus’s message. Then, more people join in, and it “builds and builds.”
Mason said a big part of the piece is improvisation, and Campbell is making good use of that technique.
“I start almost every rehearsal with a question about what it means to be a good person. We do a lot of improv; we play a lot of games,” said Campbell. “It’s making people more free in rehearsal. It’s making people trust each other.”
He starts the choreography sessions with dance classes and incorporates those same dance movements into the show.
“This show is a bunch of movement. It’s organized chaos. Real chaos can’t exist on stage because it looks a mess,” said Campbell. “So, I spend most of the time trying to organize the chaos so that people can see the clear vision of the show.”
In other words, he is creating an experience, a metamorphosis, for the actors on the stage, and that experience is being shared with the audience.
“That is such my goal, yes, that is such the goal,” said Campbell.
“Godspell” may be difficult to stage, but the BTG always proves that it’s up to the challenge.
For more information or tickets to “Godspell,” visit the website at beverlytheatreguild.org.
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