mmarincic posted on February 04, 2011 09:58
Cast members of Godspell, the spring musical, are memorizing songs and learning dance choreography.
The cast will get groovy as they portray the life of Jesus based on the gospel of Matthew, but set in the 1970s.
“It’s going to be hard for some people to just put all the self-consciousness behind them and act silly like you have to do because it’s a really fun-loving, 70’s musical,” senior Sophie Miller (disciple Joanne) said.
Part of the sense of free expression will come from the chorus, or community of Jesus' followers, which will remain onstage for the entire show.
"It will just really create the whole sense of there being a large group of followers and not just the eight disciples that we're going to have," director Debbie Benson said. "It's going to be the hardest show I've done because I've never had the chorus onstage for the whole show before.
"You have to find things for the chorus members to be doing the entire time and make sure they really know what their role is so that they're engaged and really add to the show."
One of the concerns for the cast is leaving the audience with the right kind of impression from the show.
“The challenge will be making sure that the audience knows we are coming from a theater perspective, not a religious one,” senior Tim Sherman (John the Baptist) said. “This show is not about making religious statements; it’s purely about entertainment, while still being respectful, and we want to communicate that."