mmarincic posted on March 11, 2011 12:44
Preparations for the spring musical have swung into high gear as the cast and crew get ready for the April 1 opening of Godspell.
Godspell follows the gospel of Matthew with a 70s style twist.
"The show is all about the concept of building a community of compassion through the retelling of the parables with the idea of the love of Jesus," senior Isaac Steinhour (Jesus) said. "It has a very free feel to it.
"There are a lot of parts in the script where we get to interpret it in our own way and come up with whatever we think will get the point across the best and it's very fun and happy."
The free, expressive style of the musical is also seen in the variety of songs.
"The show has everything from folk to rock to very upbeat, happy music to some sadder sounding songs as well," vocal director Craig VanRenterghem said. "Musically, it will be a challenge to portray the emotion of what they're singing about to the audience."
Cast members will be working to show that emotion with a sense of togetherness.
"Everyone is part of this big community that comes together to worship Jesus," junior Jenna McGlade (disciple Robin) said. "The whole point of the show is to demonstrate that Jesus brought all of these people together.
"That's really what's happening both within the show and outside of it too, with the cast all coming together, which is really cool."
Part of working together will be making decisions as a cast.
"With this show, more than any other show I've done, I've been trying to give the cast a lot more freedom with decision making," director Debbie Benson said. "They've been making choices about things like parts of the set and what we do at rehearsals.
"It's interesting because the decisions they make aren't necessarily the ones that I would make, such as choosing whether or not to change certain language, so I'm handing over some control and letting them have a say in as many things as possible."
Cast members will be using this freedom of expression as they attempt to bring the audience into the emotion of the show.
"We really are going to be very involved with the audience and interact with them throughout the show," McGlade said. "We'll go out into the audience a lot and be really energetic and excited to be with everyone.
"We want to be able to pull the audience into that celebration with us."
Shows are April 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. and April 3 at 2 p.m. in the auditorium.
Tickets are $10 for evening shows, $5 for the matinee and will be sold in front of the auditorium March 28-April 1 from 3-6 p.m. as well as at the door.