OK, so, Godspell.
Thing is a friend of mine directs summer drama classes at this school in Bryn Mawr, Pa. They have a three-week whirlwind rehearsal period that ends with a full production, and this summer they're doing Godspell.
It's an all-girls Catholic school and, for quasi-theological and dramatic reasons with which I strongly disagree, they weren't really comfortable with having a girl play the part of Jesus. And since I'm a male and my work schedule makes me available for daytime rehearsals and I already had something of a messiah complex … well, there you go.
All of which explains why the blogging around here has been more sporadic than usual in recent weeks. I've been singing and dancing and running lines with a very talented group of young ladies. We open, and close, Friday night and, this week especially, it's a lot of work. I've only got two rehearsals left to get right this little Charleston thing at the end of "All for the Best." (The girl playing Judas has it down — which doesn't seem right, since in Godspell Judas is also John the Baptist, and everyone knows Baptists can't dance.)
It's a lot of work but also a lot of fun — and a privilege to work with this young cast. Godspell — like the Gospel of Matthew on which it is loosely based — is more interested in what Jesus said and did than in the gory details of how the Romans killed him, so I find it a lot more interesting than Mel's movie.
And but so anyway, the girls have worked hard and I promised them I would try to help provide an audience.
So this Friday night at 8, if you're free and you're anywhere near Bryn Mawr (directions here to 480 Bryn Mawr Ave.), you can come see me and this very talented group of young ladies revisit the greatest story ever told. As a singer and dancer, I'm a pretty good blogger, but these girls are worth seeing. (Tickets are $5, but just tell 'em Jesus invited you and you can get in free.)
Who knows? One of these young ladies could go on to fame on SNL or Second City and you could tell everybody you saw them way back when.
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