The 1971 Broadway musical “Godspell” gets a 2025 makeover in the latest production by the UMW theater department at Klein Theatre.
IF YOU GO
‘Godspell’, University of Mary Washington’s Klein Theatre, runs through Nov 23, tickets are $30-35.
The musical is based on the Gospel of Matthew, but the updated version includes references to things like cell phones, Uber Eats and Taylor Swift. Purists should note that the original humorous takes on nine of Jesus’s parables remain at the core of the play.
In the UMW production, the disciples are all crafted based on the actors’ individual personalities. The only named characters carried over from the original play are John the Baptist, Jesus and Judas.
“In the process of making the show, since we are devising it based on the individual actors, the costume designers and the directors took care to abstract elements of what they knew about us as people and turn them into characters for the show,” said Rob Willcox, a senior who plays a similarly-named disciple, Rob. “It’s a non-traditional approach to the show, and we’ve been having so much fun.”
Homework for the cast included reading the New Testament book of Matthew as prep work. Director Gregg Stull tried to find ways to honor and explore the cast’s many faiths and spiritual traditions in light of the production.
Benjamin Kline in Godspell. (Photo by Geoff Greene)
“There were some structured conversations about people’s spiritual traditions that people wanted to share,” Stull said. “There’s a retired religion professor who’s a good friend of mine, Jim Goehring, he’s an early Christian scholar. He helped us lay a framework here.
“The thing we were sensitive to is you can have an intellectual approach to reading these stories and your knowledge can coexist with your faith. The sensitivity I have with the cast was knowing there are people whose faith traditions probably have very strong and finite ideas about Jesus Christ and his role on the earth, and wanting to acknowledge that and held space for that, while also allowing the fact that there are lots of ways to look at the impact of Jesus who roamed the earth.”
“Godspell” is a modern interpretation of Jesus’s teachings. This cast has a lot of chemistry, and the fun was evident in the audience’s appreciation and even participation in some scenes when actors perform in the aisles among them.
Jeffrey Cobb (left) and Rob Willcox (right) in the UMW production of Godspell. (Photo by Geoff Greene)
The current adaptation is based on a 2012 revision, which emphasises a rock-heavy score. Several of the actors also showed off instrumental skills, playing ukulele, guitar, and electric bass for some songs.
“We have a killer orchestra,” Willcox said. “They updated it so the music is a little more rock and roll. There’s electric guitar in there and ‘Tower of Babel’ has been updated to be an entirely acapella number.”
It’s a fresh take on an old tale meant to introduce a new generation to the original hippie gospel musical.
“The majority of students didn’t know this play,” Stull said. “That’s great because we want the production to be our own. We’re not mimicking anyone else’s work. For them to look at the play as something they don’t know and to interrogate it on their own terms is much better for honing a result. It’s more original and authentic.”
Cast of Godspell at UMW’s Klein Theatre. (Photo by Geoff Greene)
