‘Godspell’ performance presents a piece of music

Wednesday, May 15, 1996

Musical Theater Workshop stages ’70s work this weekend at
Schoenberg HallBy Colette Jue

Daily Bruin Contributor

Don’t be put off by the title. The musical "Godspell" promises
to offer something for everyone.

"The one thing about this musical is that I think it has many
different levels," performer Karen Ann Daniels says. "I think no
matter what your religious background is, anyone can enjoy this
musical."

The musical, presented by the UCLA Musical Theater Workshop, is
taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew. "Godspell," the story of
Christ, will be performed at Schoenberg Hall this Friday, Saturday
and Sunday.

The Theatre Workshop has worked hard to create a new feel for
the musical, which was originally written in 1971. The show opens
with a philosophical debate and continues with numerous parables
and songs. Complete with a live band, singing and dance
performances, "Godspell" contains a variety of music.

"The music that was written at that time is music from the ’70s
period, very folk oriented" choreographer Carlos Jones says. "It
covers a lot of different feelings of that genre. There are some
things that are more heavily rock and then there’s stuff like
‘Cumbaya.’ So it has a gamut of music that was produced in the
early ’70s throughout that period.

"What we’re doing with the numbers is putting a twist on them.
We’re adding a little history. We’ve patterned each of the dance
numbers after various choreographers in dance history. We’re taking
a scope of things to give it variety and some flavor."

Jones adds that this particular performance is quite different
from other "Godspell" productions. "It’s not like the ‘Godspell’
that they’ve seen," he says. "A lot of people tend to do a very
flower child, earthy type of thing, but we’re taking a twist on it
and giving it a more colorful and razzy feel."

The original "Godspell" was written as a senior project at
Carnegie Mellon University in 1971. Later, the musical went to
Broadway and Stephen Schwartz, who recently won the Oscar for the
song "Colors of the Wind" from "Pocahontas," worked on the music
and lyrics. At the time when the musical was written, the Jesus
Movement, popularized by hippies and flower children, was taking
place.

"It’s got every kind of pop music that was popular during that
time, except Motown," director John Hall says. "Every number is
kind of different. We’ve got some jazz ones. You’ll see some folk
stuff."

Hall adds that a difficult part of putting together this
production has been trying to recreate the spirit of the ’70s.

"For me it’s very weird to try and get the flavor of this show
back with the kind of cynical ’90s people," he says. "The show was
created by the same age group that is in the production right now
but it was a whole different atmosphere, a whole different feeling
then. I think it was that irreverence of seeing a bunch of young
people telling Christian stories in this rock and roll, pop idiom.
Now everything has taken a turn. It’s been a fascinating project to
work with these students to try and recapture that peace, love
harmony, and stuff."

Some changes were made in order to fit with the ’90s atmosphere.
"The kids were supposed to do it in clown makeup but now it doesn’t
mean the same thing," Hall says.

However, many original elements remain. For example, the Christ
figure in "Godspell" typically wears a Superman t-shirt. "For us,
Superman was Christopher Reeve and we just saw him paralyzed from
the neck down on the Academy Awards," Hall says. " We didn’t know
if that would affect anyone. But we decided to go ahead and use the
t-shirt."

Hall, who helped to decide which aspects of the musical should
be left in or out, also chose the difficult task of putting
together this entire production in about three weeks.

"Usually you have a quarter to work on a project, but you rarely
get that kind of time in the professional world," Hall says. "I
wanted to show that I could [get something] together in three
weeks. I’ve got a whole new crop of people and I wanted them to
bond with each other."

This new crop of performers is part of the UCLA Musical Theater
Workshop, a two unit course that students must audition to
take.

"Our schedule was pretty tight since it was so close to
performance time," performer Daniels says. "I think everybody there
enjoys performing more than anything. It’s a chance to be able to
use your talents and your skills that you’ve been developing.
Within the last week or so, everyone’s been able to understand
where the musical’s going."

Daniels adds, "A musical is so much different from what they
(students) do every weekend. You go out every weekend, you party.
You go to the movies all the time. (The performance will enable)
you to see what’s going on on your own campus. Music always strikes
a curiosity with people. People love music and they love to be
entertained and they love funny things. It’s a very funny
musical."

THEATER: Godspell. Tickets $5 for students and children. $10
adults. May 17@ 8 PM; May 18@ 3 PM and 8 pm; May 19@ 3 PM.
Schoenberg theater- Tix from Music dept or CTO

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