[NEohioPAL] Berko review: GODSPELL @ Blank Canvas

[Roy Berko]

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Alas For You,” GODSPELL is at BLANK CANVAS

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

GODSPELL is one of the biggest musical theatrical successes of all-time.
Based on the “Gospel According to St. Matthew,” the musical tells the story
of the last seven days of Christ's life. The parables have been
contemporized, and Christ's followers are free spirits who sing the likes
of "Day By Day", "All Good Gifts", and "Turn Back, O Man."

The show is perceived to be the creative child of Broadway super-author and
composer Stephen Schwartz, the conceiver of such hits as PIPPIN and
WICKED.   ‘Taint so.  Schwartz was a late-comer to the project.

The story goes that in 1970, while attending college in Pittsburgh,
John-Michael Tebelak went to church on Easter Sunday.  A theology student
before he decided he wanted to be a theatrical director, he found the
service to be devoid of feeling.  Afterward the long-haired Tebelak was
stopped by a policeman and searched for drugs.  (Remember, this was the era
of student protests, hippies, draft card burning, and those “dangerous”
peaceniks.)   Tebelak confided that this experience provided him the
inspiration for GODSPELL.  He produced the show as his senior project at
Carnegie Mellon University.

The original score consisted of a song written by a cast member and old
Episcopal Hymns, played by a rock band.  To this point, Schwartz had
nothing to do with the project.

John Michael left school without graduating.  The show was eventually
staged at the off-Broadway Cafe La Mama Theatre.  A producer saw the
production and said he would finance it if it had a new score.  Enter
Stephen Schwartz, who wrote all the songs in 5 weeks.  (The only tune to
remain from the original production is "By My Side"). The newly conceived
show  opened Off-Broadway on May 17, 1971.  Tebelak was 22 years of age!
GODSPELL moved onto Broadway where it ran for 2,124 performances.  Hundreds
of professional and amateur productions of the show continue to be done.

Besides the Schwartz connection to the project, another fact that is
generally overlooked is Tebelak’s Cleveland connection.  He is a Berea
product.   As related by Bill Allman, the former producing director of
Berea Summer Theatre, “John-Michael cut his theatrical teeth at Berea
Summer Theatre where he acted, designed scenery and directed.  In 1980 he
returned to his roots when he directed a revival production of GODSPELL.”

The show’s other connection to the area is that in August of 1971, before
it became a mega-hit, GODSPELL was produced at Great Lakes Shakespeare
Festival, the predecessor to Great Lakes Theatre Festival, which, at the
time was housed in Lakewood High School’s auditorium.   The show’s director
was non-other than Tebelak, himself.

The show is not without controversy.  It has been called blasphemous.
Religious leaders have stated, “Surely no Christian who believes the Bible
would approve of the perversion of GODSPELL.”  The Wexford Pennsylvania
School Board banned a production of it after “complaints about its
religious message.”

Any director of GODSPELL has a number of choices to make.  First, there is
no script for the show.  Everything is part of the score and there are no
stage directions for staging the show.  It has been done as a series of
segments in which comic characters are the center of attention.  It was
staged as children in a Sunday school class.  It has been done as a
religious sermon in a church setting.  Pat Ciamacco, Blank Canvas’s
director, has opted for a dream sequence.

Another issue is the tone of the piece.  Should the production center on
the religious message, forsaking the humor or take Tebelak to heart and
make this a production of joy.  Ciamacco tends to lead toward the serious
side, overlooking many of the comic elements, though not forsaking all of
them.

Usually Jesus is garbed in a Superman t-shirt and his followers clothed to
fit the humor theme.  True to his more traditional theme in this
production, Jesus is garbed all in white, his followers in various
clothing, randomly picked off the costume rack.  He has updated some of the
language and nonverbal gestures.

All in all, this is an acceptable production that avoids the peachiness
that can come from the song and story development.  It conveys the message
to “be careful not to make a show of your religion before man.”  It also
invokes thought as to why some followers of Christ preach hatred against
others instead of following the dictum, “Ye shall love thy neighbor as
thyself.”

The cast is mixed in their vocal and acting abilities.   Especially
effective was Eric Thomas Fancher whose “Light of the World” was dynamic
and the strongest vocal solo.  Kate Leigh Michalski, she of mobile face,
did a nice vocal in “Learn Your Lessons.”  Shane Patrick O’Neill did a good
interpretation of the meaning in We Beseech Thee.”  The vocal blends were
often quite good.

Noah Hrbek has the handsome good looks of many of the paintings of Jesus.
He has a pleasant voice, but failed to develop the charisma that would be
necessary to reap fanatic followers.  His “Save the People,” had a nice
musical sound.

Isreal Spain failed to ignite the pivotal character of John the Baptist and
often lacked clarity of idea development.

Lawrence Wallace’s musical direction was excellent, playing backup rather
than drowning out the singers.

*CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  It’s been done time and again, but with a good
production  ‘GODSPELL’ can still be a fine theatrical experience, even if
you aren’t into the religious message.  Blank Canvas’s production isn’t a
sure winner, but it will hold your  attention and expose the audience to
the quality of Tebalk’s creativity and Stephen Schwartz’s music.*

*(Thanks to John Nolan, theatre buff extraordinaire and a member of the
1980 Berea Summer Theatre “GODSPELL” cast for background material used in
this review.)*

The show runs through December 21, 2013 in its west side theatre, 1305 West
78th Street, Suite 211, Cleveland.  Get directions to the theatre on the
website.  (My GPS was of little help).  Once you arrive at the site, go
around the first building to find the entrance and then follow the signs to
the second floor acting space.  It’s an adventurous battle. For tickets and
directions go to http://www.blankcanvastheatre.com

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20131211/bc44cdd9/attachment.htm>