[NEohioPAL] WRP Announces Auditions for GODSPELL

Tue Mar 17 14:40:51 PDT 2026

THE WESTERN RESERVE PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES AUDITIONS FOR…

Godspell

Conceived and Originally Directed by John Michael-Tebelak

Music and New Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Originally Produced on the New York Stage by Edgar Lansbury, Stuart Duncan
and Joseph Beruh

Directed and Co-Choreographed by Emma Figge

Musical Direction by Robert Kowalewski

Co-Choreography by Mayela Squires

Godspell was the first major musical theatre offering from three-time
Grammy and Academy Award winner, Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Children
of Eden), and it took the world by storm. Led by the international hit,
"Day by Day," Godspell features a parade of beloved songs, to be sung by an
intergenerational cast.

A group of people help Jesus Christ tell different parables by using a wide
variety of games, storytelling techniques and hefty doses of comic timing.
An eclectic blend of songs, ranging in style from pop to vaudeville, is
employed as the story of Jesus' life dances across the stage. Dissolving
hauntingly into the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, Jesus' messages of
kindness, tolerance and love come vibrantly to life.

Thursday, March 26 6:30-9:30pm & Saturday, March 28 from 1-4pm

If needed, callbacks will take place Monday, March 30 at 7pm with dance
call.

At the Western Reserve Playhouse, 3326 Everett Rd, Richfield, OH 44286

Rehearsals:

Rehearsals will begin around May 21 and run Monday through Thursday, 7-10pm
and select Sunday’s 1pm-4pm based on cast availability. Please bring all
conflicts for the rehearsal and performance process; additional conflicts
not noted on your audition form will not be accepted.

Performances:

July 16-26, 2026, Thursday through Sunday. At this time, we are unable to
cast actors who have conflicts with scheduled performances.

ALL ROLES ARE OPEN to all gender identities, races, ethnicities, body
types, ages, and abilities. No equity contracts are available at this time.
All positions are volunteer. None of these parts are precast.  All levels
of actors welcome!

Roles Available:

***We encourage actors of all experiences, ethnicities and ages to
audition. Roles will be cast gender-blind, and the ensemble will be
intergenerational.

Jesus: The central figure of the story. Charismatic, compassionate, and
grounded with a strong ability to connect with others. Strong singer and
actor required.

Judas: Charismatic storyteller and narrator who both challenges and
supports Jesus. Strong acting ability and vocal strength required.

Ensemble: A diverse company of performers who portray disciples and various
characters throughout the show. Ensemble members sing the majority of the
musical numbers, with solos and featured moments distributed throughout the
cast.

***while the traditional casting for Godspell is a smaller 10-12 person
ensemble, WRP plans to have an expanded ensemble for this Intergenerational
cast***

What to prepare:

   -

   A short selection from one of the following songs (see below for
cuts): Learn
   Your Lessons Well, Alas for You, All Good Gifts, Bless the Lord. Tracks
   will be provided.
   -

   Cold reading from the script will also be provided
   -

   Please bring all conflicts for the rehearsal and performance process;
   additional conflicts not noted on your audition form will not be accepted.
   -

   VIDEO SUBMISSIONS will be accepted and due to education at thewrp.org &
   august at thewrp.org by March 26th at 10:30pm. Please submit a song
   selection and one of the below scene selections.

How to sign up:

Please sign up for a 10 minute audition slot below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508054EADA92AA5F85-62875340-auditions

If you have any questions about the audition process please do not hesitate
to contact the artistic director, august at thewrp.org

GODSPELL is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre
International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied
by MTI. www.mtishows.com

Music selections available here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XS7Q9QJa2MlLIgjtOfgluWUbkO185Bop?usp=sharing

Selections from script:

Please come familiar with at least one of the following Parables(while
these do not need to be memorized, they do need to be convincing and
intriguing-copies will be provided)

   1.

   Jesus

Now, do not suppose that I have come to abolish the Law and the prophets.

I did not come to abolish, but to complete. I tell you this: so long as
heaven and earth

endure not a letter, not a stroke, will disappear from the Law until all
that must

happen has happened. Therefore, whoever sets aside even the least of the
Law’s demands will have the lowest place in the kingdom of Heaven. But
whoever keeps the law and teaches others so will have the highest place in
the kingdom of Heaven.

Unless you show yourselves far better men than the Pharisees and the
doctors of the Law…

…You shall never enter the kingdom of Heaven.

   2.

   Rich Man's Parable

There once was a rich man whose land yielded heavy crops. He cared not for
the

people who tended his crops, though they worked long hours and were paid a

fraction of the rich man’s salary.

Yet despite all his riches, he found it still wasn’t enough. “Oh, what am I
to do?,” he

said. “I have not the room to store my produce. Ahh, this is what I will
do,” he said.

“I will tear down my storehouses and build them bigger. I will collect in
them all my

corn and popcorn and tuna surprise, and M&Ms…

And then I will say to myself: ‘Man, you have plenty of good things laid by
you,

enough to last you many years. Take life easy. Eat. Drink. Enjoy yourself.’”

But, then God said to the man,…

“You fool, this very night you must surrender your life. You have made your

money. Who will get it now?”

   3.

   Jesus

Thou shalt love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul.
This is the

greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as

thyself. All the rest of the law, and all the prophets have written, is
based on these

first two.

The doctors of the law and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses,
therefore listen to

what they say, pay attention to their words, but do not follow their
practices.

For they say one thing and do another. They make up heavy packs and pile
them on men's shoulders and they don’t raise a finger to lift the load
themselves. Everything they do is done for show. Oh, they go about wearing
broad phylacteries with large tassels on their robes. They like to have
their places of honor at feasts and at the synagogues and to be greeted
respectfully in the streets and to be called “teacher.”

But you must not be called “teacher” for you have one teacher: The Messiah,…

…and you must not call any man on earth “father” for you have only one
Father and

you are all brothers,…

…And you must call no man on earth “rabbi” for you have one Rabbi and he is
in Heaven.

   4.

   Prodigal Son

Once upon a time there was a man who had two sons. And the younger said to

his father: “Father, give me my share of the property.” So, he divided his
estate

between them. A few days later the younger son turned the whole of his
share into cash and left home for a distant country, where he squandered it
in reckless living.

He had spent it all, when a severe famine fell upon the country and he
began to feel

the pinch.  So he decided to attach himself to one of the local landowners…

…Who sent him on the farm to mind the swine.

He would have been glad to have filled his belly with the pods that the
pigs were

eating…

…But no one gave him anything. Then he came to his senses (BOING!) and said:

“How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they can eat,
and here I am starving to death. I will set off and I will go to my father
and I will say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against God and against you;
I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid
servants.’“ So he set out for his father’s house, but while he was still a
long way off, his father saw him and his heart went out to him. (Lub-dub,
lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub) The son ran to meet his father, threw his

arms around him, and kissed him, saying: “Father, I have sinned against God
and

against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of
your paid servants.” But the father called to one of his servants:

“Quick, fetch me my robe, my best one. Put a ring on his finger and shoes
on his feet and bring the fatted calf and kill it.

And let us have a feast to celebrate the day, for this son of mine was lost
and is

found.” And the festivities began!

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