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@thewrp.org & august@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@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)
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.
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?”
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.
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!
