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Jesus is back, in a contemporary musical kind of way, in
the Town and Gown Players staging of Stephen Schwartz's
GodspelL In the musical, a motley col lea ion of storytellers
congregate around a tall guy with a beard Those whose
parents made them go to Sunday school will quickly
recognize these stories, however, as some of Christ’s biblical
parables. In fact, the whole musical is a contemporary
adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew complete with pithy
fables, chastened Phansees, temper tantrums in the Temple,
and betrayals leading to crucifixion.
The stones are staged with a modem feel. Each charac-
ter takes a turn narrating a parable while the rest act it out.
Some are done in Elementary School Christmas Pageant
style, some as games of charades, some as mostly direct
enactments of incidents in the Gospel. This constant
changing of style throughout the performance serves well to
keep the audience engaged, as they are never really sure
what kind of bedlam is going to ensue on the stage next.
The staging is workmanlike — professional, with some
problems which do not necessarily stem from any fault of
the cast First I’ll quickly cover whar bugged me
The first is the set. Call me petty; explain to me that a
work that involves a great many vignettes in succession
requires a simple design. I agree The problem is that the set
resembles a series of platforms salvaged from old “Romper
Room” episodes. It is slathered with bright, garish colors
and cosmic designs I found myself stanng at it in amaze'
ment, when I should have been staring at the performance
Simple and spare is fine, but it should be truly simple and
spare, not painted all over like Dr. Teeth’s van in “The
Muppet Movie .”
The second annoyance was the vanous additions to the
scnpt to enhance the work’s applicability to modem
concerns. Adding “Rolexes and BMWs and Amcx Gold
Cards and Sega Genesis’* to the list of things that the
miserly old man m the parable stocks up on in his igno
rance is fine. However, some of the Long-Island Jewish
accents affected by the characters made me a little uneasy
At one point in the narration of “The Prodigal Son” the
speaker chokes out, “I’m all verklempc" I didn’t know how
to react to this. Mike Myers’ “Linda Richman” character
makes my behind hurt, so I don’t think I’ve ever laughed at
that line. Here it was even less funny, if possible The
audience, however, roared with mirth. So maybe I’m just
being cranky.
My last big gripe is with some of the music. In general
the score is very good, but occasionally a number comes up
that closely resembles the kind of music one can hear at
4:30 a m. on cable channels with hi^i numbers. These
songs are usually accompanied by a middle-aged man with a
bad pompadour and a pastel tuxedo who claims he can cure
your hemorrhoids or your money problems if you’d only put
your hand to the TV screen and send him $80.1 want to
qualify this last complaint, however, because the music was
performed very well, and the yellow leisure suits sported by
the musicians ate worth the price of admission.
This looks like a lot of trouble, but it evens
out on balance thanks to some remarkable
performances by the cast. Bryan Shaw is a
fantastic Jesus, despite this being his first-
ever stage performance Not only does he
look the part, but he also has a strong,
pleasing voice that effectively
evokes both divine compas
sion and divine rage. When
he sings, you believe him,
and when he speaks, he
manages to sound both wise
and forgiving His inflections in
themselves arc enough to explain
why the other characters in the work
follow his lead Bob Lanoue, who plays one of the
disciples, also does a great job, both in his feature number
“We Beseech Thee.” and in his stage presence. His has an
unbelievably malleable face which, with its countless
number of expressions, adds spice to the proceedings
onstage, whatever the degree of his involvement.
Perhaps the standout, however, is Cedar Shoals High
School senior, Tzipporah Gerson. Although she is the
youngest member of the cast, she demonstrates the highest
level of comfort onstage. She sings; she dances; she acts—
all beautifully. In the early scenes she displayed a sharp
sense of comic timing, and in the late ones she was
entirely convincing as one of Jesus’ distraught apostles.
And, of course, the music, on the whole, is
great. I can tell because from my seat I could
see the techies getting all funky to some of
the numbers. They should be thankful that
the only chairs in the whole theater that
could see them were mine. Particularly in
the songs “Prepare Ye** and “All For the
Best,” the audience partici
pated by clapping and
singing The well-known
piece “Day By Day"
resembled a singalong.
On the whole, director
Elise Peyroux and the cast do
a solid job, with some flaws and
some real achievements. Godspell is
not perfect, but it is enjoyable, and well worth the
pnee of admission. It is a far better entertainment option
than anything else in Athens on any given night
Richmond Eustis
Godspell plays at die Morton Theater Friday and
Saturday, Dec 9 & 10, at 8:15 p.m and Sunday, Dec. 11,
at 2:15 p.m. For reservations call 357-7887.
• Judson Mitcham. Professor of Psychology at Fort Volley State College and frequent visitor to Athens, is the featured author
in the Autumn. 1994. issue of the Habersham Review Mitcham, author of Somewhere n Ecclesiastes (University of Missouri
Press), is praised as one of the most original voices In recent American poetry Several of Mitcham’s poems and an interview
with him conducted at Harry Bisseffs are In the issue Also featured in the Habersham Review is a story titled "Speaking
Plainly' by Athenian Sara Baker Buy individual copies at local bookstores or cal 706-778-3000 for subscription info
• Only two Jigsaw Pieces Poetry Gatherings remain in 1994. so heod down to the Globe Wednesday, Dec 7, & Wednesday.
Dec 21. to experience this open-mike forum for local writers Sign up at 9 p.m to perform; readings begin at 930 pm.
• Athens fantasy writer Tom Deitz signs copies of Ns new book Above the Lower Sky (Wiliam Morrow Go ) Sunday. Dec. 11.
from 2-4 p m at WakJenbooks in Georgia Square Mall Support local authors: Buy a book
• Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies take ploce Dec 10 Kanzaburo Oe will be accepting the Nobel Prize for literature His
books indude The Silent Cry and The Crazy Iris and Other Stones of the Atomic Aftermath
• Poetry and Its Shadow continues its monthly series of readings 9 pm Tuesday. Dec 13. at Jittery Joe's
Judy Long
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