Video: YOU HAD TO BE THERE: Paul Shaffer, Nick Davis & Jane Mendelsohn Look Back at the Legendary Legacy of GODSPELL

More than five decades after a now-legendary production of Godspell brought together some of Canada's brightest young talents, a new documentary is looking back at the show that helped launch an extraordinary generation of performers.

You Had to Be There revisits the 1972 Toronto production of Godspell, whose company included future comedy legends Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin and Victor Garber, with Paul Shaffer serving as musical director. BroadwayWorld caught up with director Nick Davis, producer Jane Mendelsohn and Shaffer to talk about revisiting the remarkable production and bringing its story to the screen.

For Davis, who approached the project more as a comedy fan than a musical theatre aficionado, making the documentary gave him a newfound appreciation for Godspell itself.

“What amazed me most was Godspell itself,” Davis explained. “Their love and joy when they talked about the show—and also discovering that John-Michael Tebelak's brilliant insight was [that] Jesus and his disciples must have been very entertaining. They must have been very funny. So these guys are going to be clowns. That really got me most energized and surprised.”

For Mendelsohn, one of the film's most unexpected discoveries was just how enduring the bonds formed during the production have been.

“What ended up surprising me the most was the beauty of how these people who met when they were so young... stayed friends all these years,” she said. “I found that incredibly moving and an unexpected beautiful thing about making this film—the privilege of getting to see this group of friends who are lifelong friends.”

Shaffer was one of those young artists whose life was forever changed by the production. After initially showing up to play piano for friends who were auditioning, he soon found himself playing for the other hopefuls—and caught the attention of composer Stephen Schwartz.

“Stephen put together the funniest kids and the most talented kids in town. And then [he] said to me, ‘Can you put a band together and conduct the show?’” Shaffer recalled. “And I had never done anything like that. All of a sudden I was in show business. So... talk about the influence to my career—it started it.”

Watch the full interview with Davis, Mendelsohn and Shaffer as they look back on the friendships, talent and unlikely circumstances that made the 1972 Toronto production of Godspell such a singular moment—and how You Had to Be There brings that story back to life. Check out what the critics are saying about the film.