CAPA And Ohio State Univ Present GODSPELL 4/16-4/19

CAPA and The Ohio State University Department of Theatre present Godspell at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) April 16-19. Performances are Thursday, April 16 at 8 pm; Friday, April 17 at 11 am and 8 pm; Saturday, April 18 at 2 pm and 8 pm; and Sunday, April 19 at 3 pm. Tickets are $30, $25, $20, and $11 (Fri. 11 am only) at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (800) 745-3000 or (614) 469-0939. The Southern Theatre Ticket Office will open two hours prior to the performance. Students between the ages of 13-19 can purchase $5 High Five tickets while available.

Godspell (an archaic spelling of the word "gospel") originated in 1970 as John-Michael Tebelak's master's thesis project at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. This two-act rock musical was structured around a series of parables based on The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and scored by cast members with lyrics taken from the Episcopal Hymnal.

In 1971, Tebelak directed a 2-week run of the show with much of the student cast at New York City's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. It was brought to the attention of Carnegie alumnus Charles Haid who wanted to open it off-Broadway.

The producers hired Stephen Schwartz, another alumnus of Carnegie Mellon's theater department, to re-score the production (although "By My Side" was retained from the original score). Schwartz included a variety of musical styles from pop to folk to rock to gospel to vaudeville. As with the original score, most of the non-Schwartz lyrics were from the Episcopal Hymnal.

Godspell opened off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre on May 17, 1971, and moved to the larger Promenade Theatre on August 10, 1971, where it became one of the longest-running off-Broadway musicals in history. It then ran on Broadway from June 1976 to September 1977.

Several cast albums have been released over the years. In 1972, "Day By Day" from the original cast album reached #13 on the Billboard pop singles chart.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. CAPA also appreciates the support of the Robert Bartels, Virginia Hall Beale, and Barbara Clement Memorial Funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in strengthening our community for the benefit of all of its citizens, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city's artists and arts organizations since 1973.

Owner/operator of downtown Columbus' magnificent historic theatres (Ohio Theatre, Palace Theatre, Southern Theatre) and manager of the Riffe Center Theatre Complex (Columbus) and the Shubert Theater (New Haven, CT), CAPA is an award-winning presenter of national and international performing arts and entertainment. For more information, visit www.capa.com.

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