Godspell - 1971 - Australia Articles Page 7

Its Vacation Bible School vibe aside, Godspell - the Stephen Schwartz musical from 1971 that grew from a class project at Carnegie Mellon University that most recently was revived on Broadway in 2011 - relates the parables of Jesus Christ in a sprightly, colorful way that can be entertaining and elucidating. Now onstage at The Larry Keeton Theatre, Nashville's theater home for classic musical comedies, Godspell features a winning cast led by Wesley King and Elliott Robinson under the direction of musical theater veterans Jamie London and Ginger Newman.

Godspell features the talents of Wesley King as Jesus, Elliott Robinson in the dual role of John-Judas. Playing themselves as "disciples" are Keeton Theatre regulars Tonya Pewitt, Stella London, Christina Redden, Santyana Harris, plus two newcomers to the Keeton Theatre family: Lisa Graham and Rachel Wilson.

Trustus Theatre is bringing Godspell to the Thigpen Main Stage this spring with an updated score and contemporary staging. This revival promises to show audiences a new side of this classic musical from 1971. Under the direction of Dewey Scott-Wiley and with the choreography of Caroline Lewis Jones, this production pits the sterility of an electronic world against the vibrancy and color of humanity to portray the gospel according to Matthew. The Trustus production also boasts a contemporized score that incorporates rock and even hip-hop into the well-known tunes from this popular musical. Godspell opens Friday March 20th at 8:00pm and runs through April 11th, 2015. Special Saturday matinees start at 2:00pm. Tickets may be purchased at www.trustus.org.

Happy Birthday, Stephen Schwartz! In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972) and Wicked (2003). He has also contributed lyrics for a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998; music and lyrics) and Enchanted (2007). Schwartz has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, three Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards and has been nominated for six Tony Awards.

Energetic and talented cast shines in new version of Stephen Schwartz hit musical.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's ground-breaking rock opera, returns to the stage in 2015 in an explosive new production which opens at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley on Thursday 21 January ahead of a major UK tour.

Marin Summer Theater has announced that the second show of the 2015 MST Season will be the world premiere of a new musical review, DEFYING GRAVITY: THE BEST OF STEPHEN SCHWARTZ.

Today in 2011, Godspell opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran for 264 performances. Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since.The structure of the musical is that of a series of parables, based on the Gospel of Matthew (though three of the parables featured are recorded only in the Gospel of Luke). These are then interspersed with a variety of modern music set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ treated briefly near the end of the performance.

MARK MY WORDS 2014: A WICKED COOL EVENING, tonight, October 21 at 8:00 p.m., is a once-in-a-lifetime event - a conversation between the creators of the book and Broadway smash Wicked. Gregory Maguire wrote the original novel Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz, legendary composer and lyricist of Pippin and Godspell, adapted Maguire's twisted take on L. Frank Baum's universe into one of the most successful musicals in history. Moderated by Connecticut theater legend Frank Rizzo, this is a unique opportunity to hear these creators talk about writing, music, theatre and, of course, the Wonderful World of Oz.

MARK MY WORDS 2014: A WICKED COOL EVENING, on Tuesday, October 21 at 8:00 p.m., is a once-in-a-lifetime event - a conversation between the creators of the book and Broadway smash Wicked. Gregory Maguire wrote the original novel Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz, legendary composer and lyricist of Pippin and Godspell, adapted Maguire's twisted take on L. Frank Baum's universe into one of the most successful musicals in history. Moderated by Connecticut theater legend Frank Rizzo, this is a unique opportunity to hear these creators talk about writing, music, theatre and, of course, the Wonderful World of Oz.

Katie Brayben will play the title role in the West End production of Beautiful - The Carole King Musicalopening at the Aldwych Theatre in February next year. Alan Morrissey will play King's husband and song-writing partner Gerry Goffin, with Lorna Want as song-writer Cynthia Weil, Glynis Barber as Genie Klein, King's mother, and Gary Trainor as music publisher and producer Don Kirshner. London previews beginning on 10 February 2015 and with the show currently booking to 13 June 2015. Press night will now take place on 24 February at 7pm. Final casting will be announced shortly.

Trustus Theatre is kicking off its thirtieth anniversary season with Christopher Durang's hilarious "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play. The show runs through September 27th, with the first audience talk-back of the season following the matinee on September 21st.

Every once in a while, I hear comments about theater that just make me cringe. One that I've heard on more than one occasion (usually from a pre-teen who doesn't know any better) is, 'OMG! The score from Wicked has got to be the toughest thing that Schwartz guy ever wrote. How did Idina do 'Defying Gravity' 8 shows a week?' Of course, the correct response is, 'Idina's a professional, and Wicked is a synch when compared to Godspell, the first musical written by 'that Schwartz guy.'

Artistic Director Rowan Joseph presents a new take on GODSPELL - with Jesus sharing bread, wine, and a funky chicken among his disciples. It's fresh, it's different, and it may be just slightly too much. But the cast -- ah, the cast.

The Old Globe today announced the full cast and creative team for the World Premiere of Bright Star, a new American musical featuring music by Edie Brickell and Steve Martin, lyrics by Brickell, and book by Martin, based on an original story by Martin and Brickell. Directed by Walter Bobbie, Bright Star will run September 13 - November 2, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run September 13 - September 27. Opening night is Sunday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m. Single tickets go on sale on Friday, August 8 at noon.

Starting August 1, The Cirillo Summer Theatre (CST) will present its summer production, Godspell. It will be performed on August 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 at 7:30 P.M. and on August 3 at 2:00 P.M. L.P. Wilson Community Center, 599 Matianuck Avenue in Windsor, CT. CST is sponsored by the The Windsor Recreation & Leisure Services Department. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

Point Park University's Conservatory Theatre Company will produce five works, including the world premiere of a new musical about the life of the legendary Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, in the 2014-2015 season.

Trustus Theatre announced their 30th Anniversary season to a standing-room crowd at Tapps Arts Center on June 5th, 2014. Managing Director Larry Hembree and Artistic Director Dewey Scott-Wiley revealed the shows coming to the Thigpen Main Stage and Richard and Debbie Cohn Side Door Theatre in the 2014/2015 Season. This season is celebration of the tenants that have made Trustus the premiere professional theatre in Columbia: producing diverse modern theatre and original works with the highest quality casts.

Tony Award nominee Tom Wopat and GRAMMY Award-winning Broadway songwriter Stephen Schwartz are joining the festivities in Broadway at Moorland, the 14th annual summer concert and fireworks display at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, NJ, a partnership between New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and Far Hills Race Meeting Association. Wopat (Annie Get Your Gun, A Catered Affair) will join previously announced Tony-nominated and Emmy Award-winner Liz Callaway, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, five-time MAC-winning cabaret star Scott Coulter, Jessica Hendy (Broadway's Cats and Aida), and Kelli Rabke (Broadway's LES MISERABLES and in the Broadway revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). Due to a scheduling conflict, Brian Stokes Mitchell will no longer perform on the bill.

The Buck Creek Players will continue their 40th Anniversary Season 'Fabulous at 40' with the Indianapolis premiere of Carrie: The Musical, opening tonight, May 30th, and continuing for a limited run three weekends through Sunday, June 15th.

In Stage Door Players' production of the now-classic musical GODSPELL, gone are the hippie clowns and folky numbers that have been synonymous with the show for the past four decades. In their place is a high-octane, frenetically-paced explosion of talent. While there is still a sense of the original clown motif, that has been tweaked along with the book, score, and arrangements. Stage Door's production is a regional premiere of the 2012 Broadway Revival script that modernized the songs' arrangements, added a tune from the film version ('Beautiful City'), and made other nips and tucks. If you are a long-time GODSPELL devotee, as I am, there will be little touches that you miss; chief among them Jesus' now-absent Superman T-shirt; but Stage Door's infectiously talented cast nearly makes up for a handful of issues in the original material and some rather glaring directorial missteps.

This week we are taking a look at one of the most popular and enduring Biblical musicals ever written in honor of its Off-Broadway opening 43 years ago this week, GODSPELL.

The Buck Creek Players will continue their 40th Anniversary Season 'Fabulous at 40' with the Indianapolis premiere of Carrie: The Musical, opening Friday, May 30th, and continuing for a limited run three weekends through Sunday, June 15th.

On Monday, May 12, 2014, AOP (American Opera Projects) hosts its 25th Anniversary Gala honoring Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist of Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell as well as the AOP-developed opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon that premiered at Opera Santa Barbara and ran at New York City Opera for ten performances in their 2010-11 Season. The evening, titled 'Opera Sings Broadway Sings Opera,' brings together stars of Opera and Broadway at The Players (16 Gramercy Park South), an historic theatre club in Manhattan. Doors open at 7:30pm with performances scheduled to begin at 8:00pm. Tickets begin at $250 and are available at AOP's website www.operaprojects.org.

Tony Award nominee Tom Wopat and GRAMMY Award-winning Broadway songwriter Stephen Schwartz are joining the festivities in Broadway at Moorland, the 14th annual summer concert and fireworks display at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, NJ, a partnership between New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and Far Hills Race Meeting Association. Wopat (Annie Get Your Gun, A Catered Affair) will join previously announced Tony-nominated and Emmy Award-winner Liz Callaway, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, five-time MAC-winning cabaret star Scott Coulter, Jessica Hendy (Broadway's Cats and Aida), and Kelli Rabke (Broadway's LES MISERABLES and in the Broadway revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). Due to a scheduling conflict, Brian Stokes Mitchell will no longer perform on the bill.