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Volume XI, Number 2, |
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Click on a LCHS
LCHS DRAMA ·
DIRECTOR:
PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
STAGE
MANAGER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
MAKEUP
DESIGNER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
HOUSE
MANAGER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
LIGHTING
DESIGNER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
PROPERTY
MASTER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
SCENIC
DESIGNER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
TECHNICAL
DIRECTOR: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
PUBLICIST:
PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION ·
SOUND
DESIGNER: PRODUCTION TEAM JOB DESCRIPTION |
This year’s group of LCHS performing arts leaders are proud to
announce that the LCHS Department of Performing Arts will continue its “winning tradition of excellence” with
an April 18th & 19th production of Stephen Schwartz’s and John-Michael Tebelak’s upbeat rock musical, GODSPELL.
No experience is needed to
audition for a LCHS production.
Students need not be enrolled in drama, choir or band to participation
in our production. Our auditions are
very relaxed and not a difficult as many people think. So, join in on the fun and our “winning
tradition” by attending one of our general meetings.
Students will be invited to sign up for
a 15 minute audition time following their attendance to one of the required
“general meetings.” Auditions will be
held:
CALLBACKS NEEDED FOR OUR PRODUCTION
WE NEED AN EXCEPTIONALLY TALENTED
DIRECTING & PRODUCTION TEAM We need a Stage Manager, a Student Director, Several
Talented Technical Directors, a Publicist & Program Crew, several student
Choreographers, Dance Captains, a Costume Coordinator, a Makeup Designer
& Team, a Set Construction Crew, a Set Running Crew, a Lighting Designer,
a Sound Board Operator, and more… WE NEED A “ROCK STAR” MUSICAL COMBO FOR
GODSPELL Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar,
Percussion, Keyboards, Saxaphone, Recorders, Flute, and perhaps more.
Drawing
from various theatrical traditions, such as clowning, pantomime, charades,
acrobatics and vaudeville, “Godspell” is a
groundbreaking and unique reflection on the life of Jesus, with a message of
kindness, tolerance and love. “Godspell” can be performed virtually anywhere with the
simplest of sets, costumes, lights and music. All you need is an ensemble of
ten performers to bring the material to life. Opened "A Hit, A big, big Hit. GODSPELL
believes in God -- and people -- and possibility." The "GODSPELL turns the theatre into a
joyous palace" Billboard "Exhilarating… a rapid fire musical
fun house" "It's marvelous… it says love thy
neighbor and it means it" NBC-TV “GODSPELL is a love feast… dedicated to light and joy
and love. The music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz are remarkably eclectic,
drawing on rock, folk, gospel and broadway… it is
delightful" Women's Wear Daily
Godspell begins
with Jesus declaring himself as God and King in whom there is no beginning
and no end. The company takes on the roles of different philosophers
(including Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Leonardo DaVinci, Frederic Nietzche, and
Jean Paul Sartre) who debate the existence of the God. The debate
disintegrates into babble where ideas become only fragments.
ACT TWO While one of the company members sings a reprise
of “Learn Your Lessons Well”,
the company sets up the stage for Act II. When the song is over, another
company comes up through the audience and sings “Turn Back O Man” in which she encourages mankind to give
up its foolish ways and turn to God. Jesus joins her in the singing of the
song, and they dance.
Jesus- Must be
the most charismatic individual in the cast. High energy, charming, funny,
gentle but with strength. He is the sort of person others instinctively follow. John the Baptist/Judas- He has attributes of both
Biblical figures: he is both Jesus' lieutenant and most ardent disciple and
the doubter who begins to question and rebel. Like Jesus, he is also
charismatic, but in more of an overt revolutionary way. Usually played by
someone handsome and masculine, with an undertone of sexuality. He is the
most "serious" and intellectual of the group, though as with all
the actors, he must still possess a good sense of physical comedy. Jeffrey- Very high energy. Impish and
playful. In the original, he played several musical instruments, including
concertina and recorder. Lamar- Not the brightest in the bunch,
he is a little slow on the uptake. But there is a great sweetness and innocence
about him. Because he sings "All Good Gifts," he must be a very
good singer. Herb- The comedian, the class clown. The guy who can do a hundred voices and
imitations. This is also the role that sings the least, so it is wise to cast
it for a comedian rather than a vocalist. Robin- A bit of a tomboy, but
basically open and sweet. She is the first of the group to commit to
following Jesus in the song "Day by Day." Joanne- The confident one, the
show-off. The first one to volunteer, sometimes
jumps in before she really understands what's going on. Peggy- The shy one. Sometimes a little
slow to get things, but when she does, she commits all the way. Has an
"earth mother" kind of warmth to her. Sonia- Sassy and slightly cynical, the
most urban of the group. Also the "sexy" one, but her sexiness
contains a large element of put-on, in the manner of Mae West or Madonna(who in fact once played this role). Gilmer- The female equivalent of the
class clown. Goofy and a cut-up. this is the female
role that sings least, and therefore should be cast with a strong comedienne.
There’s lots of information on the music of GOSPELL. These three sites provide a great deal of
wonderful information on the production. CLICK HERE for some
fascinating history on the stories behind the songs of GODSPELL.
Stephen Schwartz was born in His first major credit was the title song for the play
BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE; the song was eventually used in the movie version as
well. In 1971, he wrote the music and new lyrics for GODSPELL, for
which he won several awards including two Grammys.
This was followed by the English texts, in collaboration with Leonard
Bernstein, for Bernstein's MASS, which opened the He next wrote the music and lyrics for THE BAKER'S WIFE,
followed by a musical version of Studs Terkel's
WORKING, to which he contributed four songs, and which he also adapted and
directed, winning the Drama Desk Award as best director. He also co-directed
the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS
"American Playhouse" series. Next came songs for a one-act musical
for children, CAPTAIN LOUIE, and a children's book, THE PERFECT PEACH. He
then wrote music for three of the songs in the Off-Broadway revue, PERSONALS,
lyrics to Charles Strouse's music for RAGS, and
music and lyrics for CHILDREN OF EDEN. He then began working in film,
collaborating with composer Alan Menken on the scores
for the Disney animated features POCAHONTAS, for which he received two
Academy Awards and another Grammy, and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. He also
provided songs for DreamWorks' first animated feature, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT,
for which he won another Academy Award for the song "When You
Believe". Mr. Schwartz provided music and lyrics for the original
television musical, GEPPETTO, seen on The Wonderful World of Disney.
Recently, he released two CDs on which he sings new songs, entitled RELUCTANT
PILGRIM and UNCHARTED TERRITORY. Mr. Schwartz's most recent musical, WICKED, opened in the fall
of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway. Under the auspices of the ASCAP Foundation, he runs musical
theatre workshops in CLICK HERE to visit the official Stephen Schwartz web
site.
John
Michael Tebelak originally wrote Godspell as his Masters Thesis project at Carnegie-Mellon
in 1971. Subsequently, he directed productions of Godspell
at La MaMa Theatre, the
If you take a look at our
schedule, you’ll see that in just six short weeks after casting we will be opening
this magnificent production. As a
result of wanting to avoid last minute practice, we will have a strong
rehearsal schedule for the singing, dancing, the acting, the production and
the building/ordering for this production. We will
have ALL CALL rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday until pre-production and
production week. During these two
weeks, we will rehearse daily to be prepared.
TECH DAYS will occur every Saturday beginning It is
required to sign-off on this and the general meeting forms to be considered
for involvement or participation in GODSPELL.
GODSPELL AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE DIRECTOR GODSPELL
is a deceptively difficult show to direct. This
is primarily because much of the dramatic action, and virtually the entire
action of the first act, is sub-textual. The text of
Act One is, after all, essentially just a series of lessons and parables in
what appears to be no particular order. And while Act Two follows more
typically the Passion story, with such familiar scenes as the interrogation
of Jesus by the Pharisees, the Last Supper, Gethsemene,
and so on, it is still interspersed with stories and teachings. So it
is easy for the show to appear formless, or worse, for the ten performers to
degenerate into ten stand-up comics vying with one another for laughs and
attention. This is the diametric opposite of what GODSPELL is about. Above
all, the first act of GODSPELL must be about the formation of a community.
Eight separate individuals, led and guided by Jesus (who is helped by his
“assistant”, John the Baptist/Judas), gradually come to form a communal unit.
This happens through the playing of “games” and the telling and absorption of
lessons, and each of the eight individuals has his or her own moment of
committing to Jesus and to the community. When Jesus applies clown make-up to
their faces after “Save the People”, he is having them take on an external
physical manifestation that they are his disciples, temporarily separating
them from the rest of society. But the internal journey of each character is
separate and takes its individual course and period of time. Exactly when and
why this moment of commitment occurs is one of the important choices each of
the actors must make, in collaboration of course with the director. At the
end of the first act, the audience is invited to join the community through
the sharing of wine (or grape juice), mingling with the actors during the
intermission. In
the second act, after an opening number that continues the sense of
playfulness and includes some good-natured teasing of Jesus by his followers,
Jesus announces: “This is the beginning.” By this he means that now that the
community has been formed, they are ready to move through the challenging
sequence of events leading to the Crucifixion. When Jesus removes their
make-up, just prior to the Last Supper, he is saying that they have
assimilated his teachings into themselves and no longer need the outward trappings
that brand them as disciples. And when Jesus is taken from them at the end,
the rest of the company remain fused as a community,
ready and able to carry forth the lessons they have learned. If
this basic dramatic arc is not achieved, GODSPELL does not exist; no matter
how amusing and tuneful individual moments may be, the production has failed. A few
other general issues: It is important that Jesus be the leader at all times,
that the energy and attitude of each “game” come from him, particularly in
the first half of the first act. Even when a game or parable is initiated by
another of the troupe, there should be a clear sense that it is done for and
with the master?s
approval. It is easy for the show to appear to be “Jesus and his Nine Zany
Friends”; this is wrong. If a misplaced reverence for Jesus causes him to be
played as too “serious” or passive, the balance of the show is distorted. He
is, if you will, the Chief Clown, and must drive the action at all times. Since
we are on the subject of the character and personality of Jesus, it seems
appropriate to discuss issues of casting at this time. The original
production of GODSPELL was performed by a cast of five men and five women.
While many productions have been done with a different gender balance or with
more or less people, the script reflects the original cast breakdown. In the
script, other than the characters of JESUS and JOHN THE BAPTIST/JUDAS, the
characters are called by the first names of the original cast members. (For
purposes of the program, the first names of the actors in each individual
production may be substituted.) In any given production, each actor will
bring his or her own personality traits to the character, but it is important
for the director to look for certain salient personality characteristics when
casting each role. This allows the individual cast members to be different
enough from one another for the audience to distinguish them, and it makes
the specific assignments of lines in the script make sense from a personality
and character arc point-of-view. Following is a brief description of each of
the character types: JESUS
-- Must be the most charismatic individual in the cast. High energy,
charming, funny, gentle but with strength. He is the sort of person others
instinctively follow. JOHN
THE BAPTIST/JUDAS -- He has attributes of both Biblical figures: he is both
Jesus? lieutenant and most ardent disciple and the
doubter who begins to question and rebel. Like Jesus, he is also charismatic,
but in more of an overt revolutionary way. Usually played by someone handsome
and masculine, with an undertone of sexuality. He is the most “serious” and
intellectual of the group, though as with all the actors, he must still
possess a good sense of physical comedy. JEFFREY
-- Very high energy. Impish and playful. In the original, he played several
musical instruments, including concertina and recorder. LAMAR
-- Not the brightest in the bunch, he is a little slow on the uptake. But
there is a great sweetness and innocence about him. Because he sings “All
Good Gifts”, he must be a very good singer. HERB
-- The comedian, the class clown. The guy who can do a hundred voices and
imitations. Can be a little older or more heavy-set. This is also the role
that sings the least, so it is wise to cast it for a comedian rather than a
vocalist. ROBIN
-- A bit of a tomboy, but basically open and sweet. She is the first of the
group to commit to following Jesus in the song “Day by Day”. JOANNE
-- The confident one, the show-off. The first one to volunteer, sometimes she
jumps in before she really understands what's going on. PEGGY
-- The shy one. Sometimes a little slow to get things, but when she does, she
commits all the way. Has an “earth mother” kind of warmth to her. SONIA
-- Sassy and slightly cynical, the most urban of the group. Also the “sexy”
one, but her sexiness contains a large element of put-on, in the manner of
Mae West or Madonna (who in fact once played this role.) GILMER
-- The female equivalent of the class clown. Goofy and a cut-up. This is the
female role that sings least, and therefore should be cast with a strong
comedienne. In
addition to each individual being able to stand out, it is important that all
be able to function as an ensemble, without any feeling that any one (other
than Jesus) stands out above the others. The
style of playing is also important to mention. We used to tell cast members
in the original production to imagine that the audience was composed of half
adults and half children, some of whom were blind and some of whom were deaf.
The parables had to be made clear and entertaining to each of these groups.
Thus the use of both sophisticated verbal humor and broad physical comedy, to
appeal to all the age groups, and the reliance on acting out the stories
visually (for the “deaf” members of the audience) and through the use of
different voices and sounds (for the “blind” members of the audience. A
last issue to discuss here is that of level of production values and tone.
When John-Michael Tebelak first conceived and
directed GODSPELL, it was set in a distinctly urban and gritty environment --
a brick wall at the back and a high chain-link fence that enclosed the action
and suggested an inner-city playground. Three unfinished wooden planks and
two sawhorses provided the rest of the scenery. All of the props and costume
add-ons used in the show came out of garbage bags on stage or were hanging on
the fence at the top of the show. In other words, there was an emphasis on
simplicity, on “Theatre of Poverty”, on theatrical magic created by the
actors without “production values”. Above all was the sense of fun and beauty
created from urban garbage, like the In
the script that follows, I will attempt to include stage directions that
describe what was done in the original production and discuss the underlying
idea and purpose of the action. While a creative director is free to alter
the specifics, it is important to remain true to the subtextual
content, motivations, and dramatic structure. Stephen Schwartz CLICK HERE is you wish to unsubscribe
from LCHS BRAVO! LCHS
Drama’s BRAVO and its content is Copyrighted
© 2007 material of Lewis Central Community Schools, All Rights Reserved Tom
McLaughlin, Director of Theatre & Editor |
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