Actors who originate roles in new musicals may help shape the character, but most of them are working with a written script. Godspell’s actors, on the other hand, were rehearsing with parables and Bible phrases that were brought in by the show’s conceiver and director, John-Michael Tebelak. The methods of working with the material essentially emerged by way of an improvisational process. They shaped various spiritual lessons into a stylized piece of musical theater under Tebelak’s guidance. Whether they played charades, came up with a Three Stooges type of response, or found some other way to communicate an idea, it was largely invented during rehearsals.

PHOTO: Stephen Nathan, Robin Lamont, Sonia Manzano and others in Godspell, 1971. Photo by Kenn Duncan.

For the first two of New York productions (an off-off Broadway version that transferred to Off-Broadway), actor Stephen Nathan played Jesus. He recalls many hours of improvisatory acting that yielded some lines that became set in the show. John-Michael Tebelak helped whittle down the pieces. “Shaping it was primarily a job of trimming things back, with the help of John-Michael’s perspective on it,” says Nathan.

Of course it was Tebelak’s idea to draw from the profound source material in the first place: phrases and parables primarily from Matthew and Luke.
Read the full story of the making of Godspell in The Godspell Experience.

The post Godspell’s Unique Collaborative History appeared first on Godspell the Musical.