Spellbound by ‘Godspell’

Eldred gives a modern look to the 1970s musical

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY — As one of two smash Broadway hits with a strong moral message hearkening back to the teachings of Jesus Christ, “Godspell” joined “Jesus Christ Superstar” as modern musicals with profound messages of hope in troubled times.

The play’s structure is a series of parables taken from the Gospel of Matthew, with lyrics set to the music of traditional hymns. It first opened on Broadway on May 17, 1971. On March 7 and 8, Eldred Central School staged a modern adaptation of the show deploying recognizable characters such as Superman, Woody from “Toy Story,” and Barbie as modern-day analogues to the original cast of characters.

Directed by Hadley, who was making her Eldred directorial debut, and choreographed by Steven Taylor, the show was true to its original counterpart in the telling of the stories that, taken together, impart a strong message of hope and faith.

Solid singing and fine choreography followed the opening “Tower of Babble,” prologue as each of the frozen characters arrayed throughout the audience voiced the philosophies of such iconic thinkers as Leonardo DaVinci, Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Buckminster Fuller and Jean Paul Sartre. All talking at once, they sounded like gibberish as compared to the simple eloquence of Jesus, which followed suit.

Then Jesus, now portrayed as Superman by Evan Laput, blesses John the Baptist, adapted for this show as a soldier, enacted by Robert Snyder, and the way is set to welcome the enlivened cast to the spirited musical. Singing “Prepare the Way for the Lord,” the cast is baptized one by one and takes the stage for the impressive show.

A small but tuneful pit orchestra, led by Hadley, accompanied the show’s various numbers that included “By My Side,” “Light of the World,” “Beautiful City” and the riveting “Finale.”

The ultimate sacrifice, rendered by the show’s protagonist, is a strong reminder to the audience about the path of righteousness in a world gone astray.

The Eldred production featured stunning costumes designed by Alice Willis and Jane Powers, and it benefited from the technical wizardry of Joshua Poston. Stepanie Roeder served as the production manager.

Kudos to Hadley, the cast and crew for an ambitious production that sounded the first notes of other high school productions soon to be staged as part of Music in Our Schools Month.