Alas for you... My Evening at Godspell

To go along with my previous blog about procrastination, I woke up this morning ready to post my blog about my "Godspell" experience. I had the chance to spend two evenings in NYC last month and was going to relish any opportunity to see theatre as always. The two top shows on my list were "Godspell" because I have been following producer Ken Davenport's blog, (the producer's perspective) as well as some of the cast members on Twitter. The other show being "The Book of Mormon"for obvious reasons. I was with my friend Natalie and we had not won the Mormon lottery and were a bit bummed to say the least. In an amazing series of coincidences; sidebar I don't believe in coincidences, rather everything happens for a reason... but thats another story, through the corner of my eye saw someone I knew only via my friend Nina's Facebook page as a fellow actor from Korea, Blake who now lives back in NYC. Being the outgoing person that I am walked up to him and said, " Hi you don't know me but we have a mutual friend, Im Vincent." After the weird introduction had passed, we became buddy buddy as most theatre folk do and began talking. He informed me the the "Godspell" lottery started 15 minutes after Mormon so I still would have a chance. Well that was my answer, after not winning I hightailed it over to 50th street and jumped in line.

I have to give Ken Davenport props on his lottery setup. Using an IPAD to sign up, Brava on the forword thinking and staying with the times. Although maybe two or three more would have helped the line congestion, but I was impressed from the moment I reared my face at Circle in the Square theatre for that reason also because I went to school there 4 years prior and miss my former home. OK so the night begins...

The Date: Friday October 14, 2011, 2nd night of Previews and GO...
Natalie and I were in line just chilling and such, we filled out our names and got our tickets (she almost forgot her stub) and stood to the side. In the mean time her friend came to catch up and then the number calling began. We made a funny realization that her number was "666". That stood out to us not only because of its history as a number but also because most of the names called out by chance at the Mormon lottery were religious based, IE Matthew, Mary, Judah so the fact that the religious names were there and the devil number was here (also a religious play) made for some nice banter. Cut to they call her number, I am listening and yell, she has no idea because she never wins anything and was so confused. It was worth it all just for that reaction but I was so ready for the next 2.5 hours. I was thrilled to sit on the pillows by the stage like a "sit in" and be close because I felt we were part of the show. Once we got settled in, met our new friends in our little pit who are now very close to us, judged a few of them like our lovely elderly neighbor who didn't understand theatre etiquette and talked to the actors while the show was going on... the lights dimmed. :-)

And SHOWTIME!

I have always been a "Godspell" fan since 8 years ago when I had the change to sing "Prepare Ye" and "We Beseech Thee" in a Broadway Revue. But let me say my love for the piece was met and exceeded. From the first note blazing from the Trumpet I was hooked. I will try not to give any specifics in this review because I want you to attend and support the actors but here is what I will say... There are 7 Elements that stood out most to me, or maybe more but without keeping a notepad and ruining my viewing experience,  this is what I remember.

1) The People... I was so happy to see this as the Broadway debut for many of that cast, and as a true Ensemble show it was so thrilling to see the camaraderie and feel as one from the audience perspective.

2) The Current Trends... This revival decided to bring a new flavor to the story, to add in some flare of the current day with aspects of celebrity, news, media, social networking, any and all aspects that you can think of. It was perfectly melded into the plot and made perfect sense, whether it was on purpose or a result of rehearsal improve or on the spot thinking, it made no difference, the result was spot on.

3) The Impersonations... I can honestly say I was giddy from the inside out to see how these actors, with such quick pace and timing, jumped in and out of their characters to impersonate someone of this day and age to help further the story. Truly a talent that not everyone can master.

4) The Improve...Well I can say that Nick Blaemire and George Salazar rocked my world with their uncanny ability to crack me up while feel totally immersed in the story at the same time. They have the talent enough to not play for the laugh but make the script (or improve) speak for itself, not many actors understand this. To not give away anything, a modern dance piece emoting from one of these cast members  brought me to the floor (remembering I was already on the ground!)

5) The craft of each actor... As previously stated, this was and is an ensemble show, but what I loved most was that each actor brought his/her personal statement to the fold. The girls rocked with their quirks and voices, the boys well nuff said. Telly Leung, your rendition of "All Good Gifts" was so heart warming I felt like you were speaking to each of us individually as well as a whole. Hunter Parrish, "Beautiful City" was such a sense of "this is ..." that made all the story more real and I can't even describe. I am so happy the song was re worked to be in this version.

6) The emoting... As an actor and sometimes audience member I hate when I see an actor "acting" versus being in the moment. Well I never felt that hate this night. Every time the script called for sadness or joy or laughter you felt the true connection that each actor had to the story and what was happening, I felt part of it like Jesus was preaching to me and teaching me these parables and became sad and happy along with the whole gang.

7) The Set... One of my favorite aspects which I will not give anything away. But lets just say that the ingeniousness of this sets ability to adapt to each song whether it needed water or height or smoke or a few more surprises was spot on.

And you can round this all off with the theatrical experience of seeing Stephen Schwartz, Zachary Quinto and a number of other people in the audience that just makes you realize we all just want to enjoy a fabulous theatrical evening. So I bid you adieu and ask that you attend if you can, the show is now open, previews are finished, I am unaware what changes were made but I am sure the result deserves a huge BRAVA!

V



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