Reviewed by:

• Godspell by John-Michael Tebelak
• Dan Venning

The Berkshire Theatre Group’s summer 2020 production of Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak’s frequently produced Godspell was the first fully staged musical in the United States to be approved by Actors’ Equity Association since the inception of the global coronavirus crisis shut down theatres nationwide in March 2020. As such, this was a landmark historical production: the group’s ability to put up the show, with strict health and safety protocols and without leading to the infection of cast, crew, musicians, or audience members, was proof that communal theatrical performance can survive and even thrive in the most unprecedented of times. At the core of the show was unbridled optimism: a can-do attitude designed to remind us that even in the darkest of days, if we are able to come together inclusively and with positivity, we can build (or rebuild) a beautiful world. This was not the insidious, toxic optimism of magical thinking that has led some to call for businesses or schools to reopen willy-nilly; it was a measured positivity characterized by abundant precautions: audience members wore masks throughout, had temperatures taken, signed waivers, gave phone numbers for contact tracing, and numerous social-distancing measures were rigorously put in place. At the same time, Godspell’s important and uplifting message was at times somewhat undercut by certain failings in the production: from elements of stagecraft to the price point of the tickets. Ultimately, the few disappointments in the staging were of little importance to audience members like myself who had been starving for live theatre over the past months, but the high cost was a more significant issue, since the inaccessibility of the show to diverse audiences meant that the material conditions of the event to some degree belied its message.

Alan Filderman’s production was designed to engage with the present moment in a variety of ways. Before the opening number, “Prepare Ye,” the cast members spoke about the ways the current crisis had interrupted their lives: disrupting promising [End Page 93] stage careers including planned Broadway debuts, forcing thirty-something actors to move back in with their parents, generating feelings of desperation. The various stories began to sound a bit similar, even repetitive, but that was part of the point: the feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and despair brought about by this crisis are in fact communal. They are individual traumas we share. Moments throughout the parables and songs that constitute Godspell highlighted this striving towards collective inclusivity; this included small but significant updates to the script to foster this goal. For example, after dramatizing one parable, the cast agreed to stop using the word “master” because of its connotations of race-based slavery in the United States. In another such moment, a rich person who is damned quickly transforms into a “Karen,” demanding to speak to Jesus’s manager. Isabel Jordan performed “Day by Day” as a bilingual number, singing in both English and Spanish. “All Good Gifts” featured sign language from the entire ensemble. “Turn Back, O Man,” which is frequently performed by a woman as a sexy, vampy number was, in this production, a highlight of the show as a joyously queer song as Zach Williams teased the audience with high kicks in tight jeans, shouting “gender is a social construct!” at the end of the number. The strongest parts of the show were unabashedly earnest: Nicholas Edwards’s portrayal of a generous and loving Jesus, especially during the eleven o’clock number “Beautiful City,” and Alex Getlin’s gorgeous rendition of Jay Hamburger and Peggy Gordon’s haunting “By My Side.” There were many moments when it was clear that cast members wanted to be able to touch one another or embrace, and the show’s acknowledgment of this unrequited longing left everyone both sad and hopeful.

The cast of Godspell. (Photo: Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware.)

The...

审核人：

• Johns-Michael Tebelak的Godspell
• 丹·文宁

伯克希尔剧院集团（Berkshire Theatre Group）于2020年夏季制作斯蒂芬·施瓦茨（Stephen Schwartz）和约翰·迈克尔·特贝拉克（John-Michael Tebelak）经常制作的Godspell自从全球冠状病毒危机于2020年3月关闭以来，这是美国演员协会（Actor's Equity Association）批准的美国第一部完整上演的音乐剧。这是具有里程碑意义的历史作品：该乐队的表演能力该节目具有严格的健康和安全规程，并且不会导致演员，工作人员，音乐家或听众的感染，这证明了公共戏剧表演可以在最空前的时期生存下来，甚至蓬勃发展。展览的核心是无限的乐观：一种可以做的态度，旨在提醒我们，即使在最黑暗的日子里，如果我们能够包容和积极地团结在一起，我们就能建造（或重建）美丽的世界。这不是阴险的，魔术思维的毒气乐观，导致一些人呼吁企业或学校重新开放。这是一个积极的衡量指标，其特征在于要采取大量的预防措施：听众们都戴着口罩，进行了体温测量，签署了弃权书，提供了电话号码以进行接触者追踪，并且严格执行了各种疏远社交的措施。同时，Godspell的重要和振奋人心的信息有时会因制作中的某些失败而有所削弱：从舞台工艺品到门票价格。归根结底，对于像我这样在过去几个月中一直渴望现场演出的观众来说，舞台上的一些失望并不重要，但是高昂的成本是一个更重要的问题，因为该节目无法吸引到不同的观众，这意味着事件的实质条件在一定程度上掩盖了其信息。

艾伦·费尔德曼（Alan Filderman）的作品旨在通过多种方式与当下互动。在开幕式“准备”之前，演员们谈到了当前危机打断他们生活的方式：破坏了有希望的[End Page 93]舞台生涯，包括计划中的百老汇首演，迫使三十多岁的演员重返舞台父母，产生绝望的感觉。各种各样的故事听起来似乎有些相似，甚至是重复的，但这就是重点的一部分：这场危机带来的孤独，无助和绝望的感觉实际上是共同的。它们是我们共同的个人创伤。贯穿整个寓言和构成Godspell的歌曲的时刻强调了向集体包容性的努力；其中包括对脚本的微小但重要的更新，以实现此目标。例如，在对一个寓言进行了戏剧化之后，演员在美国由于其基于种族的奴隶制的含义而同意停止使用“大师”一词。在另一个这样的时刻，一个被诅咒的有钱人很快变成了“凯伦”，要求与耶稣的经理说话。伊莎贝尔·乔丹（Isabel Jordan）用英语和西班牙语演唱“ Day by Day”作为双语数字。“所有好礼物”的特色是整个乐队的手语。女人经常以性感，吸血鬼的身份表演“回头，男人”，这是该节目的亮点，因为扎克·威廉姆斯以紧身牛仔裤的高踢脚戏弄观众，使它成为欢乐的奇怪歌曲，大喊“性别是一种社会建构！数字末尾的“”。表演中最强烈的部分毫不掩饰地认真：尼古拉斯·爱德华兹（Nicholas Edwards）描绘了一个慷慨而充满爱心的耶稣，尤其是在十一点数字“美丽的城市”期间，以及亚历克斯·葛林（Alex Getlin）对杰伊·汉堡（Jay Hamburger）和佩吉·高登（Peggy Gordon）令人着迷的《拜托我的身边》（By My Side）的华丽演绎。 ” 在很多时候，很明显演员们都希望能够彼此接触或拥抱，而节目中对这种单身渴望的承认使每个人都感到悲伤和充满希望。

戈斯佩尔的演员。（照片：Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware。）

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