Messiah College debuts the playful, entertaining musical “Godspell”
January 16th, 2008
GRANTHAM, Pa. (Jan. 16, 2008) — For more than 30 years, the musical “Godspell” has been charming audiences through its creative presentation of parables from the Gospel of Matthew. Employing a fresh perspective, the department of theatre at Messiah College will perform “Godspell” on Feb. 7-9 and 14-16 at 8 p.m. and on Feb. 10 and 17 at 2 p.m. Each performance is in Miller Auditorium in the Climenhaga Fine Arts Center on the college’s Grantham campus. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for students and can be purchased by calling the Messiah College ticket office at (717) 691-6036.
The college’s production of Stephen Schwartz’s and John-Michael Tebleak’s “Godspell” will take a fresh look at the play in relation to contemporary culture as the characters are confronted with making difficult decisions between the Gospel and their false idols, says Director Ed Cohn. “This production has retained the playfulness and entertainment of the original productions, but has found new depth in the spiritual journey taken on by people much like ourselves,” he adds. Cohn is associate professor of theatre at Messiah College. He teaches a variety of theatre disciplines including acting, performance studies, design, technical theatre, dramatic literature, theory and criticism, and history.
When “Godspell” debuted off-Broadway in 1971, Jesus and his disciples were portrayed as flower children in a carnivalesque environment. “Godspell” was one of the longest running off-Broadway musicals before moving to Broadway in 1976; it ended its run after more than 2,600 performances.
Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls 2,800 undergraduate students in 55 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.