Godspell: musical about faith in a contemporary environment still resonates

Godspell is a musical about faith in the real world. How do words of wisdom and kindness said millennia ago resonate with us today? The social picture has changed significantly since the time of Jesus and we are engaged in different battles. Or, are we? 9^th  Hour Theatre’s words shows us what happens when those ancient thoughts are put in a contemporary environment.

First, there is chaos. Unintelligible sounds buzz around and frenzied movements fill the stage. Headlines depicting the horrors of our century are contrasted with passages from the New Testament. All characters, however different, share a few common traits – they are full of anger, selfishness, ridicule and even cruelty. Gradually, they change – once lost, they find the right way again. In a very powerful ending, the ensemble connects the words of Jesus with today’s reality and show how much they still resonate with us.

9^th Hour Theatre has always had good actors. That’s why their plays are so memorable. The audience believes their feelings – the fall, the enlightenment, the devil in us – everything is expressed wonderfully, even more through facial expressions than by words.

But, as I said, Godspell is a musical, and as such, compared to drama, it has to live up to a different set of expectations. Where drama might need good actors who can decently sing, a musical has to have good singers/dancers who can decently act. As for singing/dancing part, a lot was missing, starting with the choreography. Contrasted with such a deep topic, the choreography was overly simplistic, and a little bit old-fashioned. Walking in circles does not help much, and waiving hands in Jazz dance style is just out of place. Dancers looked uncomfortable on the stage in certain moments – movements were abruptly cut, and mainly disconnected. Some basic techniques (such as arm and leg extensions, coordination and synchronization of the moves) are missing, and chemistry among the dancers is not there.

Although there were some very good singing moments (the chorus was usually well performed), the singers mostly cannot sustain the quality throughout the melody (pitch, intonation and tone often vary from moment to moment).

It was only at the very end that all the elements worked together well. Very good acting created a memorable moment, Jonathan Harris finally puts his rich directing talent into action, and the chorus electrifies the theatre. It’s a pity that the company could not find their artistic way earlier in the show.

Godspell plays at Centrepointe Theatres until Mrch 17.

THE ARTISTIC TEAM

GEORGE DUTCH (Dramaturge)

JONATHAN HARRIS (Director)

RUTH ALLISON (Costume Designer)

ALLISON ELIZABETH BURNS (Choreographer)  

THE ENSEMBLE CAST

TROY ARSENIAN 

JOHANNE BOISVENU-HENRY

SYLVAIN BOUCHARD

TOM CHARLEBOIS

TRISH CLEYN

ANTONIO DIRIENZO

JERUSHA LEWIS

MCKENNA MELLON

ADAM MOSCOE

SEAN NAUTH

MICHELLE SANGALLI

JACOB SEGRETO

XYLIA

THE MUSICIANS

JOHN CORKETT (Guitar)

TREVOR CURTIS (Percussion)

CHRIS LUCAS (Bass)

CHRIS SANTILLÁN (Piano)

COREY THOMAS (Guitar)