Stephen Schwartz describes "Godspell" as deceptively difficult to direct. Perhaps I should have taken him more at his word. I've been describing the show to those unfamiliear with it as "Clowns and Jesus. More clowns, less Jesus." And therein lies the danger. "Godspell" is not an evangelical endeavor with a Christian agenda, but neither should it reduce. the Gospel of St. Matthew to (as Schwartz warns) 'Jesus and His Nine Zany Friends.' Rather, Godspell is about community. "Godspell", deriving, of course, from the same roots as 'gospel', is a story about Jesus Christ as told by the man we call Saint Matthew. But it manifests an important philosophy: Christ's divinity is not important, and it isn't the height of his message at all. Jesus of Godpell teaches--not preaches--one message above all: Love each other. This is the message I care most about as a Catholic and a Thespian, and the one I most want to spread. "Godspell", then, is the story of a man who built a community, the community which formed bonds of love through teaching, and a government who destroyed this man out of fear for the power of this same love. I leave you with my two favorite verses: "I have called you by name, and you are mine." Isaiah 43:1 "Let no one look down upon your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, faith and purity, show yourself as an example of those who believe." 1 Timothy 4:12
Michael (Morales)