Musical Godspell opens next week in Neenah

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by: Warren Gerds, contact me at [email protected]. Watch my Critique editions live every Sunday morning during the 6am to 7:30 am broadcast on WFRV-TV, Channel 5.

Posted: July 13, 2021 / 4:58 PM CDT / Updated: July 13, 2021 / 4:58 PM CDT

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NEENAH, Wis. (WFRV) Riverside Players will present the musical Godspell in nine performances starting next week.

Performances at the Riverside Park pavilion will be at 8 p.m. July 22-24; 7 p.m. on July 25; 8 p.m. from July 28 to 31; and 7 p.m. on August 1. Info: https://www.ci.neenah.wi.us/departments/parks-recreation/riverside-players/.

This is the 65th season of Theater in the Park. Due to COVID-19 considerations, members of the public will be socially distanced and asked to wear a mask.

Godspell has been a popular show since arriving on Broadway in 1971. Composed by Stephen Schwartz with the book by John-Michael Tebelak, the musical is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Mathew. The parables are interspersed with music mainly composed of lyrics from traditional hymns.

Godspell has been produced by several tour companies and a myriad of theater companies. The 2011 revival was performed on Broadway from October 13, 2011 until June 24, 2012.

The cast of Riverside Players is made up of the following local actors: Chelsey Burke, Kyle S. Brauer, Matt Kierzek, Kate Michel, Amanda A. Petersen, Ericka Wade, Kadie Smith, Larissa Petersen, Patrick ODonnell and Katana Talen Goss.

Amanda A. Petersen, who co-directs with J Alan, gives an overview of the Riverside Players production.

By taking on Godspell a second time, I wanted to dig into the original idea of ​​the show, says Petersen. Godspell was born in a time of social unrest and community division, when young people struggled to understand and trust older generations, and vice versa. Emerging from the pandemic and our own period of social discord, the origins of musicals struck me as particularly relevant. John-Michael Tebelak actually came up with the idea for Godspell after attending an Easter mass and being asked to leave because of his long, scruffy hair. Apparently, he was even searched and searched by a police officer upon his release. He felt frustrated and irritated by this, as his own upbringing had brought him to know Jesus as a leader who opened the doors of his community to people from all levels of society, even those considered outcasts, and who carried messages of love, such as praying for your persecutors, standing up for what is right, and helping those in need. Tebelak later recounted that the Easter experience made him want to create something with the simple, happy message I felt the first time I read. [the gospels] and to recreate the sense of community he had hoped to find by attending Mass.

Searching for the context of the shows really allowed me to shed light on the original concept of Tebelaks in the form of a question borrowed from a popular song when I was a child: What if God was one of us? And digging even deeper, if the Messiah presented himself today, would we recognize them if they didn’t look like all the religious iconography we knew? What kind of community would such a leader create today? So while our divine spell may look and feel a little different than what people are used to and not just because they included the opening number of the Prologue / Tower of Babel, which is often cut, we hope that people will walk away with the same important messages to take in their hearts and tunes that hit their heads after seeing the show!

Riverside Players combines municipal sponsorship, community engagement and the stage environment, which sets it apart from any other community theater in Wisconsin. The Riverside Players Theater in the Park began in 1955.

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