CAYMAN DRAMA SOCIETY Godspell was, is, major production
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from May 1995.
Brought to you by
Godspell will be performed in Cayman for the first time ever, starting 10 May, thanks to the energy and well-rounded talents of ten members of the Cayman Drama Society.
Kris Kahn plays the part of Christ. The other "characters" don't have names. Sometimes they are called by their own real first names: Leanne Buchanan, Kate Bowring, Ralph Scott Davidson, Jim Flynn, Karin Gus-tasson, Rebecca Rockwell, Lander Scott, Vicki Stewart, Stephen Taylor. Sometimes they are the people in the stories Christ tells. These range from the prodigal son and the wicked servant to the good Samaritan and the shepherd who divides the sheep from the goats.
"Godspell teaches spirituality, whether you're an atheist, Baptist, Hindu or Jew," Kris asserted.
Sometimes the lines are St. Matthew verbatim. Other times the ideas are expressed with a bit of slang, idiom and local flavour. Critics have argued how far you can go before relevance turns into irreverence, but Godspell's longevity is the best answer. It was written to reach out to everyone: evidence it reached that goal is in its 2,124 performances off Broadway, 527 performances on Broadway and seven road companies once touring the US at the same time.
One of the most moving scenes in Godspell is at the Last Supper, when Christ announces that there is one who will betray Him. What happens next on stage is not what happens in the Bible. But it forces each person to examine his or her own conscience. Facing the truth about one's self must always be relevant.
Kris, who is also directing, noted that the play first featured actors dressed in the hippie garb of its era, the early Cont'd on page A9 from page A8 1970s. Later productions had everyone in clown costume. Kris' version will feature colourful clothes against a "minimalist" set that never changes.
According to Stanley Green, author of Broadway Musicals, Show by Show, Godspell play started out as a nonmusical workshop. It was a "whimsical retelling" of Scripture, with "parables enacted in a frolicsome, contemporary manner".
The addition of song has illuminated each story's moral and reinforced each mood. Some songs have become standards in their own right. The most well-known, of course, is "Day by Day". That and "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" have been adopted almost as hymns by many congregations, who may not have even realised where they came from. Much of the music in Godspell is little short of glorious, embracing counterpoint and multi-part harmony, soliloquies that are almost operatic, some rhythms that are almost burlesque. "This is my favourite show -- into eternity," he said after a recent rehearsal. Kris has already done the play twice: at the Liberty Showcase Theatre in Baltimore (1992) and the Summer Garden Theatre in Annapolis (1993). His first show was with a cast of 12; the second had a cast of seven.
In Cayman, he heads a cast of ten. That was the number in the original New York production, he noted. That was how many people auditioned locally. All performers have some degree of experience.
Helping them master the music is Lana Sannachan, popular pianist and vocalist at the Seaview. But the energy and personality they bring to the stage is all their own.
