After much anticipation of this year’s spring musical, I was delighted to see Godspell onopening night. This upbeat musical featured a cast of students playing themselves, along with Jesus (played by senior Christian Klepac) and Judas (played by junior David Black). The songs and stories are featured around parables in the book of Matthew, and it ends with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Godspell was wrapped up with the visual confection of bright colors, and a cast full of talented students. The musical opens in a modern-day drama classroom, with the students fidgeting and playing around with cellphones and laptops, posting to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Quirky hashtags flashed up on screens spontaneously during the songs, making young and old audience members laugh. During intermission, the cast members ventured out into the audience to take selfies that were later shown in the screes hanging above the stage. Apart from interacting with the audience during intermission, the students also pulled random volunteers to come up on stage to participate in different parables.
Each member in the cast executed charming versions of themselves with caricature-ish qualities that got the audience laughing at the witty and exaggerated actions. Different students sang solos accompanied by a small live band of other LHS students. Senior Claire Bryant sang a soulful, saucy version of “Turn Back O Man,” and Sophomore Jackie Ovassapian beautifully sang the popular song “Day by Day.” The cast even interacted with the band onstage, providing an airy and enjoyable atmosphere for the people watching to enjoy. Even though the students didn’t play specific characters like Klepac and Black did, they still managed to get their real-world personalities across to the audience, which made them relatable and interesting to watch. The cast of characters was endearing and relatable with their oddities and energy, and thus we find ourselves wanting to join this class and go along the journey with Jesus. Klepac acted out a magnificent Jesus, charming everybody with his wry composure and energetic attitude. He has wowed the crowds previously, but this performance was a tour-de-force of talent. Klepac was a finalist for the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards and had to attend the ceremony on Friday, April 25, so the theatre department had to change the Friday night show to Thursday night.
The parables told were tweaked to fit a modern interpretation of the classic stories. For example, the cast utilized scenes from the popular movie “Mean Girls” to tell one of the parables. The cast did a good job trying to convey the biblical stories as more modern. Although some of the parables were a little confusing, the student actors kept the audience engaged and amused. The stories and songs led up to the emotional crucifixion of Jesus. Keeping with the school theme, Judas and other cast members took baseball bats and abused Jesus in the “hallway” offstage. The student actors wept on the stage as the sounds of bats hit lockers. This intense scene was handled well by everybody involved, and it resulted in a job well done overall. A big congratulations to all of those who put forth their best effort for this spectacular show!
