Director, actors offer new spin on classic musical ‘Godspell’, without stereotypes – Weatherford Democrat

GAINESVILLE, Texas A theater group in a North Texas istelling the story of Jesus gathering his disciples, using a modern lens that strips away stereotypes.

Godspell, a musical by John Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz, debuted this week at the playhouse in downtown Gainesville.

We wanted to do something thats light and that speaks to the idea of unconditional love and acceptance, said Gene Matthews, Butterfield Stage Players director.

Matthews has performed in and directed multiple shows at Butterfield since 2016, including the last four summer musicals. He was eager to share a new take on the musical for Gainesville theatergoers.

I really wanted the opportunity as an atheist to direct a show about God and whittle it down to its basic concepts of unconditional love, acceptance and joy, said Matthews. People have misinterpreted Godspell over the years to be a musical about Jesus coming down back to Earth and leading his people through the story of his life, but its not about Jesus. Its about a bunch of lost individuals who rally around this one charismatic individual who helps them see there is more out there, that there is more to believe in, more to love, that they arent alone.

This message becomes clear in the casting.

This show is traditionally cast with five men and five women. I decided to be more open-minded about my casting choices and not necessarily stick to those traditionally gendered roles, said Matthews.Ive cast a plethora of people, some of whom dont believe in God; I am an atheist. Politically, weve got Republicans, weve got Democrats, weve got conservatives, weve got liberals. And when it comes to beliefs, weve got people who believe in all manner of different charities or social justice situations or social justice causes. Ive got members of the LGBTQ+ community onstage, and since they are playing exaggerated versions of themselves, I absolutely encourage them to bring some of their own life to their representation of themselves on stage."

There are only two characters in Godspell who arent listed as playing themselves: Jesus and Judas. However, according to Matthews, the actors are still playing themselves. Eryka Kitundu, a black woman, plays Jesus a casting decision that has raised a few eyebrows and led some Butterfield patrons to pass on seeing the show.

Nonetheless, Kitundu relishes this opportunity.

Its inspiring that I could get an opportunity like this, especially in a small town, said Kitundu. Im playing someone who is very controversial, especially in this day and age, and people dont see him as my skin color. I also have to tackle that issue when putting on this show, but Im still going to rock it, because I got casted for a reason.

Matthews stands by his casting decision.

I didnt cast a black woman as Jesus. I cast Eryka as Eryka. Shes listed in the playbill as Jesus so that audience members know that this woman is meant to represent a charismatic individual who has all the qualities of Jesus, said Matthews. Its never been about sex or gender for any of these roles."

In researching the show, Matthews discovered that Stephen Schwartz originally wrote the song "Beautiful City" back in 1972 for the release of the film version of "Godspell." But after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, he rewrote the lyrics to better reflect of the racial tensions present then and now in America.

One of the contributing factors that led to the 1992 Los Angeles race riots was the killing of Latasha Harlands, a 15-year-old African-American girl, which happened only 13 days after the brutal, videotaped beating of Rodney King, said Matthews. I think its appropriate and beautiful that we have cast a Black woman as Jesus, and that we will get to experience her singing this song, which was reconceived as an anthem to the beauty of Black lives, the fact that they do matter, and to show that in a world where so much hate can seem overwhelming, sometimes one person standing up to that hate can make a difference."

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Director, actors offer new spin on classic musical 'Godspell', without stereotypes - Weatherford Democrat