Strong acting, singing in student-run ‘Godspell’

From Thursday through Saturday, Union Board brought the musical “Godspell” to the stage at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater with an entirely student-run production. \nIn this version, Director Jonathan B. Lerner gave the musical a quirky and lighthearted interpretation.\n“Godspell,” which was first produced as an off-Broadway production in 1971, is a musical that includes a series of Bible stories following the gospels of St. Matthew. Because the original was written without strict or specific guidelines, the setting, music and many other elements change drastically with each director’s interpretation. This particular performance included some serious teachings of Jesus, which were told in a rather humorous fashion, but, like the original, the plot was not linear.\nThe actors’ comedic timing and enthusiasm throughout kept the show lighthearted. Karli Shannon’s quirkiness as Camryn added a nice touch. John McLaughlin, who played Jesus, and CJ Pawlikowski, who played Judas, executed their songs and lines flawlessly and kept up the energy throughout the musical. Even the music, which was played live directly in front of the stage, was suitable.\nIn the first act, however, the plot was hard to follow because of each character’s eccentricities and differing “personalities.” Jumping from burlesque to vaudevillian scenes, the construction of the musical seemed to be more a product of our “ADD” generation than from the 1970s.\nIn the second act, the schizophrenic nature of the musical started to come together. Each of Jesus’ teachings were set to a different style of acting, and it was hard to follow until Act Two, which consisted mainly of the story of the events leading up to Jesus’ death.\nIn the notes for the play, Lerner stressed that it was not meant to be a religious play, but rather the story of eight individuals coming together. This aspect was evident through the various teachings of Jesus. Each character had favorable and unfavorable qualities, but in the end, the incidents and experiences they shared brought them together. This was the main idea of the musical, and it was done exceptionally well.\nThe singing, for the most part, was solid, with a couple songs being rather weak, like “All Good Gifts.” Microphone problems were, at times, an annoyance, but did not cause any major problems. The acting was a pleasant surprise. All of the actors on stage were able to maintain the personality of his or her character while displaying various acting styles in each of the scenes. \nThe attraction of “Godspell” is that so many elements are left up to the director to interpret, so it allows for each production of the musical to encapsulate the nuances of a culture and generation. In this completely student-run show, all the elements came together.