Rogue Elephant brings 'Godspell' to Clary Gardens

COSHOCTON — A musical that takes a unique look at the story of Jesus Christ and the gospels is being presented by Rogue Elephant Productions at Clary Gardens. Shows are at 7 p.m. July 1 to 2 and 7 to 9 and 2 p.m. July 3.

Rogue Elephant staged it's first production, "Into the Woods," last summer at Clary Gardens with the musical review "All Together Now" in the fall. The theater company has already announced "Spamalot," based on the work of Monty Python for next summer.

This year is "Godspell" by Stephen Schwartz. Originally produced in 1971, Rogue Elephant will be performing the 2011 Broadway revival version featuring new songs and revisions to others by Schwartz. A film version was released in 1973.

The show features non-Biblical characters, who sing and act out the parables along side the characters of Jesus and Judas in a modern setting. All cast members are on stage the whole time and each character signs at least one song. "Day by Day" is the most famous tune from the show, peaking at 13 on the Billboard charts in 1972 as done by the original cast.

Director Mark Kittel said his mother took him to see the musical when he was a child and it made an impression on him.

"When we were evaluating what shows we wanted to do this year, we put 'Godspell' at the top of the list partly for that reason and partly because we wanted to get a show out there the community would appreciate and would fit Clary Gardens well," he said.

He knows it was once seen as controversial, but he believes that has gone away. While a lot of people relate "Godspell" to the hippie movement, Kittel said that's not really the case as Schwartz's intentions was always for the play to be set in whatever the current time period was. The non-Biblical characters are basically playing themselves and dressing as they normally would.

"Nearly anything that doesn't literally follow what's in the Bible, any kind of interpretation is met with resistance by some groups. My view, the vast majority of people who come see this show will see in it what they would expect to see from something based on the teachings of Jesus," Mark said. "It might have caused controversies in the past, but it's also inspired a lot of people."

Grace Cullison, who sings lead on "Day by Day," said when she and her family watched the movie, they weren't sure what they just saw. However, any misgivings she had evaporated when she saw the Rogue Elephant take and learned more about the writer's goals.

"I was 'Into the Woods' last year and I had so much fun with the production that I was willing to go into this blindly and trust that Mark knew what he was doing," Cullison said.

Amanda Kittel, Mark's daughter, sings lead on "Bless the Lord." She said "Godspell" is hard to describe, because it's unique in its presentation and staging.

"It's a very different structure from most musicals. Usually there's an established plot with an introduction song, comic relief, a ballad, the intermission song and the big finale," she said. "This is kind of a collection of lessons through song. There's not a clear, linear story."

Mark said there is a subtle story and audiences need to pay attention to get it. It's about how the characters grow by their interactions with Jesus and reach a point where they can spread His teachings further, much like how the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible ends.

"What Schwartz wanted the audience to focus on was how these characters come together as a loose collection of individuals and learn from Jesus about how to live, how to work and how to build a community together; about what's important in life and what's not important in life," he said. "By the end, all these characters have grown to the point where they no longer need to be with Him, they're ready to go off into the world and be teachers to other people and spread what they've learned."

General admission is free with front seats at $15 and audience participation seating at $25. Tickets and more information are available at reptheaterohio.com. Those in audience participation seats will be brought onto stage by actors for some scenes and receive a T-shirt. It's expected to be four people per show.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Rogue Elephant brings 'Godspell' to Clary Gardens