Godspell

Jesus Christ has a life story told in 1970’s New York. His disciples are counter-culture hippies who come to him after St Matthew blows a horn that only few can hear., Film version of the successful stage musical in which the gospel of St Matthew is acted out on the streets of New York. Jesus is transformed into a flower child, and his disciples follow him around the city., An adaptation of the Broadway hit traces the life of Jesus Christ as he communes with an energetic melting pot of 20th-century New Yorkers who rhapsodize through the streets and enact gospel parables that climax with the Last Supper and his crucifixion., Godspell began as a special acting project at the Carnegie-Mellon drama department, then blossomed into a professional production at New York’s Cafe La Mama. Today it is so often produced by parochial high schools that it’s hard to believe that the project was once considered sacrilegious. Essentially, this musical piece is the Gospel According to St. Mathew translated into hippie-movement terms. Jesus (portrayed by Victor Garber, who years later played the Devil in the revival of Damn Yankees!) is redefined as a gentle flower child whose message is misunderstood by the Establishment. The medium of film allows director David Greene to literalize many of the elements only alluded to in the play, thus Godspell is enacted throughout the genuine streets of Manhattan, with particular emphasis on the Times Square area. Among the better-known songs in the Stephen Schwartz/John-Michael Tebelek score are “Day By Day” and “All For the Best.” The film seems more quaint than progressive when seen today, with a curious air of detachment throughout.