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Godspell - An Amateur Production
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
Back when I was in college, I got it into my head that I would like to do an amateur production of Godspell. I belonged to an organization that had a large room in the back that could seat 250-300 people if you squeezed them in right. And I was utterly and completely in love with the music of Godspell. I tend to do these large-type things on impulse, so I contacted the people who had the rights to the play. The play at this time had been inactive for a while, so I hoped to get a positive response. I also told them that the proceeds would all go to charity. To my surprise and delight, we were granted the rights to produce 6 performances for a relatively small licensing fee. They sent me the score and a script for each performer as well as specific rules regarding advertising. I buddied up with a friend of mine making him the overall director. I busied myself as the producer and musical director. We put the word out for auditions and ended up with some pretty talented folks for the cast. In the meantime I rounded up some musicians -- a couple of them from my own band that I was playing with at the time. This worked out because we were not scheduled to play those weeks of the performances. Then we started rehearsing the cast on the musical numbers 2 days a week, while rehearsing the actual play 2 other days of the week. In the meantime, we got our advertising act together so that someone would actually show up to see the thing. We didn't have a traditional theatre-type atmosphere. We did have that big room in the back, and we also had a large area up front that we could use as a lobby. From the lobby, down a short hallway, and through a set of double doors was the back room. There were 2 small rooms off of this back room that we used for dressing rooms and cast holding areas. The lobby had a glass-enclosed office area up front and a small foyer separated by a glass-windowed door. If you had seen this before, recall that the first scene is a list of philosophers standing up and giving small speeches. These speeches degenerate into a bunch of babbling (the Tower of Babel). A horn sounds, and John the Baptist announces "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord". In a traditional theatre, the babble is on stage, while J. the B. comes down an isle to make hos pronouncement. Well, because of our layout, we decided to do something different. We did not seat the people in the "theatre area" when they came in. Instead we kept them in the lobby area. The guests did not realize that the cast and crew were secretly mingling among them. Then we just turned off the lights. Bang! The first "philosopher" stood up on a chair, turned a flashlight on her face and said her lines, followed by the next and the next. Now it's the Tower of Babel. The guests are looking left and right following the action in what they thought was just a lobby, when the doorbell rings. Enter John the Baptist with a conch shell (instead of a horn). Then he is given the starting note from me (I was hidden around the corner in a coat room with my guitar), the double doors to the back room are flung open, and it's "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" as the guests are ushered in. I had to figure out a way to get to the band "pit" during all of this. It's first come first serve on the seats. None reserved. We also had a rug put on the floor in front of the stage where the kids were encouraged to sit if they wanted to. As you can imagine, this first song lasted quite a while until everyone was seated. The rest of it went well. We did 6 performances and sold out every one, giving our charity a nice sum of money. |
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What a great way to involve the community and also benefit the charity.
Thanks for sharing, Jim.
Frederick
Jim, that was a very cool idea to accomplish in such a unique way.
How was the marketing/advertising done? I ask because I have a friend with a small troupe and theater in my area, and she might like to know your story.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Well we did 2 things. I created a poster based on the album cover and posted it around campus along with ticket info. The other thing was to put an ad in the local paper that ran in the entertainment section announcing the show. This had to be done with specific do's and don'ts provided to me by the production company. If you are putting on a show of someone else's work, yiu have to first of all, have their permission,and secondly you have to follow their rules regarding presentation (if any), and advertising. Never lie to these people as per intentions. If they send you stuff like musical scores and scripts, make sure that you give them back in the same condition as received.
I thought it was a little funny the line, "a large room in the back that could seat 250-300 people if you squeezed them in right." I was envisioning the concept of squeezing people. Sounds like a lot of fun and a lot of good memories.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks. Well we didn't end up having to do any "squeezing". Considering how we did it, the seating went surprisingly smooth. We had a few ushers inside to assist. There were no "bad" seats, and we managed to keep the families together. Most of the kids opted to sit on the rug in front of the stage. It's just that that first song "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" seemed to last forever (95th verse, same as the first)... But we got 'er done.
Thanks so much for the information. It will help others.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
My pleasure, Ron. Anytime.
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