By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
This could be a scene from a bad dream.
In the middle of the dress rehearsal for Horizon Youth Theatre’s production of “Godspell,” a cast member taps me on the shoulder and asks whether I want to be their Lazarus.
I’ve had this dream before: thrust on stage to perform something I’ve never rehearsed.
This is not a dream. I get my lines to read and miss my cue, but recover and in my best, barely, adequate voice, I plea with the rich man for a few scraps from his table.
Delivered Bella Truman tells me to stand there while the rich man – named Jeff Bezos in this version of the popular gospel musical – has his fate revealed to him. As Lazarus, I get to go to heaven, and then back to my seat, pleased to have been one of the gang if only for a moment or two.
Local audiences will have a chance to view “Godspell,” and maybe even get pulled on stage, Friday, July 30, and Saturday, July 31 at 7 p.m, and Sunday, Aug. 1 at 2 p.m. in the First Presbyterian Church, 126 S. Church St., Bowling Green. Tickets are $10 and $8 for students and seniors in advance at horizonyouththeatre.org or at the door. Attendees are encouraged to enter from South Church unless they need the handicapped entrance.
Director Cassie Greenlee said before the show that it was important for the troupe to stage a musical this summer because the actors who graduated in 2020 and 2021 missed out on performing last year because of the pandemic.
She promised those seniors that if it would be possible to stage a production in summer and they were available, they’d stage a production. “So the show was really put together for those two classes,” Greenlee said.
Three current high school students round out the 12-person cast.
“Godspell” is a perfect fit for the situation. Greenlee remembers acting in the show with her brothers the summer after she graduated from high school, and other members of that cast remain close friends.
“This is already a show that creates strong ensemble and these kids, not kids anymore, already have a strong community. They’re so close. They just gel. They just feed off each other in such wonderful and creative ways,” she said. “They’re really taking the opportunity to enjoy and have fun with this group of friends.”
Even after spending four and a half hours in rehearsal, she said, they still making plans to socialize. “They still want to be together. That’s been so incredible to watch and to work with. I love the connection they have with each other and seeing it play out on stage is amazing.”
The cast has been rehearsing for nine weeks, a bit longer than usual for a musical, but that was needed. The show is challenging, both the choreography and the music. Tim Barker is the choreographer; Tyler Strayer is music director.
And many of the cast members have jobs, so they have to work around absences.
The end result of all that hard work is a production that seems to be all spontaneous play fueled by camaraderie and joy. They’ve taken liberties with the script, Greenlee said, to allow for the cast members’ various beliefs and attitudes toward religion.
The production is a lot of fun and games, and references torn from the headlines give the classic from the 1970s a contemporary urgency.
“The message is so timely with everything we’re going through right now,” Greenlee said. “Because it really is a show about building community and how to keep that community strong and moving forward even in the face of hardships and obstacles, and that is just so relevant to life right now.”
Staging the show in a church sanctuary adds another layer to the production, the director said. Pastor David Montgomery and the congregation have been very accommodating, and understanding of some of the interpretations of the story.
“Godspell” has its own take on the apostles. Here the character Judas (Mason Clifford) is a composite of the betrayer, the beloved Apostle John, and Mary Magdalene. The rest of the apostles, who all go by the actors’ first names, collectively take on elements of Peter, the devoted, head strong, and sometimes bumbling apostle.
Thomas Long as Jesus exudes the charisma and forcefulness needed to draw this disparate group together.
Each cast member gets an opportunity to contribute their unique talents and personalities to the whole. Melissa Mintz brings a comic kid’s voice to the proceedings. Anjalie Coates adds an element of interpretative dance. Lauren Clifford plays violin on “All Good Gifts” accompanying Henry Hachtel’s fine tenor lead. Bella Truman shows she can belt out a song. Harley Partlow offers a stellar version of the show’s hit song “Day by Day.”
Alex Meade is vibrant as she struts down the aisle covered in multi-colored boas during “Turn Back, O Man.” Bob Walters has a funny turn as a Foley man, reprising this part from a recent Black Swamp Players production. and Isaac Douglass is a consummate ensemble player, adding to the sense of joy that makes this production so memorable. Mahaska Stiegler joins Meade, Coates, and Mintz in performing the close harmonies on the ballad “By My Side.”
That song marks the turn toward Jesus’ execution. Still, as the company carry him out of the sanctuary, they exude a hopefulness for the future and a resolve to carry on.
