Saturday, October 11, 2025

Godspell: An AI Discussion. And, The New Godspell Documentary

 Below, Chat GPT 5 discusses how great GODSPELL is.

Plus, September 2025 saw the Toronto premiere of a new documentary about GODSPELL - called, "You Had to Be There."   General release TBD.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Had_to_Be_There_(film)



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How do we look back on the early 1970s movie Godspell, which was filmed in a way that was simultaneously primitive and sophisticated. It brings us a new and somewhat primitive way of filming the story, and yet the Bible stories are the opposite of new, they are 2000 years old.
ChatGPT said:

That’s a very perceptive way to frame Godspell (1973). It is both primitive and sophisticated — a paradox that sits right at the heart of its enduring appeal.

Visually and technically, the film feels primitive: handheld cameras, sparse sets, and a near-empty New York City that looks more like a stage than a real world. The actors wear thrift-store costumes and face paint rather than biblical robes. There’s almost no sense of continuity; scenes dissolve into tableaux. But this rawness is deliberate — it’s a stripped-down cinematic parable, mirroring how the Gospels themselves were passed along orally before being codified into text. The film’s simplicity is theatrical rather than amateurish: it borrows the aesthetic of guerrilla street performance, yet every frame is composed with surprising control and rhythm.

Intellectually and thematically, the movie is sophisticated. Director David Greene and composer Stephen Schwartz translate ancient parables into a post-1960s counterculture idiom: the Sermon on the Mount as improvisational theater, the Prodigal Son as urban skit, the crucifixion as performance art. It’s not about realism — it’s about re-enactment. The film knows it’s staging a myth, and it lets the viewer see the seams between sacred story and contemporary performance.

That tension — primitive form meeting timeless content — gives Godspell its strange power. It’s both a relic of its era (echoing flower-child idealism and communal faith) and a meditation on how ancient moral teaching can be rediscovered through naïve playfulness. In a sense, Godspell doesn’t modernize the Bible; it re-primitivizes it — taking it back to the campfire, the street corner, the circle of believers telling stories to each other for the first time.

You said:
Often the scenes look as if they were unrehearsed, and they simply let the camera run for an hour and then spliced and edited a four or five minute scene from it. I should make clear, that is the impression, not necessarily the method.
ChatGPT said:

Exactly — and that distinction is crucial. Godspell often feels improvised, though the apparent looseness is part of its design. The film cultivates the impression of spontaneity — as if a group of young performers simply tumbled out into a deserted New York, started clowning, and the camera happened to catch their joy. You can almost imagine the crew letting the film roll while the cast tried different gags, danced around fountains, or riffed on a parable — and later, in editing, shaping it into a finished sequence.

That sense of unrehearsed energy contributes to the movie’s sense of immediacy and innocence. It’s as though the filmmakers wanted to erase the line between rehearsal and performance, between play and devotion. The audience feels invited into the circle — not as spectators of a polished production, but as participants in a living retelling.

In reality, of course, Godspell was meticulously planned. The choreography, musical cues, and locations were all carefully orchestrated. But Greene’s direction and the performers’ naturalistic style make it look like a kind of holy improvisation — a found performance assembled from moments of exuberant play. That illusion of discovery is what gives the film its freshness: the Bible stories are ancient, yet the way they’re told feels as if they’re being invented right before our eyes.

You said:
The young blonde woman who sings Day by Day, three things I pray, was fetching and unforgettable.
ChatGPT said:

Yes — that was Robin Lamont, and you’re not alone in finding her unforgettable. Her performance of “Day by Day” became the film’s emotional centerpiece and, for many viewers, its most indelible moment.

There’s something almost guileless about her presence — the way she sings with eyes wide and a faint, unforced smile, as if the song were both prayer and discovery. The lyrics themselves are simple, but her delivery gives them an almost hypnotic purity. She embodies the film’s entire aesthetic in miniature: a mixture of childlike sincerity and spiritual yearning, framed by a kind of spontaneous-seeming performance art.

Lamont wasn’t a conventional movie star, and that’s part of what makes her so compelling. She came from the original Godspell stage production and brought with her a voice that was clear and untrained in the best way — direct, human, and free of theatrical gloss. The camera, lingering on her as she sings, seems to pause the movie’s bustle for a moment of grace.

That scene, and her face within it, linger in the memory long after the film ends — as if the song’s refrain, “see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly,” captures the film’s own modest hope: to make the ancient stories feel personal again, one voice at a time.

You said:
I have read that some of the actors in the original Canadian production became some of the great North American actors of the next decades.
ChatGPT said:

Indeed — that’s one of the remarkable and little-known legacies of Godspell. The original 1972 Toronto production was a kind of once-in-a-generation lightning strike: a small, exuberant show that became a launching pad for some of the most celebrated actors in North America.

That cast included:

  • Victor Garber, who played Jesus both in the Toronto stage production and in the 1973 film — later known for Titanic, Alias, and countless stage roles.

  • Martin Short, whose comic precision and manic charm were already evident even in the ensemble scenes; Godspell was one of his first professional credits.

  • Eugene Levy, who would go on to co-found SCTV and, decades later, Schitt’s Creek, winning Emmys and a new generation of fans.

  • Andrea Martin, another SCTV alumna, whose comic timing and versatility made her a legend on both sides of the border.

  • Gilda Radner, who left Godspell to become one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live.

That one small Toronto production, staged in a church basement and later at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, effectively incubated the DNA of modern North American comedy. It’s extraordinary to think that these future stars — so distinct in style — all began singing “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” together, dressed like street clowns, performing a gospel through play.

In that sense, Godspell was more than a film or a musical; it was a creative crucible. It bridged the 1960s ideal of joyful communal art and the 1970s flowering of smart, self-aware comedy. Watching the movie now, you can almost feel that transition happening — the birth of a new comic sensibility emerging from a ragtag retelling of ancient parables.

You said:
What is the origin story — the original script?
ChatGPT said:

The Godspell origin story is almost as fascinating as the musical itself — a blend of divine accident, youthful energy, and 1960s theatrical experimentation.

It all began in 1970, not as a professional Broadway project but as a college thesis. A 22-year-old student named John-Michael Tebelak, studying drama at Carnegie Mellon University, conceived Godspell as his master’s project. The idea struck him after attending a staid Easter service in Pittsburgh; he left the church feeling frustrated that religion had become so solemn and joyless. He wanted to bring the Gospels to life with the kind of playfulness and immediacy he imagined the original parables might have had — laughter, improvisation, wonder, community.

Tebelak’s initial version used passages directly from the Gospel of Matthew, arranged into a series of sketches, songs, and parables performed in the style of improvisational theater. The script had little conventional plot — Jesus and his followers enact moral lessons, culminating in the Last Supper and Crucifixion — but the emotional arc was unmistakable. The original music was mostly borrowed hymns.

When the show moved from Carnegie Mellon to La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York and then to Off-Broadway in 1971, producer Edgar Lansbury (Angela Lansbury’s brother) suggested that Tebelak collaborate with a young composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz — then just 23 and fresh from Carnegie Mellon himself. Schwartz wrote an entirely new score in about five weeks, including the now-iconic “Day by Day.”

The combination of Tebelak’s script — joyous, anarchic, rooted in clowning and commedia dell’arte — and Schwartz’s tuneful, folk-pop music created a sensation. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1971 to rapturous reviews, ran for over 2,000 performances, and spawned multiple touring productions, including the famous Toronto cast that launched Martin Short, Gilda Radner, and others.

The film adaptation in 1973, directed by David Greene, retained much of Tebelak’s script and spirit but expanded it into the eerie, empty landscapes of New York City — turning what began as a hippie-era stage experiment into a strangely timeless cinematic parable.

So the origin story, in brief:

Godspell began as a college thesis written by a disillusioned theology-loving theater student, reshaped by a gifted young composer, and became one of the defining religious and theatrical works of its generation — spontaneous, joyful, and deeply sincere in its attempt to make ancient words feel new again.

You said:
I had guessed that the Toronto production was the original production, but the production started in New York and the Toronto group was actually a second year roadshow.
ChatGPT said:

Exactly right — and that’s an easy (and understandable) mix-up, because the Toronto cast became so famous in retrospect that it often feels like the original. But the true chronology goes like this:

1. The Seed — Pittsburgh, 1970
John-Michael Tebelak first staged Godspell as his thesis project at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in the spring of 1970. It was an unpolished, joyous experiment — closer to a student happening than a commercial show. But its exuberant energy caught attention.

2. The New York Birth — 1971
Tebelak brought the show to New York’s La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and it soon transferred Off-Broadway to the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village. At this point, composer Stephen Schwartz joined the project, writing a brand-new score (he was just 23). The official Off-Broadway opening was May 17, 1971. That’s the production that made Godspell a hit — critics loved its irreverent warmth and joyful simplicity.

3. The Toronto “Second Generation” — 1972
The enormous New York success led to other companies springing up across North America — Godspell was designed to be easily recreated with small casts and minimal sets. One of those early offshoots was the Toronto production, which opened May 1972 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Its cast — Victor Garber, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, et al. — would later become household names, eclipsing even the New York alumni in fame.

4. The Film — 1973
The movie, directed by David Greene, was released the following year. It was shot largely on the streets and rooftops of a strangely empty New York City (filming took place on Sundays when traffic was minimal). Victor Garber, from the Toronto company, was chosen to play Jesus, bridging the Canadian stage production and the cinematic version.

So yes — New York came first, Toronto was the second-year roadshow (albeit a phenomenally talented one), and the film drew its energy from both. If the New York production was the birth, the Toronto version was the adolescence — full of confidence, character, and a sense of play that turned Godspell into a genuine cultural touchstone.

You said:
A brand new 2025 documentary has had its premier, although it’s not yet in wide release, it’s gotten terrific reviews. It’s about the Toronto production. Exactly what we were just discussing.

/// You Had To Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way) is a 2025 Americandocumentary film, directed by Nick Davis.[1]The film centers on a 1972 production of the stage musical Godspell at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, from which many of its cast members would soon go on to have a transformative impact on both Canadian and American comedy through their involvement in projects such as The Second City and Saturday Night Live….
ChatGPT said:

What a wonderful find — this documentary sounds like exactly the kind of retrospective that’s needed to illuminate both the myth and the reality of that Toronto Godspell. Here’s what I’ve gathered about You Had To Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… — and some thoughts on why it matters:

What we know so far

Title & Premise
You Had To Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way) is a 2025 American documentary directed by Nick Davis. Variety+3Wikipedia+3POV Magazine+3 It focuses on the 1972 Toronto staging of Godspell at the Royal Alexandra Theatre — the production that featured Victor Garber, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Jayne Eastwood, and others, with Paul Shaffer as musical director. Shade Studios+4Wikipedia+4Rotten Tomatoes+4

Challenges & Creative Solutions
One of the greatest constraints: no known film footage exists of the original Toronto show. Shade Studios+3Wikipedia+3POV Magazine+3 To compensate, the filmmakers lean heavily on:

Thus, the film doesn’t pretend to be a strict archival project — it’s more a creative excavation, reanimating a time and place from imperfect fragments. POV Magazine+2Wikipedia+2

Narrative Emphasis
Critics note that the film isn’t just about Godspell — it’s also about how that cast and that moment fostered a comedy movement. Rotten Tomatoes+3Variety+3POV Magazine+3 It frames the Toronto production as a kind of “incubator” or nexus where relationships were forged, sensibilities were shaped, and future comedic institutions like SCTV and Saturday Night Live found some of their roots. Wikipedia+3POV Magazine+3In The Seats+3

There’s also attention paid to dynamics among the cast — camaraderie, conflicts, friendships, romantic relationships (e.g. between Short and Radner), and the bittersweet weight of what would come later. Wikipedia+4POV Magazine+4In The Seats+4 One example: Avril Chown, a less-celebrated cast member, shares a difficult personal story about an experience of abuse in the years after the show. POV Magazine+2Wikipedia+2

Critical Reception
Reviews have been effusive. Variety calls it “essential” for fans of comedy lore. Variety Collider praises the “high-spirited” tone. Collider TIFF festival coverage finds it ambitious in scope and emotionally resonant. In The Seats+1 According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 100% “Tomatometer” rating (though from a limited number of critics). Rotten Tomatoes

It premiered at TIFF 2025 (Toronto International Film Festival), in the Special Presentations lineup, with screenings at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. In The Seats+2Wikipedia+2 Some critics describe the premiere as joyous and intimate, noting how the cast looked back on the original stage space together. Shade Studios+3sidewalksmedia.ca+3POV Magazine+3

Why this documentary matters (and what it can teach us)

  1. Making the ephemeral tangible
    So much of theatre is ephemeral — gone once the lights dim. You Had To Be There tries to overcome that by weaving memory, emotion, fragments of archival trace, and imaginative reconstruction. In doing so, it asks us to believe in the power of “remembered space.”

  2. Re-evaluating cultural genealogy
    The documentary’s premise — that a single regional musical could catalyze a generation of North American comedy — compels us to reconsider how creative lineages form. It doesn’t treat Godspell as a footnote in comic history but as a seedbed, a node in a network of relationships, influences, friendships, and generational shifts.

  3. Illuminating overlooked voices
    At least one review highlights how the film gives voice to a cast member (Avril Chown) whose story has often been overshadowed by more famous peers. This suggests the documentary strives not just for hagiography, but a more textured social history. POV Magazine+2Wikipedia+2

  4. Memory as method
    Because the film can’t rely on live footage of many of the original performances, memory becomes method. The way cast members recall staging, blocking, costume choices, jokes, fears, mistakes, and backstage moments is central. These recollections are as much the text as any archival document. But memory is pliable — filtered through decades, reinterpreted, romanticized — and the documentary navigates that tension.

  5. Cultural identity & “Canadian kind of way”
    The subtitle’s self-effacing “(In a Canadian Kind of Way)” nods to an identity question. The film seems to assert that Canada, and Toronto in particular, was fertile ground for a creative movement that would ripple into the U.S. Rather than being derivative or secondary, it suggests the Canadian context — its institutions, its communities, its hybrid positioning between British and American culture — helped shape a distinctive comedic sensibility. Shade Studios+3POV Magazine+3Wikipedia+3

If you're interested, I can try to track down when and where the documentary will become available (streaming, broadcast, etc.) and get you a list of cast interviews from it. Would you like me to do that?

You said:
Y
ChatGPT said:

I poked around — here’s what I found out (and did not find) about when and how You Had To Be There might become more widely available, plus some cast / participant info to keep an eye on.

🔍 Release & Distribution Status

What is confirmed:

  • The documentary premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in the Special Presentations lineup. TIFF+2Wikipedia+2

  • It screened at the Royal Alexandra Theatre as part of TIFF’s programming. TIFF+1

  • According to You Had to Be There’s Wikipedia page, September 6, 2025 is listed as its Canadian release date. IMDb+1

  • The documentary is distributed by Creative Artists / United Talent (per Wikipedia). Wikipedia

  • Because no film footage survives of the 1972 Toronto stage performances, the film uses animated segments to evoke those moments, in addition to archival audio and recent interviews. Wikipedia+2Rotten Tomatoes+2

What is not (yet) true:

  • As of now, the documentary is not available for streaming (in the U.S.) — justwatch.com confirms it is not listed on any streaming services at present. JustWatch

  • There is no public announcement (so far) of a broadcast premiere, home video (DVD/Blu-Ray), or streaming release schedule.

  • The archival limitations (lack of original film footage) make wider distribution more challenging, because the piece necessarily relies heavily on interviews, animation, and audio reconstructions rather than performance footage.

🎭 Cast / Participants & Interviews

Because the documentary must lean on living memory, recordings, and retrospection, its cast of interviewees is central. Here are key figures known to appear or be involved (or likely to appear):

  • Martin Short — one of the main cast members in the Toronto Godspell; widely quoted in coverage. Wikipedia+2Variety+2

  • Eugene Levy — likewise, intimately connected with that ensemble; he has spoken about the doc in interviews. Variety+2Wikipedia+2

  • Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Jayne Eastwood — all are listed in the film’s cast and production credits. Wikipedia+2TIFF+2

  • Paul Shaffer is named as the musical director of the Toronto Godspell and is among the credited speakers. Wikipedia+2TIFF+2

  • Avril Chown — the film gives her a platform to share her lesser-known story (including difficult experiences after Godspell) that often hasn’t been told. Wikipedia+2Rotten Tomatoes+2

  • In addition, the documentary’s credits include people like Stephen Schwartz (composer of Godspell) and other comedy historians or luminaries who reflect on the legacy. Wikipedia+2Rotten Tomatoes+2

  • Archival voices: Gilda Radner (archive footage), John Candy (archive), and other performers / comics appear via archival clips. Wikipedia+2Rotten Tomatoes+2

✅ What to Watch For & What You Can Do

  • Festival or specialty theatrical runs: After TIFF, it’s common for docs like this to tour in repertory houses, independent film festivals, or Canadian documentary circuits. Keep an eye on theater listings in your city.

  • Streaming / VOD windows: Typically 3-12 months after festival premiere, distributors may make it available on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Video, or specialty documentary services.

  • Broadcast or public TV in Canada / U.S.: CBC, PBS, or PBS-affiliate documentary series might license it.

  • Physical media / DVD / Blu-Ray: If demand justifies it, a release might follow — though with documentaries, this is less certain.

  • Director / filmmaker announcements: Follow Nick Davis and the film’s social media or press pages; they will likely announce wider expansion.

  • Email / “notify me” alerts on streaming sites: Sites like JustWatch (which shows “notify me” for this title) are ready to let you know when it’s added. JustWatch

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