Vulture published an article last week interviewing Victor Garber, the actor who played Jesus in both the Toronto stage play and the Hollywood production of Godspell in the early 1970s. Apparently the stage cast included Eugene Levi, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, and Gilda Radner, several of the famous funny people that I grew up watching in comedy television and movies. There is no video of their original stage play, but you can find the Hollywood movie of Godspell that has Garber playing the lead. 

The 1973 film is available on streaming for $3.99, or a free version on YouTube, so of course I had to go watch it.

I didn’t know what to expect other than something colorful, but I found the actors moving and the tunes are certified bangers. The story is from the gospel of Matthew reimagined in the gritty streets of New York City with a troop of itinerant clowns. 

If that sounds crazy it’s because it is and isn’t. One can only imagine how upsetting Jesus and his raggedy band of disciples were to the Pharisees.  Almost as crazy as loving your cultural enemies and turning the other political cheek is today. 

Visually, the film captures a piece of American history.  Part of it was even filmed in front of and on top of the Twin Towers in the mid-century urban America before catalytic converters cleaned up the heavily leaded city air. 

According to Wikipedia, what was controversial about the film at the time was the fact that it didn’t show a resurrection scene—no mention of the missing miracles though. While the movie includes several parables and the beatitudes, Jester Jesus performs no healings, mass feedings or water walking. 

The stage play did perform at least one miracle in real life. Like the movie, the South African version had a mixed-race cast which was initially banned due to apartheid. It then won a legal challenge and was shown with both a desegregated cast and audience. 

As far as I can tell, the musical has been continually well-received around the world with several successful runs and revivals.