Godspell at the Straz Performing Arts Center Review

For someone who was “raised Catholic”, my knowledge of religion is oftentimes downright embarrassing!

Whenever I’m playing along with “Jeopardy!” at home, my kryptonite is any category having to do with the Bible. (Well, that and U.S. Geography, but that’s another story.)

Still, even I know enough to be familiar with some of the Bible’s most famous parables, many of which are featured in the production of “Godspell”, now playing in the Jaeb Theatre at the David A. Straz Performing Arts Center in Tampa.

“Godspell” is ostensibly based on the Gospel of Matthew, though several allegories/skits are based on other parts of the Bible, such as the passion of Christ and the Gospel of Luke.

The musical, written by John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz, originally opened off-Broadway in 1971, and has been staged (seemingly) in perpetuity over the last 29 years.

The latest production opened in the modestly-scaled Jaeb Theatre (featuring what is said to be the tiny theatre’s biggest stage yet) on Feb. 9 and I was lucky enough to catch preview performance.

I can definitely see why this show has endured for almost three decades.

The structure of “Godspell” allows for an incredible amount of liberties to be taken by the director staging the show — that would be Rick Criswell, in this case — and its actors. Other than Jesus and John the Baptist/Judas, all the characters are named after the actors playing them. Though each character fills a “type”, it appears as if each actor has the freedom to infuse their roles with their own personality.

This particular cast (pictured, right) is VERY impressive in what is really a marathon of a high-energy show. From the moment Craig Sculli, Michael Indeglio, Alison Burns, Heather Krueger, Nadeen Holloway and Fred Ross hit the stage, they hit it hard and they hardly stop for a breather.

The standouts include Sculli as Jesus (who pulls off his demanding role with charisma), Indeglio (who really gets a chance to shine in Act II), and Krueger (just an arresting personality who gets a chance to shine in Act II-opener “Turn Back, O Man.”)

However, it’s this same energy that proves a little off-putting at certain points (especially early on when you’re not used to the show’s rhythm). The sheer speed and force of the way the actors delivered their lines and sang their songs (combined with my admitted ignorance) made the show hard to follow for a while.

On top of that, the show moves so fast from one skit/parable to the next that very few scenes are given a chance to breathe, making it harder to form an emotional connection with what’s happening on stage. (The exception is the end of Act II when, by the unofficial law of all musicals, things get really serious.)

Overall, this production of “Godspell” is a funny, impressive production performed by a talented and game cast that ultimately leaves you a bit cold.

Oh well, hopefully I, at least, learned enough to do better on “Jeopardy!” next time.

Godspell…B