{"id":89267,"date":"2026-06-25T13:30:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=89267"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:32:14","slug":"theater-news-godspell-to-bring-message-of-community-to-long-beach-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/see\/theater-news-godspell-to-bring-message-of-community-to-long-beach-playhouse","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: \u2018Godspell\u2019 to bring message of community to Long Beach Playhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our Eat. See. Do. newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like today, bringing divided people together felt important in 1971, amidst social revolutions and upheavals that exacerbated a generation gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the year John Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz \u2014 the Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer behind musicals like \u201cWicked!\u201d \u2014 first staged the musical \u201cGodspell\u201d off Broadway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story features a group of people telling parables about the biblical Jesus in ways both meaningful and funny, with songs in an eclectic variety of musical styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe opening scene shows an unruly society in chaos and filled with noise,\u201d says Sean Gray, the Playhouse\u2019s artistic director. \u201cThree biblical characters \u2014 Jesus, Judas and John the Baptist \u2014 along with seven other characters, use parables to calm the chaos and show a better way to live together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Songs such as \u201cDay by Day\u201d \u2014 a 19th-century hymn sung as a folk-rock ballad \u2014 became international hits at the time. Other songs include \u201cPrepare Ye the Way of the Lord,\u201d \u201cLearn Your Lessons Well,\u201d \u201cAll for the Best,\u201d \u201cAll Good Gifts,\u201d \u201cTurn Back, O Man\u201d and \u201cBy My Side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe music in this show is lively, uplifting, and memorable,\u201d says Mooney. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason when \u2018Godspell\u2019 came out, songs from it immediately hit the radio.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the musical is based on Christian parables, actors use their own names for their characters to help make those stories currently relevant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
From left: Kenny Giles (Jesus) and Quinn Vann (Judas) in a preview image for “Godspell” at Long Beach Playhouse. Photo by Michael Hardy Photography. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And the actors assume personas through which the audience might see themselves, including a tomboy, a storyteller, someone happy and excited, someone clumsy and unintentionally funny and someone shy but loyal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur hope is that this production leaves audiences not only entertained,\u201d says director Sonya Randall, \u201cbut reminded that even in the darkest moments, kindness, compassion and community still have the power to change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, we all need a show with songs, says Mooney, and the Playhouse\u2019s show will feature live music directed by Stephen Olear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAudiences will walk out singing!\u201d Mooney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGodspell\u201d will perform June 27 to Aug. 2 at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., plus two lower-priced preview performances on Thursday, June 25 and Friday, June 26. For tickets, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit <\/em>LBPlayhouse.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story features a group of people telling parables about the biblical Jesus in ways both meaningful and funny, with songs in an eclectic variety of musical styles.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":89269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32366],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-89267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-see","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89272,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89267\/revisions\/89272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89267"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=89267"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}