Hymnary

Who knew? A collection of church hymns is a hymnary. I’ve always called it a hymnal. Hmmm. 

The music and lyrics of Godspell are much, much better than 99.9 per cent of hymns. Yes, hymns have their place. I like a lot of them. But I sing Godspell (in the shower, for example) more often than I sing, say, “Ave Maria.”* (These days I also sing songs from The Band’s Visit.)

Godspell was written by two college kids: John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz. Schwartz, who wrote music and lyrics for Pippin (another favorite of mine, along with The Magic Show) and reset existing Episcopal hymns for Godspell. The show opened in May of 1971 at the La MaMa E.T.C. (Experimental Theatre Club), though Schwartz (in the interview linked in the previous sentence) refers to it by its original name, which apparently was Café La MaMa (Ed. The fact-checking department is on holiday). 

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts also has clippings files, including old programs.

I saw Godspell at the Cherry Lane Theatre, when I was five years old. It was a formative life experience. At intermission, as the cast was singing “Let’s have some wine!” the audience began crowding onto the stage to drink grape juice from the kind of paper cups used at dentists’s offices.

Until last week, I did not know that Godspell played in London, among other places. Until tonight, I did not know it played in Toronto and starred performers whose names would become household words. 

What was so wonderful — what spoke to me — was the clowny, hey-kids-let’s-put-on-a-show! feel of it. The performers wore mismatched clothing that could have been pulled from the dress-up box in my kindergarten classroom — pompoms and bloomers and striped socks. 

It was not children’s theatre, but the players were themselves child-like. They hugged one another in a genuine way. They could carry a tune but also didn’t hit every note. 

Five readers, if you like theatre and you visit New York City, one of the New Yorkiest things you can do is head to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts* and check out something from the TOFT, which is the Theater on Film and Tape Archive. I recommend you watch the earliest, very grainy, black-and-white digitized videotape of Godspell. You will see how campy it was, how Borscht Belty. You will see how warm and pure and simple and fun it was. How unlike contemporary Broadway it was. And you will see that “O Bless the Lord My Soul” was an Aretha Franklin–esque, gospel sing-along kind of delight. 

The one semi-catch to viewing TOFT-filmed plays is that you are permitted to view a play once and once only. You sign a form that informs you of this rule. How did this rule come to be? You might ask the theatrical unions and guilds that collectively have jurisdiction over the one-viewing-only policy (as COBUG, the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds), namely:

• The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, AFL-CIO, CLC
• Ushers, Ticket Takers & Stagedoor Persons, IATSE, Local 306
• Treasurers and Ticket Sellers Union, IATSE, Local 751
• Theatrical Wardrobe Union, Local 764, IATSE
• Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists, IATSE, Local 798
• Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers, IATSE, Local 18032
• Actors’ Equity Association
• American Federation of Musicians, AFM
• American Guild of Musical Artists
• Local 802 American Federation of Musicians, AFL-CIO
• Dramatists Guild of America
• Mail Telephone Order Clerks, IATSE, Local B-751
• Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, SDC

Of course, most people see a play or musical only once.** So, it is fitting that a video of the play may be viewed only once. And it is fun to view it in the Library because a Library viewing is, as a friend would say, “legit.” In this era of too many and too much — digital photographs, marketing emails, surveys about your purchasing/medical/banking experience, vitamin supplements, digital and analogue free-floating bile — something rare, something once, well: It’s a pretty nice idea. 

* Debatably “Ave Maria” is a prayer and not a hymn. 

** I admit: I saw Venus in Fur two days in a row, because I knew I was watching a historic performance by Nina Arianda, and I saw Passing Strange six times, five of them at the Public Theater (because I had an in and loved the show so much). The only theatre swag I’ve ever bought is a Passing Strange T-shirt. The front of it reads Welcome to Amsterdam. (Yes, in an earlier post I have crowed about this.) 

Bonus: Check out this archival footage of Schwartz singing an early rendition of “Magic To Do” from Pippin (with book writer Roger O. Hirson standing by).