Kitty Rea was usually found sitting at a piano bench or zipping across town in her signature yellow Volkswagen bug. Powered by her passion for music, the woman everyone knew as âMs. Kittyâ was a cyclone of creativity, bustling from one school to the next, sharing her magic with countless children and adults.
Today, that magic is a matter of memories. Rea, 69, died in hospice care on April 15 after a battle with ovarian cancer.
âShe was so vibrant, just endless energy for everything she loved,â said Maddie Rea, Kitty Reaâs daughter, in an email to the Review. âShe would light up especially when talking about her students or old theater career. Even when she was in immense pain or completely exhausted, sheâd get so much energy and happiness from seeing her students. When she was teaching, I think we both forgot that she was sick.â
Day by Day: Musical Godspell Celebrates 50th Anniversary – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth nbcdfw.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nbcdfw.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz musical is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, a golden milestone for a show with roots in the hippie era but which can still speak to those on TikTok.
Some who traveled to western Massachusetts to see the pandemic “Godspell” were veterans from the show, like Peggy Gordon, who was in the original cast. “It was unbelievably emotionally powerful for us,” she says. Maguire told her she hoped the production would make Gordon proud. “I said, ‘You already have.’”
“Godspell” was an off-Broadway hit in 1971. It was made into a 1973 movie and jumped to Broadway in 1976, nominated for best score at the Tony Awards and a Grammy winner. One of the songs, “Day by Day,” reached No. 13 on the Billboard pop singles chart. It has been a springboard for everyone from Aaron Tveit, whose first real acting gig was on a “Godspell” tour, to Uzo Aduba, who was in a Broadway revival in 2011.