AP
This 2019 photo released by The Berkshire Theater Group shows a scene from their production of “Godspell.” The John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz musical is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month.
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NEW YORK It will come as little surprise to its legion of fans that the first professional musical to be mounted in the U.S. during the pandemic was “Godspell.”
The Berkshire Theater Group in western Massachusetts put on a production in August with plexiglass partitions between the actors and temperature checks for the audience. Why “Godspell”? Its message of hope and love.
Mark Kennedy
This 2019 photo released by The Berkshire Theater Group shows a scene from their production of Godspell. 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. (Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware/The Berkshire Theater Group via AP) May 10, 2021 - 8:45 AM
NEW YORK - It will come as little surprise to its legion of fans that the first professional musical to be mounted in the U.S. during the pandemic was âGodspell.â
The Berkshire Theater Group in western Massachusetts put on a production in August with plexiglass partitions between the actors and temperature checks for the audience. Why âGodspellâ? Its message of hope and love.
AP
NEW YORK It will come as little surprise to its legion of fans that the first professional musical to be mounted in the U.S. during the pandemic was “Godspell.”
The Berkshire Theater Group in western Massachusetts put on a production in August with plexiglass partitions between the actors and temperature checks for the audience. Why “Godspell”? Its message of hope and love.
″’Godspell’ just felt like the one,” says the Berkshire Theater Group’s Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire. “All of a sudden the story of ‘Godspell’ and what it’s about became more important.”
The John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz musical is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month (May 17), a golden milestone for a show with roots in the hippie era but which can still speak to those on TikTok.
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.
By Kara Rota
Her love of classic music (both Irish and American), classic cars and an unwavering belief in the good old-fashioned American Dream has seen Tara O’Grady through three CD releases and a book deal – not bad for an Irish girl from Queens. With a touch of superstition and lots of winking charm, she shared her story with Kara Rota.
Tara O’Grady comes from a line of adventurous women on journeys. Her mother, from Mountcharles, Donegal, came to America on a boat in 1957. Her parents met at a dance in Woodside, Queens.
“[My mom] approached dad at the bar and said, ‘What county are you from?’ and he said, ‘The Bronx.’ She goes, ‘No, I mean in Ireland, what county are you from?’ and he said, ‘The Bronx!’ She said, ‘I hate when Irish put on American accents,’ and he’s like, ‘I’m American! I was born in the Bronx!’ His dad was from Roscommon, in Ballaghaderreen, and his mom was from Waterford, in Kilmacthomas. Mom swore he was Irish-born becau