To say that Flint, Mich., has a complicated relationship with water is perhaps an understatement. That’s why a production there of the classic rock musical Godspell is drawing a different kind of national attention.
The entire production takes place in a swimming pool inside a theater.
Michael Lluberes
“Yes, Flint has such a complicated relationship with water and I thought this could be potentially really beautiful and healing,” said Michael Lluberes, producing artistic director at Flint Repertory Theatre and director of Godspell, which is so popular it has been extended through Nov. 3.
“The show to me is about community, and how the stories we tell can bring us together,” he added. “This is what the parables do. Water comes up again and again in the Bible and is a symbol that can have multiple meanings. It’s not just a setting in the production, it’s really become the eleventh character in the show.”
Flint made national headlines beginning in 2014 for its undrinkable public water and the resulting illnesses caused in the city’s residents, especially children.
Like Flint and water, Godspell has a complicated relationship with the institutional church. Upon its off-Broadway debut in 1971, church leaders threw cold water on it because the musical based on the Gospel of Matthew stops short of the resurrection of Jesus. Much like Jesus Christ Superstar, which hit Broadway the same year, Godspell was deemed not fit for church consumption or endorsement.
Shayna Blass, Gia Mae Chessa, Bryana Hall, Travis Darghali and the company of “Godspell” in Flint, Mich. (Photo by Michael A. Naddeo)
Yet over time, some of the songs from both Broadway musicals have found their way into the church.
“Day by Day,” “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord,” “Bless the Lord” and “All Good Gifts” from Godspell have become cultural connectors between the theater and the faith.
Lluberes said his favorite song in the show is “Beautiful City” — “which always seemed to me like a song about Flint.”
Its lyrics include: “Out of the ruins and rubble, out of the smoke, out of our night of struggle, can we see a ray of hope? One pale thin ray reaching for the day. … We can build a beautiful city. Yes, we can, yes, we can. We can build a beautiful city. Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man.”
James Cech and the cast of “Godspell” in Flint, Mich. (Photo by Michael A. Naddeo)
In a review of the Flint production for Broadway World, Stefani Chudnow wrote: “FIM Flint Repertory Theatre made Godspell a show where I didn’t just love the music, I loved so much more. Think back to when you went to the pool as a kid with your friends, or even when you had bathtime. You played with pool noodles, rubber ducks, inflatables, beach balls and the like. These were the tools the actors in Godspell at FIM Flint Repertory Theatre used to tell their stories.”
The show was supposed to end Oct. 20 but got extended two weeks due to ticket demand.
“The audience reaction has been so joyful!” Lluberes said. “People have been traveling to Flint from all over the country to see it, which is so great for the city and for the Michigan theater community.
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how a play is nothing more than a vehicle to create community. This show is so accessible, dangerously unpretentious and great fun. I’ve never worked on anything like it. It’s such a pleasure to see the reaction of these audiences.”
The set for this show is stunningly simple: a pool deck with a circular pool in the middle. Cast members sing, dance and act using the water as another prop with which to tell their stories.
The cast of “Godspell” in Flint, Mich. (Photo by Michael A. Naddeo)
“The idea of staging it in water came to me one day listening to the score,” the director said. “The show starts with a baptism — John baptizes Jesus — and I thought, ‘Why not make the whole musical a theatrical baptism?’ I thought actors playing and splashing in a pool of water could be a really fun container for all the joy and play in the show. Water also can be magical, mysterious and healing. It seemed the perfect container for this musical about joy, renewal and community.”
That unusual staging served several purposes at once, Lluberes explained:
- “It’s such a stressful time in the world right now and I really wanted to do something joyful.
- “In re-imaging the show in a pool of water, my hope was to create an event and a theatrical baptism of sorts for our audience, welcoming them into our community of theater-makers.”
Kyle Patrick and the cast of “Godspell” in Flint, Mich. (Photo by Michael A. Naddeo)
Simple is not easy, however.
“The cast dove right in from the beginning of the process,” Lluberes said. “They all have to be quadruple threats for this production — singing, acting, dancing and swimming and have all risen to the occasion like theatrical Olympians.”
The 50-year-old script by John-Michael Tebelak and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz have held up remarkably well, the director explained. “It’s so universal and accessible to audiences. Stephen Schwartz has been so open through the years by making it very adaptable to whatever people want to do with it and to whatever time it’s being presented. It’s unlike any other musical in that way. The show is remade each time someone does a new production of it. It’s very transformational for artists and audiences. I’ve never experienced audiences react with so much joy and love. It’s such a special show.”
Kyle Patrick in “Godspell” in Flint, Mich. (Photo by Michael A. Naddeo)
In this way, the theater becomes an incubator of redemption, he said. “Telling stories to each other is what will get us through difficult times. My hope is that this gleeful and transformational musical is a celebration of the work we do here at Flint Repertory Theatre, a testament to the power of storytelling and a gift for the community.”
Related articles:
Hiding behind the flag | Opinion by Mark Wingfield
A doorway to the sacred: Encountering God in the theater | Opinion by Stephanie Lape
What The Atlanta Opera and theater companies might teach the church about post-COVID adaptation | Analysis by Kristen Thomason
