Post- Godspell Blues

We did it!!!  Three awesome shows!  Everybody stepped up and made it happen…the cast, the band, the crew, all the volunteers that fed us and took tickets and cheered us on.  It was an absolutely incredible experience; I will never forget this weekend.

I tried to write something on Sunday evening, but I was too physically exhausted after a week of living on adrenaline.  Yesterday was a day of wonderful emails from cast members to one another expressing their affection and their sadness that this part of our journey is complete.  It seems that I am not the only person that has found this to be one of the highlights of my life.

For the past 48 hours, I find myself clutching my Godspell treasure box close.  In quiet moments, I take out a memory…a moment…a scene or a song…and turn it slowly around in my heart and mind to savor it again.  A moment in the green room before the last show watching Duke and Nick C. plot to add a little something “extra” to the show to surprise us :-)…a moment when 4 or 5 of us prayed around Garrett because his voice was scratchy and sore…a moment when I watched my precious first-born from across the stage having the time of her life.  I cherish these moments with my friends…my Godspell family.

I also hold close to my heart the three times that I got to sing my song in the shows.  The peace I had because I knew I was prepared….the comfort of knowing that “my girls” were praying for me while I sang, just as I had prayed for them when it was their turn to sing.  The moment that I gave my song to God as an offering, then just let it rip…the exhiliration of knowing that it was good and that God was being glorified through the words that I was singing.  The sheer joy of making music and sharing it with an audience…it is a high that is hard for me to describe.  It was as if God gave me a present and then I had the privilege of offering it back to Him for Him to use to touch all of our hearts.  As the quote from the movie Chariots of Fire says, when I sang, I felt “God’s pleasure” and knew that I was right in the center of His Will.

Each night had its particular joys and wonderful memories.  There were dear ones in attendance at all 3 shows…packed house on Friday night, completely sold out on Saturday and Sunday!!  Every musical number intensified the energy and the emotion of the message…all the parables and skits bound the audience to us in laughter.  The more they laughed, the more fun we had and the sillier/ better we got.  The Prodigal Son part of the first act just got better and better with each show; Duke, Kevin, Trevor, Nick, Heidi and my Alex were having a blast and the rest of us enjoyed it as much as the audience.  The entire second act just got better and better each night; Sara’s teasing of the guys (and the audience!) in “Turn Back, Oh Man,” Garrett’s passion in “Alas for You, ” the energy of the whole cast in “We Beseech Thee,” the tender beauty and heartbreak in both of the ladies’ trios.  Everything built to a crescendo in the cruxificion scene…the emotion was real and raw, especially on Sunday.  We remembered why we keep telling this story…and why we will celebrate Easter once again next week.

The final memory of the weekend stars Kevin.  At our cast party on Sunday evening, Kevin performed a one man show of Godspell…playing all of our parts.  We laughed so hard that I thought I was going to pull something….seeing as how I was already exhausted and sore, I am not entirely sure it was healthy :-)!!  He is brilliant and will probably be famous someday. I enjoyed watching him, but even more, I enjoyed watching the person who he was “playing” as he re-played our individual parts.  The look on their faces…the delight of watching their contribution played back in such a light-hearted way…was priceless.  Kevin would deliver their line or their expression almost as an impression of them and the look on their face showed their pride in what they had created…it was their gift and, in our hearts, would always belong to that individual.

I could write forever on this topic, but I will stop for now.  There are some members of our cast planning to go to another production of Godspell in D.C. this weekend, but I’m not ready yet.  Right now, I want to cherish the way we did it, the way we sang it, the way we killed the Fatted Calf three times….heee heee!  I will be ready to enjoy the music again in late April when three of our cast members perform in Godspell Jr. at one of our local middle schools….go Kevin, Trevor and Nick!!!!

For any of you cast members reading this, what are we going to do this weekend???????????