How many high school productionsof the musical Godspell take place
each year? How many of these approximately face censorship challenges?

(We would like to put it on at our high school.)

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Request for Question Clarification by kriswrite-ga on 10 Oct 2003 08:10 PDT

Hellow jetlag~

I have just written to the licensing house for GODSPELL and asked them
to contact me regarding the questions you have. I will let you know
when I hear back from them.

Kriswrite

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Clarification of Question by jetlag-ga on 13 Oct 2003 08:15 PDT

Kriswrite,

Thanks for the information you have found so far! 

Is the licensing agent you spoke with Musical Theatre International?
According to the catalog they sent me, Godspell is a show they have
just acquired, so I'm not sure what it would mean for them to say they
have licensed so many "per year." Maybe "last year" would be more
accurate.

Even though I don't yet have a license for the show, I have already
been subjected to challenges from, oddly, some of the most strident
Christians in our small community. One of these challenges has just
reached the superintendent's office and I will soon be answering to
it.  The woman who would like to censor or stop the show basically
amplifies your husband's attitude about the show's "silliness." She
feel the play makes a mockery of Christ and is very disturbed about
the resurrection-less ending. Of course, she hasn't actually seen or
read the play . . .

In my own searchs for recorded challenges to Godspell, I did find one
reference to an entire state that was not allowing the show in its
public high schools!

In any case, thanks again . . . this is my first time using Google
Answers, so I am not sure what my next step is. By all means, post
your research as an answer!

jetlag

Hello jetlag~ 
 
Thank you for allowing me to post my research as an official Answer :)

To clarify, MTI (Music Theatre International) does license the
musical, but it is definitely *not* a recent acquisition. Way back
when I performed in GODSPELL the first time, they were the licensing
company. (Let's see, that must have been in the late 80s...)

However, GODSPELL JUNIOR *is* a brand new acquisition; they began
offering it only this summer. It fits in nicely with MTI's other
"junior" versions of famous musicals. However, just because this will
be a high school production doesn't mean you have to do the JUNIOR
version; you could do either version.

May I make a suggestion regarding Christian objections to the musical?
First, I would hold a meeting. Invite any interested parties,
including the parents and school staff. Also invite the kids who want
to put on the show.

Make it clear to them that you are not proposing a mimic of the movie
version of the musical (if indeed, you aren't); this may go a long
ways toward calming people. If you can remove the "hippie" feel of the
musical, this may also reassure many folks who are quite uncomfortable
with the hippie movement. (And yes, GODSPELL can be very effectively
done in a more modern fashion...In fact, I tend to think it's more
effective that way. GODSPELL was originally written to be an
up-to-the-minute, contemporary telling of the Gospels.)

I would also offer to lend a copy of the script to anyone who wishes
to read it. (You can borrow a copy from MTI.) If nothing else, have a
copy of it with you at the meeting. If you pencil in notes along the
margins about what you might vary from the script (in terms of
suggested blocking, tone, etc.) that will be even more helpful. You
might also have the students give a terse and condensed reasoning why
they'd like to do the show. (I'd suggest having one or two students
speak for the group; you don't want the meeting to go on and on
forever.) Finally, I'd have the kids perform one or two songs from the
show, if possible. You don't have to pay royalties for this. Just let
them stand there and sing.

Ultimately, the goal here is to show that you can't judge the musical
if you aren't familiar with it, and to point out that your version of
it will no doubt vary from other versions. (One of the joys of
GODSPELL is that you can see 100 different versions of this musical,
and it will be different each time!)

If the concerns generally seem to be that the show degrades the
Gospels, then your focus during the meeting should probably be all
about how you really aren't. Show how your version isn't going to be
so "silly" as to diminish the message--if indeed, you feel it won't.

I hope this helps. 

That said, here's my original answer:
 
I've heard back from the licensing company for GODSPELL. They tell me
that they license "approximately 150 middle & high school productions
of GODSPELL each year." They also noted that this summer they
introduced an abridged version, called GODSPELL JUNIOR. To date, there
have been 30 productions of this new version, which is shorter and
supposedly easier for younger performers.
 
They did not, however, have any figures or comments to make about
censorship. I did some Internet searches to see if I could dig up any
articles or commentaries about school productions of GODSPELL and
censorship. Nothing showed up. My sense is that you're very unlikely
to find anything (statistics, articles, or stories) about that
particular topic.
 
I'd also like to add a personal comment that might help. As a thespian
who's been involved in several productions of GODSPELL, let me say
that very few people seem to take offense at this musical. In fact,
I've never personally heard of or seen a person get "turned off"
during a production of GODSPELL because it was "too Christian."
Perhaps because of it's joyful, playful nature, staunch atheists can
thoroughly enjoy a production of the show. (I've seen it happen many
times.) In addition, because Jesus does not rise from his tomb in the
original script of GODSPELL, many people find the show less
threatening than your average sermon. (In fact, the only person I've
ever known who truly dislikes GODSPELL is my husband, who feels that
it takes a sacred subject and makes it far too silly.)
 
 
Kriswrite 
 
Keywords Used: 
Godspell censorship 
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Godspell+censorship
 
Godspell censorship school 
://www.google.com/search?q=Godspell+censorship+school&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N
 
Godspell school 
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Godspell+school&btnG=Google+Search
 
Godspell school trouble 
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Godspell+school+trouble

Good research on first half of my question! Additional advice given
that I wish it was not too late follow. I'm still looking for recorded
instances of Godspell censorship.

Hello jetlag~

I am posting this as a comment, since I'm not sure the answer will
satisfy you. If it is satisfactory, just let me know, and I will
officially post it as an Answer.

I've heard back from the licensing company for GODSPELL. They tell me
that they license "approximately 150 middle & high school productions
of GODSPELL each year." They also noted that this summer they
introduced an abridged version, called GODSPELL JUNIOR. To date, there
have been 30 productions of this new version, which is shorter and
supposedly easier for younger performers.

They did not, however, have any figures or comments to make about
censorship. I did some Internet searches to see if I could dig up any
articles or commentaries about school productions of GODSPELL and
censorship. Nothing showed up. My sense is that you're very unlikely
to find anything (statistics, articles, or stories) about that
particular topic.

I'd also like to add a personal comment that might help. As a thespian
who's been involved in several productions of GODSPELL, let me say
that very few people seem to take offense at this musical. In fact,
I've never personally heard of or seen a person get "turned off"
during a production of GODSPELL because it was "too Christian."
Perhaps because of it's joyful, playful nature, staunch atheists can
thoroughly enjoy a production of the show. (I've seen it happen many
times.) In addition, because Jesus does not rise from his tomb in the
original script of GODSPELL, many people find the show less
threatening than your average sermon. (In fact, the only person I've
ever known who truly dislikes GODSPELL is my husband, who feels that
it takes a sacred subject and makes it far too silly.)


Kriswrite

Keywords Used:
Godspell censorship
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Godspell+censorship

Godspell censorship school
://www.google.com/search?q=Godspell+censorship+school&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N

Godspell school
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Godspell+school&btnG=Google+Search

Godspell school trouble
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Godspell+school+trouble

I looked into this a bit earlier but couldn't find much more than
Kriswrite-ga had about censorhip issues.  But I will pass on these
links:
http://www.post-gazette.com/election/20010517naelect8.asp
http://www.burstnet.com/cgi-bin/ads/bt6305a.cgi/RETURN-CODE/if/%3CRAND%3E/
http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/19990601tony1.asp
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Performing_Arts/Theatre/Musicals/G/Godspell/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/writing-for-the-wall/message/242

If you still hope for more information on this question, it would be
helpful to know specifically what you're looking for: Do you only want
information about High Schools battling Christians? Or only
non-Christians? And must the information be centered around high
school productions? Or could basic complains about the musical be
useful? In addition, having a sense of how you're going to use the
info might help.

Kriswrite

Dear kriswrite,

I was called to our school district boardroom yesterday to formally
answer a challenge to producing Godspell.  My first question to the
challenge was "Have you read the play?"  The answer was an embarrassed
"no," so the rest of the challenge was pretty much neutralized. I was
able to provide your research that approx. 150 HS and MS productions
were mounted yearly and I had to answer that I was only able to find a
couple instances of censorship. The school board committee ruled that
I would be able to go ahead with the play since 1) the challenger had
not bothered to read the play script and since 2) I had made
accomodations for the two drama students who "felt uncomfortable" by
allowing them parts in another one of our plays.        Thanks for
your assistance!

Oh Jetlag, that's wonderful! Congrats :)

Kriswrite