News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Full performances on the main stage in front of a large audience….it’s happening again at Cumberland County Playhouse.
The new production “Godspell” has opened. Director Bryce McDonald said it is indescribable to see a full orchestra and full crowd again. McDonald said Godspell fit the bill for the right cast size and right message with lingering unknowns about the pandemic.
McDonald said Godspell’s message stood out as a chance to start the performance season with a message of hope and unity in the community.
“We should treat others how we want to be treated,” McDonald said. “We should be kind, we should choose compassion first, we should choose love first. We should choose family and friendship over any diversity.”
“I went back and re-listened to all four versions of the cast album I could find and re-read the script and re-watched the movie and it just kept speaking to me. If there is ever a lesson that we need as a community, as a country, as a nation, as human beings… Boy, it is the things that Jesus taught the disciples in the parables.”
McDonald said shows have happened since the pandemic, but not like this return to form.
“There are no boundaries because before we were 15 feet from the audience,” McDonald said. “No one came through the house, no one passed the proscenium line, there was nobody in the pit. We had no more than seven people on stage at a time and more than likely four was really what we were going for but to have 13 pros up there, four musicians in the pit, four musicians on the stage. 275 people in the audience to 300 people, it’s just very different.”
Godspell is running at the Cumberland County Playhouse now. Tickets are available by calling (931) 484-5000 at the box office.
