Showtime (Puzzle No. 3,319)

The theme answers in puzzle 3,319 are Broadway musicals, which was a perfectly timed theme.  Sabers and Bangle are performing in a church production of Godspell this weekend; it’s been one of my favorite shows ever since I saw the original cast off-Broadway in the 70s.

When the choir director announced the production, I did a little research and discovered that John-Michael Tebelak wrote Godspell as a senior project while he was in college (at Carnegie Mellon).  At that point, it was a straight play.  A few months later, Tebelak and the producers decided the show needed music, and reached out to another recent CMU alum, Stephen Schwartz, who composed the memorable songs.  

The show is notable for the number of now-famous performers who made their main-stage debuts in it (particularly in the 1972 Toronto prodution), including Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Sonia Manzano, Jeremy Irons, and Paul Schaffer. 

In our production, Sabers has the John the Baptist role.  Fellow high school students Jake (as Jesus) and Blair (Judas) are the other leads; and Bangle and her two junior high classmates round out the main cast.  Nearly twenty elementary-age kids have smaller singing and speaking parts, and the cherubs provide the cute and adorable element.   

Link to puzzle:  

[ed. note: this post was back-dated to keep the puzzle links in order]