What is "godspell"

Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival which played on Broadway from October 13, 2011, to June 24, 2012. Several cast albums have been released over the years and one of its songs, " Day by Day" from the original cast album, reached #13 on the Billboard pop singles chart in the summer of 1972.

The structure of the musical is that of a series of parables, mostly based on the Gospel of Matthew (three of the featured parables are recorded only in the Gospel of Luke). The parables are interspersed with a variety of modern music set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ treated briefly near the end of the performance. It started as a college project performed by students at Carnegie Mellon University and moved to La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in Greenwich Village. It was then re-scored for an off-Broadway production which became a long-running success. A junior one-act version with some songs and monologues removed has also been made under the title Godspell Junior.

Godspell (1971 Off-Broadway Cast) is the original cast recording of the Cherry Lane Theatre production of Godspell. It produced a radio hit in the summer of 1972 with "Day By Day" with Robin Lamont on the lead vocal. The image of the face on the album cover was designed by David Byrd.

Godspell (also known as Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew) is the 1973 film adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical Godspell created by John-Michael Tebelak with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Directed by David Greene with stars Victor Garber as Jesus and David Haskell as Judas/ John the Baptist, the film is set in contemporary New York City. John-Michael Tebelak is credited as co-writer of the screenplay and served as the creative consultant, although director David Greene said Tebelak did not write the screenplay.