This article is from the EMU News Archive. Current EMU new is available at www.emu.edu/news

EMU To Perform 'Godspell'

Theater at EMU will present six performances of the popular musical, "Godspell," in Lehman Auditorium at Eastern Mennonite University.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4 and Oct. 10-11, with matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5 and 12.

The musical, which enjoyed a successful off-Broadway run in 1971, is based on the gospel according to St. Matthew.

Featuring a 10-member ensemble cast and music and new lyrics by Stephen Swartz, the play builds gradually on a series of New Testament stories to a powerful close depicting the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

"'Godspell' offers the timeless words of the One who is the way, the truth and the life, and it offers the kind of music that sends us singing out the door," said Barbra Graber, associate professor of theater at EMU and the play's director. Anne Gross of EMU's music department is musical director.

Admission is $8 in advance, $10 at the door; seniors (65 and over), $6; students, $6 and children ages 5-9, $3. The play is not recommended for children under five.

Advance tickets are available by calling the EMU box office, 540-432-4582.

NOTE: When EMU Theater first presented “Godspell” in 1984, ticket lines streamed back the portico of Lehman Auditorium and stretched out across the campus. For the first time in EMU theater history, people were turned away at the door. It could happen again. Advance reservations are recommended, especially since the second week’s performances coincide with EMU’s fall homecoming.

— article by: Jim Bishop; posted September 17, 2003