A High-volume, High-appeal ‘Godspell’ at Olney

I first saw “Godspell,” the John-Michael Tebelak-conceived and Stephen Schwartz-composed hip and hippie musical, based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew, in San Francisco in 1972, when it toured after its Broadway debut in 1971. Jesus had a huge red afro, as I recall, wore a Superman t-shirt. The stories and parables of Jesus were sweet and funny comic turns, one of them by lads dressed up like the Marx Brothers.

It was the post-hippie 1970s, and the music was joyful, gospel-pop-rock, and the show was a touching, inviting call to community. Mary Magdalene in that version had the hot hit song “Day By Day,” and all was swell with the world. I remember taking my son to a mass in Berkeley at which the presiding priest wore a Superman vest.

That was a long time ago, as fads and hit shows go, and there have been many incarnations and revivals of “Godspell” since then, including a Broadway revival as late as 2011.

So, where is “Godspell” now, and how is it doing?

It’s at the Olney Theatre Center, not a likely hot spot. Since we asked, it’s doing just fine, looking not so much quaint as fresh. The hippies have become something akin to a gaggle of questioning drifters and hipsters, a nice mix of gender and ethnic types in a show in which gender and ethnicity appear to have been complete blurred in the sense that they don’t matter and aren’t referenced. It’s egalitarian as all get-out, although Jesus, in this instance is not black, Hispanic or female.

Audiences matter, especially in a show like “Godspell,” which still appeals to young people, although they might snub its overt sweetness and gentleness, but then that’s a question of how you feel about Jesus, the gospels and perhaps the one percent.

“Godspell” remains firmly grounded in its gospel material and in a Jesus who’s here to laud the virtues of being kind to your neighbor, turning the other cheek, rewarding those who acknowledge sin or help others. It’s about love, love, above all, love God to be sure, but also your neighbor as you would yourself. The suggestion is also there that you should love yourself, or at least give yourself a break, because Jesus will.

It remains a sweet show, with unflagging energy, and the audience of mostly past-40 types greeted it with enthusiasm. It’s as a commune of sorts being applauded in suburban Maryland, an event that’s kind of gratifying.

Director Jason King Jones has assembled as high-volume, high-appeal and frisky cast—everyone gets a turn to shine out his or her light, although as individuals they’re deliberately not differentiated as specific characters.

The exceptions are Jordan Coughtry as Jesus and Rachel Zampelli with the double duty task of John the Baptist and Judas. The rest are a ragtag group of apostles who appear first as contemporary discontents wandering into any-old-town USA one at a time, with back packs, bags, and worn clothes along.

Soon enough, with the arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus, unannounced but clearly special—Jesus spreads water on the sometimes reluctant new followers, the group begins to coalesce into a story that is often joyful, sometimes questioning, sometimes funny, very often surprisingly appealing. From the first real blast of arrival—the stirring “Prepare Ye,” sung in fine form by Zampelli, to a familiar “Day by Day,” led by Allie Parris, the audience is led to a musical journey through the gospel.

Coughtry as Jesus is immensely appealing—he has the gospel spirit but also the hippie spirit of the 1960s, a handsome, compelling presence, who is most affecting in the end at the Last Supper, in the course of suffering, questioning God the father.

There’s something carny-like, child-like, circus-like about it all: It’s story-telling hour, the rich man and the poor man, the good son and the prodigal son, the seeds that fall on stone and earth, accompanied by Schwartz tunes which are still terrific—“Save the People,” “O, Bless the Lord My Soul,” “Learn Your Lessons Well,” “All for the Best” (a ringing indictment of the one percenters), the touching “”By My Side” and the bawdy “Turn Back, O Man.”

The simplicity of the staging—make-do set, pop-rock band on another level, the intimacy between cast members and cast members and audience—seems almost brand new.

— “Godspell” (through March 1) opens Olney’s 2015 season, an eclectic bundle of musicals, new plays and classics. The season includes “Grounded,” “Carousel,” Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” “The Producers,” Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever,” “Bad Dog” and “Guys and Dolls.”