By Ms. Wheeler
This past April, I had the privilege of assistant-directing Lourdes Theatre Company’s (LTC) production of Godspell. Godspell, written by Stephen Schwartz, is primarily a staged telling of the Gospel of Matthew. One thing that makes Godspell so incredible, aside from the amazing cast and crew I got to work with, is that every showing is unique. Every night has its own energy, every castmate brings something new to the stage, and even if you were to see Godspell at a different theatre, the show would be unique. Ms. Boylan, Ms. Libertino, Mr. Rose, Mrs. D’Aleo, Mrs. LaPlant, and the cast and crew helped make OLL’s version of Godspell one of a kind.
I haven’t had too much experience from the directing side of theatre, since I’m more of a performer. Assistant Directors (ADs) act as the director’s main support alongside the Stage Managers and crew in making their vision come to life. Ms. Boylan, Mrs. D’Aleo, and all of our other show coordinators have been nothing but kind, supportive, and open-minded, and made my transition from performer to assistant director seamless; it was awesome to be a part of such a great directorial team. Each rehearsal day began with either music practice with Ms. Libertino or review days led by myself. For the remainder of the time, Ms. Boylan would work on new material with the cast. Everyone really gave this show their all, and it was truly amazing to see it all come together on stage.
As with any show, there are always challenges. For our show, I think the biggest challenge was the pacing of the show, and remembering all the lines. Like I said before, every production of Godspell is unique in its own way. However, sometimes directors like to uphold traditions of Godspell from the script, from previous experiences, or in productions they’ve seen in the past. One such tradition is that the cast stays on stage the entire time, stopping halfway through for an intermission where they share bread and wine (in our case, juice) with the audience. We followed this tradition, which meant that the cast and pit performed for about 90 minutes straight at high energy. Because of the pacing, Ms. Boylan and I, along with our other coordinators and crew, reminded the cast and pit to hydrate and take it easy throughout the rehearsal process and the show’s run.
I’m lucky to have been a part of the LTC team in my first year here. It’s felt very fulfilling to have this transition from a student in the LTC to assistant director. Thanks again to the cast, crew, pit, and directorial/coordinator team from Godspell, I can’t wait for all of the future shows with the Theatre Company at OLL!