When the musical Godspell came to Canada in 1972, the cast consisted of local performers. Turns out those local Toronto performers who got their big break in the production sparked some amazing Canadian content.
Victor Garber played Jesus Christ. Garber also played Jesus in the film version of the musical (1973).
Other notable members of the Canadian cast included future SCTV vets Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, and Martin Short as well as Saturday Night Live original cast member Gilda Radner. Thomas was not in the original cast, but joined the show near the end of the run. Martin and Radner were Americans who made their way to Canada. Levy and Short were university friends in Hamilton. Levy pointed out that Short and Radner dated during the run of Godspell. Short ended up marrying Nancy Dolman, who was Radner's understudy in the production. All of them ended up at Second City in Toronto.
Jayne Eastwood was also in the cast a couple of years after being in Goin' Down the Road (1970). Other performers included Gerry Salsberg, Rudy Webb, Valda Alviks, Don Scardino, and Avril Chown. Alternates included Elaine Lansitie, Derek McGrath, Randi Sanfield, and Robin White. (Not all of them are Canadian.)
Paul Shaffer was the Godspell musical director and Howard Shore played saxophone. Shore later went on to be a prominent Canadian film composer with 3 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes, and 4 Grammys. Shore has worked a lot with David Cronenberg.
The Toronto production started out at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. After a scheduled limited run, the Godspell production shifted to the Bayview Playhouse in Leaside. The production finally ended in August 1973 with a then-record run of 488 performances.
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Levy and Martin were together in 1973 with Ivan Reitman in Cannibal Girls. Catherine O'Hara tells the story of meeting Radner because O'Hara's brother Marcus was dating Radner. The Canadian acting scene is built on a lot on relationships. If the Toronto production of Godspell was the trunk of the tree, there were many fruitful branches stemming forward.
photo credit: here
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