28 May Godspell Meets Survivor: HU Summer Tour

United Brethren churches in the midwest and mid-Atlantic regions are invited to schedule a performance of “Godspell” during the summer months. Student actors and musicians from Huntington University will launch the summer tour of “Godspell” with a free show at College Park Church (Huntington, Ind.) at 7 p.m. on June 8. Then they’ll hit the road, anticipating doing up to 40 performances.

For booking information, contact Paul Hirschy at 260-359-4357.

For the third consecutive run of the production, director David Shamburger has incorporated a “Survivor” meets “Castaway” theme into the Gospel of Matthew. Godspell includes almost word-for-word retellings of several of Jesus’ parables.

“While the ‘stoic’ thinkers of the past and present find themselves locked up in their ‘ivory towers’ and eventually falling to their knees, our band of players find themselves on a deserted island in what might be considered ‘Paradise,’ free from the rigors of legalistic thinking and exploring a new kind of journey led by a native islander named Jesus,” Shamburger said.

The presentation includes pop-culture references to “Fantasy Island,” “Hawaii 5-0,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “Tarzan,” “Survivor,” “Lost,” “Cast Away,” and “The Amazing Race.”

The 2008 Godspell tour features powerful acting and vocal performances as well as a live band with guitar, piano, keyboards and drums. Leading up to the production, students completed a semester-long course and a two-week “boot camp” to prepare them for the rigors of approximately 40 shows between June and August in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.