Katelyn Coon, Lauren Patrice, and Rory Gill-Smith (Photo by Iah Bearden-Vrai)
Reviewed by Joel Beers
Conundrum Theatre Company at Victory Theatre
Through April 5
This show is a mess; a bold, creative and well-intentioned one, but a mess nonetheless
It’s not for lack of conceptual ambition, something that has defined Godspell since its original 1971 production. A musical drawn from the parables of the Book of Matthew has always invited wide-open interpretation, and this Joshua Lincoln-directed staging takes that invitation and runs with it — sometimes in circles.
The Book of Matthew isn’t the most sedate of the gospels; yes, its parables can feel like a syllabus, but it’s one with warnings of a punishing final exam. It is the most structured, didactic and authoritative of the four, bristling with fire and brimstone and sharp judgment for hypocrites and those who stray from the law. That tension — yes, the blessed meek may inherit the Earth, but they are fucked if they don’t follow that divine law, including, as Jesus says in the play, the most important commandment, to love and obey God — may explain why Godspell lends itself so readily to reinvention, from its original hippie-commune aesthetic to decades of social justice re-framings, gender-blind casting and punk-adjacent anarchy.
Lincoln’s production fits somewhere along that spectrum, though where isn’t exactly clear. It begins before the show starts, with a hazy lobby projection and overlapping audio about corrupt government, money and housing — fragments of generational frustration that gesture toward a thesis the show never quite delivers.
Once inside the theater, the setting suggests a post-apocalyptic artists’ commune, but also a recording studio, but also a film set, complete with intermittent flashes that imply something is being captured. The ideas pile up faster than they cohere.
When the action finally kicks in — after the first opening minutes when mere anarchy is loosed upon the stage — Jesus (Javon Willis) arrives, is baptized by John the Baptist and begins delivering parables. At times he appears to be directing the action, though whether his followers are in on that conceit is unclear. Only Judas seems to sense it, his shared glances and whispered exchanges with Jesus hinting at a meta-layer the production never fully develops.
Layered on top is a barrage of pop culture references — The Three Stooges, Carrie Underwood, Benny Hill, Chariots of Fire — that land with varying degrees of wit and necessity.
The ensemble, a deliberately eclectic mix, commits fully: Some channel revolutionary fervor, others lean into sarcasm or sweetness. What’s missing is a clear sense of why these people cohere so quickly, why this Jesus commands their allegiance beyond the mechanics of the script.
Two performances help ground the chaos. Javon Willis’s Jesus, built like a linebacker, pairs physical presence with a disarming warmth; his sweet tenor and groovy movements — at times recalling Mr. Milchick from Severance — give the production a needed center. Danny Holmberg’s Judas (he doubles as John the Baptist) is equally compelling, shaded and watchable, though like much of the cast he struggles with projection.
Musically, the ensemble delivers, with each of the 10 performers getting a moment in the spotlight, even if they’re hard to hear at times. The real musical standouts, however, are the members of the three-piece live orchestra, whose presence feels integral rather than incidental.
Still, for all the commitment onstage, the production never quite clarifies its intent. The program gestures toward a concept involving “an eccentric troupe” spreading Jesus’ message through rebel TV programming in the face of authoritarianism — a promising frame that remains largely theoretical in execution.
The result is a Godspell that is restless, occasionally inspired, and frequently muddled — a production reaching for urgency and meaning but never quite bringing either into focus.
Victory Theatre Center, 3326 326 W. Victory Blvd, Burbank. Fri., 8 pm, Sat. 2 & 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru April 5. Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 pm, Sat.-Sun., 2 pm; thru April 19. www.conundrumtheatreco.com.Running time: two hours and 30 minutes, with an intermission.
