Steinbach Arts Council holding auditions for musical “Godspell”

The Steinbach Arts Council (SAC) is holding auditions for their upcoming musical “Godspell.” 

It’s been a while since their last musical, and David Klassen, Executive Director of the Steinbach Arts Council, says this is very exciting for both SAC and the community. 

“I think that there's a lot of people in the community who are very excited about the possibility of taking part in the production.” 

The production has a small cast, and is an ensemble, which means that everybody is on the stage for the entire duration of the show. 

It will also have a super fast turn-around, with the show to hit the stage in early March. 

“The adrenaline is pumping right now because we know that we've got a job to do and we want to provide something cool for the community, to not only participate in, but experience.” 

Klassen says “Godspell” is a 70's rock classic, with lots of great, catchy music in it. 

He says the musical’s concept is about bringing community together. 

“Stephen Schwartz, who created the work in the 70s, really wanted to capture a vibe in the whole show that allows for anyone and everyone to enjoy it,” he says. “It should appeal to adults and children alike, and he put a lot of visual and sound effects in it that would allow for people with sight loss or hearing loss to actually enjoy the show.” 

The SAC is looking forward to capturing that community spirit. 

Jeremy Plett with the Steinbach Arts Council is Co-Directing the musical. 

Plett has been in musicals before, but this will be the first one he is directing. 

He is looking forward to co-directing with Klassen. 

“There are definitely elements of this musical that I think make David uncomfortable to direct, and then there's definitely elements of this musical that make me feel a little bit uncomfortable.” 

Plett expects they will find their own areas in which they are most comfortable directing. 

“Obviously I think he's going to be more on the music side of things and I'm going to be more on the theatre side of things, but I think we want to do a lot of making sure we're working together in a lot of those things.” 

As the musical needs to be ready for March, the rehearsal schedule is pretty heavy. 

Rehearsals start in early January, and continue every Saturday and Sunday until it’s showtime.  

“So it's a commitment, but I think it's going to be a quite a fun commitment.”  

He notes that since it’s a small cast, there won’t be much sitting around for those involved. 

“So if you've been in musicals in the past, and large scale musicals, there's often a large component of ‘hurry up and wait’, but this one I think will just be a lot of ‘hurry up’.” 

If you want to audition or get involved, you can call 204-346-1077 or email office@steinbacharts.ca. Auditions are Wednesday, Dec 6, and Wednesday, Dec 13. 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, SteinbachOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the SteinbachOnline app.