Director Says Everyone Can Relate to ‘Godspell’
Photo courtesy of Rob Slaven of Indy Ghost Light Photography
Youth ages 10-18 rehearse for Carmel Community Players’ summer youth production of “Godspell” musical, which opens on Friday and runs through June 25 at The Ivy Tech Auditorium in Noblesville.
Photo courtesy of Rob Slaven of Indy Ghost Light Photography
Fender Brokamp of Westfield (from left, in background), as George, Jack Levine of Zionsville as Telly and Morgan Rusbasan as Peggy and Mason Yeater of Cicero as Jesus (front, right) rehearse for Carmel Community Players’ summer youth production of “Godspell” musical, which opens on Friday and runs through June 25 at The Ivy Tech Auditorium in Noblesville.
Photo courtesy of Rob Slaven of Indy Ghost Light Photography
Emmy Bobenmoyer of Indianapolis as Joanna (from left), Fender Brokamp of Westfield as George and Quincy Russell of Zionsville as Robin rehearse for Carmel Community Players’ summer youth production of “Godspell” musical, which opens on Friday and runs through June 25 at The Ivy Tech Auditorium in Noblesville.
Photo courtesy of Rob Slaven of Indy Ghost Light Photography
Joey Brandenburg of Westfield rehearses for Carmel Community Players’ summer youth production of “Godspell” musical, which opens on Friday and runs through June 25 at The Ivy Tech Auditorium in Noblesville.
Tanya Haas
Want TO GO?
What: Carmel Community Players presents “Godspell” musical, a Rising Star youth production.
When: June 16-25 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. June 22, 23 and 24 and 2:30 p.m. June 25.
Where: The Ivy Tech Auditorium, 300 N. 17th St., Noblesville.
How much: $20 adults, $18 ages 62 and older and students.
Reservations: 317-815-9387, www.carmelplayers.org
Carmel Community Players
Musical Opens at Ivy Tech
Thirty-five years ago in May, Tanya Haas appeared in her high school’s production of “Godspell.”
The musical stuck with her as one of the most meaningful theater experiences that she ever had.
For years, she has been thinking that she would direct a youth production of the show.
And finally, the opportunity arose. She submitted the musical to Carmel Community Players and it was accepted.
This week, she brings the musical to the stage, as CCP’s “Godspell” opens Friday and continues for a total of seven performances at The Ivy Tech Auditorium in Noblesville. Tickets are still available.
Haas said members of the audience don’t have to be religious or hold Christian beliefs to enjoy the show. “The stories we are telling, the ‘lessons’ we are imparting, go beyond religion and just speak to being a good person,” she said. “Yes, the stories and songs are Biblically based, but they are about being human more than anything else.”
The show features 14 cast members, ages 10 to 18, who hail from Cicero, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville and Indianapolis. This is considered a “Rising Star” production which is eligible for Encore Association Rising Star awards, usually two presented each fall to youth during the Encore Association Awards night in Indianapolis.
CCP is presenting the 2012 version of “Godspell.” Haas said, “We felt the cast would relate more to the updated references, and the script actually allowed for us to update some of the references even more to modern vernacular.
There are 15 songs in the show, and the updated score gives most of them a bit more of a rock sound, as compared to the original version from the 1970s, Haas said.
She thinks the audience will likely know a lot of the music from the show since it’s more than 50 years old now. The most well-known songs are “Prepare Ye” and “Day by Day.” Haas said many don’t realize that the music for “Godspell” was written by Stephen Schwartz, who also wrote the music for ‘Pippin’ and more recently ‘Wicked.’” Rich Phipps is music director and producer for the show. Phipps and Haas have acted on stage together a few times, and Phipps was also her music director for “Back to the ‘80s.” The two, both of Carmel, work well together.
“Godspell” explores the stories of Matthew’s Gospel in a way that everyone can relate. “Many of the stories are very well known, but we are presenting them in a new light, likely not the way most people would have learned them in church growing up,” Haas said.
The costumes are bright, colorful and full of bold patterns. “If anyone has ever seen a preschooler who has been allowed to dress himself, that is the look we are going for, to fit in with the ‘Children of God’ theme,” she said.
Speaking of kids, the sets and props are all “toy” based. She admitted to have borrowed the idea from that same production of “Godspell” that she was in during high school. “Those in the audience will hopefully recognize something they themselves have had a connection to at some time in their lives. Pretty much all of the set pieces are either from my own family or borrowed from my cast and their families,” Haas said. “We use the various toys in some pretty clever ways throughout the course of the show I think.”
The costumes are being put together through a mix of items that cast members had at home, things that have been borrowed and items that have been purchased. The only costume that is traditional is the Jesus costume, the often-seen Superman shirt.
Costumer Caleigh Law talked to each of the cast members and put together an overall individual ‘look’ for them, and “we set about trying to pull together the pieces to make that happen,” she said.
Haas has performed in more than 50 shows since high school, most recently in CCP’s “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940.” CCP’s “Godspell” will be the eighth musical that she’s directed and the 10th youth production she’s directed as a drama teacher. She was asked to direct the youth production of “Back to the ‘80s” in 2016 when the original director dropped out, since she had been the drama teacher, directing school musicals for Midwest Academy, for a few years after helping to introduce theater to her oldest son’s English class when he attended the school. She and her husband raised six children, so she is used to “wrangling children” through her own life experiences. In 2022, CCP reached out to Haas to ask her to direct a summer youth production once again. She is also directing Basile Westfield Playhouse’s summer youth production.
Haas has worked with kids since she was a kid. Her first jobs were babysitting, and then she was a preschool teacher and taught religion classes throughout high school and college and after she got married and started a family of her own.
She was born and raised in Cincinnati and has lived in Carmel for the past 18 years. “My parents raised my brother and I to be big theater aficionados from an early age. My parents still go to see over 100 productions a year,” she said.
Haas fell in love with acting the first time she got on stage her freshman year of high school. “I love the excitement of bringing a story to life.”
When she’s not directing or acting, she enjoys volunteering a few times a week taking care of refugee children while their parents are learning to speak English. She also enjoys spending time with her husband of nearly 30 years and her children, who are now all adults, or her friends who, she said, “accept me just as I am.”
Haas said when she directs a youth production, she always hopes to give her cast members a positive experience that will stay with them throughout their lives. “I hope that I am helping build their confidence as they see they can accomplish anything they set their minds to, and people will appreciate what they have to offer both on and off the stage.”
She used to be pretty shy as a kid. “But acting gave me the chance to see that I could be bigger than life sometimes and no one was going to criticize me for trying something new,” Haas said. “I hope that each young actor I have the chance to work with will take something good away from their time working with me.”
-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times editor Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.
MEET THE CAST
Ann, Isabella Bardos of Noblesville; Joanna, Emmy Bobenmoyer, Indianapolis; Celisse, Joey Brandenburg, Westfield; George, Fender Brokamp, Westfield; Morgan, Rachel Bush, Indianapolis; John the Baptist/Judas, Nick Lantzer, Fishers; Telly, Jack Levine, Zionsville; Uzo, Tatum Meadors, Westfield; Peggy, Morgan Rusbasan, Indianapolis; Robin, Quincy Russell, Zionsville; Lindsay, Greta Shambarger, Westfield; Jesus, Mason Yeater, Cicero; Jeffrey, Owen Yeater, Cicero; and Nick, Quinn Yeater, Cicero.
MEET THE CREW
Director, Tanya Haas; musical director/producer, Rich Phipps; assistant director/stage manager, Amber Roth; choreographer, Donna McFadden; stage manager, Ethan Hutchinson; light design, Owen Yeater; sound design/operator, Karissa Monson; costumes, Caleigh Law; set design/decoration, Tanya Haas and Amber Roth; set production, Charlie Hanover and Dave Muse; props, The Godspell Families; graphics design, Lori Raffel; social media/publicity, Hannah Janowicz.