“Godspell”by Erewash Musical Society
Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton

The show opens with a series of philosophers discussing the nature of God, until they disperse, and we’re given an image of Judas Iscariot attempting to preach the word of God.

He meets Jesus Christ, and they amass a set of disciples, and set to teaching a series of parables. The structure follows a pattern. Jesus or the disciples will act out a story and explain a parable, then they will all sing a song about it, rinse and repeat.

The show features a comedic troupe of eccentric players who team up with Jesus to teach his lessons in a new age through parables, games, and tomfoolery.

“Godspell” also features the songs “Prepare Ye The Way Of the Lord”, "Beautiful City", We Beseech Thee" and “Day by Day”, as well as an eclectic blend of songs ranging from pop to vaudeville, as Jesus’s life is played out onstage.

There was nothing that i didn't love about this production. The staging was brilliant, with the band at the back ends of the stage, and all the action taking place on the stage in the middle or in the auditorium itself, with entrances and exits through the side doors and the steps between the seating areas. All very exciting which also keeps the audience on their toes.The group also make use of a shower and a portaloo.

A wonderful cast of talented mains and ensemble entertain all through the production with some brilliant choral and solo work and choreography,and even puppetry, which I had not seen used in "Godspell" before. And that is one thing that I have learned about this show. No two productions are ever the same, thanks to the improvisation opportunities within the scope of the show.

Adam Roberts (Jesus) looks the way that most people would envisage Jesus as looking, apart from the multi-coloured hair and the "Joseph" style multi-coloured costume. But Jesus was a colourful character so that's all in keeping with the character we know and love. Adam has a great voice and he manages to rein in the attention to him - well he is Jesus after all. A very energetic performance which was really well received by the audience on Friday night.

Martin Lewis (John The Baptist/Judas) gets to show off his vocals and acting skills here, something that I've not heard or seen for a while. Martin is often in with the band or in ensemble or minor stage roles, but I'm so pleased to see him bringing his other talents to the fore in this one.

Again, this is a cast who deserve to have everyone mentioned, and they all play ensemble parts as well as having several cameo parts, let's face it, there are enough parables and features to be able to spotlight all of this cast.Within this cast there are some excellent solo and duet vocals.

Megan Asher, Barbara Bostock, Martin Briggs - who also gets to showcase a great solo vocal in the show; I love the slight vibrato in his voice, Gill Cooke, Grace Deakin, Richard Dawson who not only Produces and Directs this show, he also gets to play ukelele and show off his comic talents in his role, Jane Freeman, Sue Hagan, Elin Haycock, Heather Howe, Andrea Kemish, Maria Lawrence, Kathi Ludlow, Chrissie Oakden, Tracey Renshaw, Karen Robbins, Biba Tribensee, Laurie Trott, who in my humble opinion is a boon to any show, Louisa Ward and Hayley Wood.

There were many highlights for me in this show. I loved hearing "Day By Day" sung with such clarity, going into a wonderful choral section. "Prepare Ye" was brilliantly rousing. "All For The Best", which is a duet between Adam and Martin was excellent on every level as it also incorporated mini versions of the pair singing and dancing, thanks to some nifty puppetry work by the pair. "Save The People" allowed us to hear Adam's voice with just a guitar accompaniment to start with. Adam also excelled with the gorgeous "Beautiful City", one of the finest and possibly most under-rated songs from this musical. I adored the duet of "By My Side" which was delivered with such purity and the two voices so well in tune with the other. And who could not love "Turn Back O Man" delivered in that sultry cabaret style?

So we come on to the band. Under the Musical Direction of James Bowden the varied soundtrack blossomed and I loved the heavy electric guitar break near the end of Act Two. The band, as usual, sounded crystal clear, and great to see them on stage working away.

There's some great choreography, in fact there is a lot of choreography in this show and Abbi Burns, who debuts with Erewash Musical Society has definitely earned her stripes with this show. A wonderful addition to the EMUS team.

The cast is bigger than the previous production I'd seen of "Godspell" and that in its' own way can create headaches but Stage manager Mark Robbins made sure that everything ran like clockwork.

The sound for this show had absolutely no flaws at all. No mic issues and every word, whether it be singing or spoken, was heard perfectly. I did note that there seemed to be more mics used for many of the actors, which could have caused headaches for the sound techs Dave Dallard and Harvey Tavener, but didn't. The dynamic duo smashed it out of the ball park with this show.

Lighting was by Dave Martin, so I knew we were in the very best hands on that front. Dave never lets you down.

I know that I was late in the run to get to see this production, having had a busy week theatre wise, but boy was I glad that I didn't miss out. Loved this show to bits and will have many ear-worms going through my mind all this weekend with this memorable soundtrack.

“Godspell” is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 7 March