‘The Gospel’ goes to the Getty

May 20, 2024

Court's "Iphigenia in Aulis" at the Getty in 2017.

In an exciting move, Court Theatre's groundbreaking production of “The Gospel at Colonus” is being remounted next month at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California.

The musical, a gospel take on Sophocles' “Oedipus at Colonus,” was created in 1983 by Lee Breuer (adaptation, original lyrics, adapted lyrics) and Bob Telson (music and adapted lyrics). It was cannily updated for the Court by co-directors Mark J.P. Hood and Charles Newell, premiering at the Hyde Park theater this spring.

Now, it’s been selected as this year's annual fall production at the Getty Villa's outdoor Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater, which is modeled on ancient Greek and Roman theaters. Performances will run from September 7 through 30, with previews August 31 through September 2.

The Getty Villa has presented an annual outdoor classical production since it reopened in 2006 after a 10-year renovation that included construction of the 500-seat theater.

“The Villa's museum houses our Western antiquities collection, so everything we do is related to that, be it a classical tragedy, comedy, a modern adaptation or a musical,” explained Ralph Flores, senior program specialist for theater at the Getty Villa. He added that the Villa Theater Lab, an indoor workshop series in a 243-seat auditorium, hosts three groups the rest of the year for two-week residencies culminating in performances that reinterpret classical plays or are inspired by ancient literature.

Flores, who started the program and is responsible for inviting theater companies from the Los Angeles area and all over the country, said that as far as he knows, the Getty Villa is the only museum in the country with an ongoing theater program. He added that “The Gospel” is its largest production so far.

Thanks to fortuitous timing facilitated partly by pandemic-related delays, Newell and Hood were able to reassemble almost the entire 15-person cast. Unfortunately, Timothy Edward Kane, who played Creon, was unavailable due to teaching obligations. “He's being replaced by his understudy Jason Huysman,” Newell said.

Other understudies are being recruited in Los Angeles, as is one of the five band members; the rest will come from Chicago. So will the original designers: John Culbert (sets), Raquel Adorno (costumes), Keith Parham (lights), Sarah Ramos (sound) and Cristin Carole (movement). Newell estimated the Chicago contingent at close to 30 people, most of whom arrived in time for the mid-August rehearsals.

The Getty Villa's outdoor Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater in Malibu, California.

This is not the first time that Court has performed at the Getty Villa. Flores, who lived much of his life in Chicago and has followed the company for years, invited the theater to remount Euripides' “Iphigenia in Aulis” in September 2017. The show originally had been part of Court's 2014/15 season, followed by Aeschylus' “Agamemnon” in 2015/16 and Sophocles' “Electra” in 2016/17.

In 2018, when Newell decided to stage another trilogy — this one started with “Oedipus” and will end with “Antigone” — he told Flores, who loved “The Gospel” and planned to schedule it. As it happened, pandemic delays meant that the Getty Villa production of “Oedipus” by Deaf West Theatre was in 2022 rather than three years earlier, so the timing was right all around.

Newell said that “The Gospel” set had to be modified for the Getty Villa theater and the staging tweaked, but it should look “exquisite” in the space with the building behind it. Among the changes: the “sacred grove” of wood slats is gone; the downstage steps now are just a black marble floor, and the band is on a platform about 16 inches above the floor instead of 10 feet in the air.

“The theater is a public space during museum hours, and we had to simplify the design, so the set could be taken apart and set up,” Newell explained.

The Getty Villa has its own sound system and lighting equipment, so Newell said Court's designers are collaborating with the museum’s team. Flores pointed out that the Getty Villa has strict rules about issues like outdoor noise, security and risk management but that he loves working with Court, which operates like “a well-oiled machine.” The biggest challenge, he said, is finding space for the large number of people coming from Chicago.

Neither would discuss the cost of the project, but Flores pegged it at more than $500,000, which includes the costs of promoting the show to Angelinos who may not be familiar with Court Theatre.

Besides Thursday through Saturday performances, there's a special program on Sunday, September 10 entitled “Celebrating 40 Years of ‘The Gospel at Colonus’: A Conversation.” Speakers include co-directors Newell and Hood and original composer and co-lyricist Telson. For tickets and more information, call 310-440-7300 or go to getty.edu.

In other Court news, the theater has received nine 2023 Equity Jeff Award nominations, five of them for “The Gospel at Colonus.”The nominations are for best musical production (large), best ensemble musical or revue, best director of a musical (large ) for Newell and Hood, best musical direction for Hood, and best performer in a principal role (musical) for Kelvin Roston, Jr. as Oedipus. The awards celebration is October 2. For more information, visit jeffawards.org.

As I wrote already, the photo caption is wrong. That is not a photograph of Gospel at Colonus. It's amusing that the HP Herald deleted my comment rather than fixing the problem.

I was pleased to see that the September 10 program will be live streamed - registration at the Getty's website. Now if only I could manage a quick trip to California to see how Hood and Newell adapt their masterful working of the piece to the Getty's constraints. The Court version was nothing short of a masterpiece.

The photo is not one of the Gospel at Colonus. I think it's from the staging of Iphigenia? But the caption is wrong in any case.

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Clear skies. Low 57F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies. Low 57F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

Updated: August 30, 2023 @ 9:19 pm

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