Playhouse leaders rework ‘Godspell’

Tom Titus

They’re not exactly the new kids in town -- Kyle Myers and Megan

Endicott have long lists of performing credits at the Costa Mesa

Civic Playhouse -- but they’re relatively green at the art of putting

shows together.

Myers cut his directorial teeth a few months ago on the

playhouse’s production of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.” Now he’s

staging “Godspell,” which will open Feb. 6. Endicott, who has been

appointed the theater’s artistic director, is choreographing the

show, a first for her.

“Godspell” is hardly a new property -- veteran theatergoers might

recall the smash hit production of the biblical musical mounted back

in the mid-1970s by South Coast Repertory when SCR still performed in

a converted dime store in downtown Costa Mesa. Orange Coast College

also took a crack at it about a dozen years ago.

It’s a property that can be formed and molded to fit the talents

of its cast, which is what Myers and Endicott find so intriguing

about the show.

“This is an amazing cast,” Myers declared. “We’ve got people from

all over Southern California -- Whittier, Redondo Beach, Torrance.

The theater needed new blood, and we’ve got it with this show.”

Unlike most directors, Myers didn’t choose “Godspell.” The

playhouse’s season was set up by last season’s board of directors,

with the stage honchos to be penciled in later. Myers volunteered to

helm “Picasso,” which was well received, and then stepped in to

direct “Godspell,” which he thought would be a fairly easy

assignment. It wasn’t.

“We had to find things for all these actors to do during the

show,” Endicott said. “And we’ve expanded the cast, so it’s not all

that simple. But it’s been lots of fun -- definitely an interesting

show to cut your teeth on.”

One of the changes Myers made was casting a female Judas. “Olivia

Braza simply was the best candidate at auditions -- and we weren’t

short of men. There’s more men than women in the show,” he said. “It

sets up a great relationship, which I think really works.”

Myers, a grade school teacher who’s preparing a kiddie version of

“Into the Woods” by day, recruited fellow instructor Joyce Maxson as

his musical director for “Godspell.” Maxson has such shows as “The

Wizard of Oz,” “The Sound of Music” and “Fiddler on the Roof” to her

credit.

Before turning director for “Picasso,” Myers appeared in many

local stage productions, including “A Chorus Line,” “Into the Woods,”

“Bye Bye Birdie” and “Anything Goes” at the Civic Playhouse. He took

key supporting roles in “Bells Are Ringing” and “The Pajama Game” at

the Newport Theater Arts Center.

Endicott is a familiar face at the Costa Mesa theater for “Chorus

Line,” “Into the Woods,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor

Dreamcoat,” “Gypsy,” “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” She

trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena and took

her first nonmusical role in Costa Mesa’s “Picasso.”

Their “Godspell,” the directors noted, will center on the

homeless. The actors portray street people who become involved in the

New Testament story of Jesus’ crucifixion set to a rock beat.

“We take a grungy, beaten-up street, and during the course of the

show it becomes colorful,” Myers said. “The show should offer hope to

the community.”

“Godspell” will be presented Thursdays through Saturdays at 8

p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., until March 2 at the Civic

Playhouse, 611 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa. Tickets may be reserved by

calling the box office at (949) 650-5269.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His

reviews appear Thursdays and Saturdays.