The Toronto show that changed comedy forever: TIFF documentary revisits the legendary ‘Godspell’, Canada Reviews

A new Judd Apatow documentary about the landmark Toronto theatrical production of Godspell is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend shining a light on one of the most influential moments in the city’s cultural history.

It began with a number of theatrical nobodies who went on to do great things and, really, put the city on the comedy map.

Just look at the cast: Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Jayne Eastwood, (musical director) Paul Shaffer, Dave Thomas.

The production took place in the spring of 1972 at the Royal Alexandra theatre in downtown Toronto before moving to the Bayview Playhouse a few months later.

Levy had to talk Short, his friend, into even auditioning.

Garder, who was a member of the folk-vocal group Sugar Shoppe prior to Godspell, played the lead role of Jesus, with the rest of the luminaries as his disciples.

“(L)lightning in a bottle. It was clear to everyone that we were all in sync. It was undeniable. We didn’t know what we had, of course, except we knew it was working,” Garber said, to the Hollywood Reporter.

To say the least, it was a hit.

“It’s a youthful, energetic celebration of life, laughter, religion and theatre that lifts your mind to heights of all four. It is fast, furiously funny and touchingly sincere in its interpretation of the Gospel of St. Matthew,” read a review in The Hamilton Spectator. 

But, it was more than just a hit. It changed everything. From this seed, Martin, Levy, Short, Thomas and Radner would go on to SCTV and Second City and open the comedy floodgates that gave way to a golden age. A comedy pipeline to the world that continues to this day.

Martin, in a previous interview with Streets of Toronto, was in town to play Lucy in an American touring production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She met and started dating a local actor.

After a few visits she decided to stay, and shortly after her move, she landed a role in the now legendary 1972 production of Godspell.

“[Godspell] was the beginning of my career,” she says. “Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer — none of us had done anything significant before, so it launched our careers and our friendships.”

The show ran for a whopping 14 months.

The documentary, You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way), is directed by Nick Davis and is set for a world premiere on Sept. 6 at Scotiabank Theatre. (Editor’s Note: Why not the Royal Alex?)