John Michael Tebelak went to church on Easter Sunday in 1970. He found the service to be devoid of feeling. He once said he felt like the service was trying to roll the rock in front of the tomb instead of celebrating the risen Christ. After the service he was stopped by a cop (due to John-Michaels long hair) and searched for drugs. This experience provided him with the inspiration for Godspell. He produced the show in late fall/early winter at CMU. (Schwartz had nothing to do with the project. He was already in New York City trying to sell his idea for a musical called Pippin). The score was made of an original song by a cast member and old Episcopal Hymns played by a rock band. (The only song to remain from the original production is "By My Side"). John Michael left school without graduating and took Godspell to New York City where it was produced at Ellen Stewarts's experimental Cafe La Mama theatre. A few producers saw the show and said they would produce it if it had a new score. They brought in Stephen Schwartz without knowing that he had been a classmate of Tebelak's. Schwartz wrote a new score in 5 weeks and the show opened May 17, 1971. CMU went ahead and gave Tebelak his degree (even though he didn't finish all his class work) based upon his Godspell success.
Written by Thomas Peters