After quite a bit of contemplation, the theater department has finally decided on this years’ winter musical: Godspell. With numerous other productions in mind, including classics such as The Sound of Music, Elf, and Mary Poppins, it grew difficult for director Dennis Swanson and musical director Jim Cox to get the rights to shows.

“We always have a long list of shows that we want to do,” Cox explains. “We kind of look at the time of year; kind of get a sense of the Eagan community and who wants to audition.” With most of the contenders for shows unavailable in terms of rights, the department had to quickly decide on a musical. Luckily, Godspell had been on their minds for approximately seven years.

Godspell is a classic production that has made its way to Broadway on multiple occasions. The musical is based and structured off of a series of parables mainly from the first eight chapters of The Book of Matthew from the Bible. It is ultimately the teachings of Jesus Christ as told through many genres of song; edgy rock, soft-shoe tap, slow ballads.

Auditions for the musical will be held on Monday, October 6th and Tuesday, October 7th. Callbacks will be held as needed on October 9th. Audition materials can be found on the EHS homepage. Four songs are there for anyone interested to choose from.

Mr. Cox recommends preparing one to two songs. “All the songs are open to everybody,” he says. “It’s not like any one’s for any particular character.” Links to the accompaniment tracks that students will be auditioning with are also available on the website. While at the audition, students may be asked to read from a script, though this does not need to be prepared. Cox called this technique, “A cold reading.”

With a cast of only 20 to 25 students, as opposed to the normal size of anywhere between 50 and 75, this production is sure to be a much more intimate environment than any Eagan shows of the past. “It’s a great show; it’s a lot of fun,” Cox exclaims. “If somebody were to come in to audition my advice would be to be really prepared and to just come in and do your thing. Just have fun and enjoy the audition process.”