`Godspell' Misses Mark

Theater review "Godspell." Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by J.M. Tebelak. Produced by Taproot Theatre Company, Northeast 79th Street and Roosevelt Way Northeast. Thursdays-Saturdays through Aug. 7; Aug. 20-Sept. 18. 781-9707.

The Taproot Theatre Company, usually noteworthy for its productions, misses the mark with its current modernization of "Godspell," Stephen Schwartz's flower-child take on the New Testament.

By arbitrarily updating the setting to a comedy nightclub, director Scott Nolte loses much of the metaphor and subtlety of the original context (in which Jesus and the Apostles are a small band of hippies living communally), and distances the score from the folksy soft pop musical vocabulary of the early 1970s.

While some of the mostly mid-'80s references are cute - especially an inspired "Looney Tunes" version of the Prodigal Son - most of the new material is dismissible and weakened further by an appalling "pre-show" of nightclub banter that forgets to let the audience in on the joke.

When the Emcee (Matt Zimmerer) interrupts an embarrassing improv duo (Curt Becker and Karen Lund) with the opening number, "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord," the prior unsettling 35 minutes destroy the moment.

The evening improves considerably, however, thanks to the strength of Kevin Swan as the waiter Jesus; his expressive voice and affable boy-next-door persona make him a pleasant if white-bread Messiah. In fact, the production's staleness is due mostly to a glaring lack of ethnicity in the company, rare for a staging of this show.

Other standouts in a cast that is enthusiastic but generally weak vocally are Zimmerer, who wins the audience with deft comic timing, and Katie Tibbits, whose turn as Barbara Walters reporting on the Good Samaritan is a highlight.

Overlooking some repetitious songs ("Day By Day," "Prepare Ye"), the music is lively. Though act one is a plodding series of parables, act two picks up as the Passion unfolds, with innovative staging. Lighting Designer Jon Langrell is to be commended.