Who Wrote Godspell?

Godspell was created by two key collaborators:

Role| Person| Contribution
---|---|---
Book (script/story)| John-Michael Tebelak| Wrote the original book as his master's thesis at Carnegie Mellon University in 1970 13
Music & Lyrics| Stephen Schwartz| Composed the music and wrote the lyrics in just 5 weeks 15

The Origin Story 🎭

John-Michael Tebelak, a Carnegie Mellon student, was inspired to write Godspell after being judged and turned away from a church during a music festival because of his hippie appearance with long hair. He initially wrote it as solely gospel text for his Master's thesis, titled "The Godspell".

After the university production, Tebelak invited fellow Carnegie Mellon graduate Stephen Schwartz to compose music for the show. Schwartz transformed longer monologues into songs with an eclectic mix of musical styles.

Key Facts

  • First performed: 1970 at Carnegie Mellon University
  • Off-Broadway opening: 1971 to rave reviews
  • Broadway opening: 1976
  • Most famous song: "Day By Day" (became a hit single)
  • Based on: The Gospel of Matthew

Stephen Schwartz went on to write other hugely successful musicals including Pippin (1972) and Wicked (2003), winning Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys throughout his career.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.