[1] The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ appearing briefly near the end.

Godspell began as a project by drama students at Carnegie Mellon University and then moved to the off-off-Broadway theater La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan.

[3][4] The show features eight non-Biblical characters, who sing and act out the parables: Gilmer (silly, a great storyteller); Robin (a tomboy); Herb (goofy and entertaining); Jeffrey (happy and excited); Joanne (eager and enthusiastic); Lamar (clumsy and unintentionally funny); Peggy (shy and loyal); and Sonia (dramatic with a put-on sensuality).

[7] In the revised script used for the 2011 Broadway revival, the names of the cast are again assigned to the non-Biblical roles: Nick, Telly, George, Anna Maria, Lindsay, Uzo, Morgan, and Celisse.

The cast begins to understand Jesus' teachings and take it upon themselves to tell the story of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the temple: "Every man who humbles himself shall be exalted!"

A member of the cast tells a story of a man who spent a lifetime acquiring the good things in life, then dies before he has the time to enjoy them.

By this point in the musical, the group has transformed from a rag-tag cast, into a community of love and caring and now march as soldiers in the military, signifying their ability to think as one.

In the original productions, the philosophers were Socrates (Jeffrey Mylett), Thomas Aquinas (Peggy Gordon), Martin Luther (Lamar Alford), Leonardo da Vinci (Gilmer McCormick), Edward Gibbon (Sonia Manzano), Jean-Paul Sartre (Joanne Jonas), Friedrich Nietzsche (Robin Lamont), and Buckminster Fuller (Herb Braha).

In the 2001 revival, Luther, Gibbon, Nietzsche, and Fuller were replaced by Galileo Galilei, Jonathan Edwards, L. Ron Hubbard, and Marianne Williamson, respectively.

The Carnegie Mellon cast included (listed in speaking order): Andrew Rohrer, Mary Mazziotti, Martha Jacobs, Robin Lamont, Robert Miller, Sonia Manzano, Stanley King, Randy Danson, James Stevens, and David Haskell with original music by Duane Bolick.

[19] This production was directed by Tebelak, and the original cast included Lamar Alford, Peggy Gordon, David Haskell, Joanne Jonas, Robin Lamont, Sonia Manzano, Gilmer McCormick, Jeffrey Mylett, Stephen Nathan, and Herb Braha (Simon).

This London production featured Jacquie-Ann Carr, Julie Covington, David Essex, Neil Fitzwiliam, Jeremy Irons, Verity-Anne Meldrum, Deryk Parkin, Tom Saffery, Gay Soper, and Marti Webb.

[23] The cast consisted of Bartley Braverman, Scotch Byerley, Baillie Gerstein, Tony Hoty, Maggie Hyatt, Doris Jamin, Irving Lee, Dean Pitchford, John-Ann Washingson and Lynne Thigpen.

The 1972-1973 Chicago production played at the Studebaker Theatre, with a cast of Richard Gilliland (Jesus), Joe Mantegna (Judas), JoAnn Brown-El, Sammy Chester, Karla DeVito, Carol McGill, Jim Parks, Tricia Smith, Dan Stone, and Fran Uditsky.

After an enthusiastic response from the audience, the scheduled run at the Royal Alexandra ended and the show moved uptown to the Bayview Playhouse in Leaside.

The ban was widely recognized as a political response to the depiction of racial mixing, which presented a direct challenge to apartheid in South Africa.

It was directed by John Michael Tebelak, with Steve Reinhardt as musical director, costumes by Susan Tsu, lighting by Spencer Mosse, and sound by Robert Minor.

The opening cast featured Lamar Alford, Laurie Faso, Lois Foraker, Robin Lamont, Elizabeth Lathram, Bobby Lee, Tom Rolfing, Don Scardino, Marley Sims, and Valerie Williams.

The band consisted of Paul Shaffer (keyboards, conductor), Mark Zeray (guitar), Chris Warwin (bass), and Michael Redding (percussion).

The cast included Lamar Alford, Kerin Blair, R. Bruce Connelly, Michael Hoit, Paul Kreppel, Sonia Manzano, Melanie Mayron, Marilyn Pasekoff, Leslie Ann Ray, and Jeremy Sage, with Danny Rutigliano as understudy.

[27] John Michael Tebelak then flew to Los Angeles where a west coast tenth anniversary reunion production was staged featuring original cast members Peggy Gordon, Stephen Nathan, Herb Braha, Jeffrey Mylett, Gilmer McCormick and David Haskell, with Marley Sims, Patti Mariano, Jeannie Lange, Bob Garrett and original musical director Stephen Reinhardt.

[28] Cast members included Shoshana Bean, Tim Cain, Catherine Cox, Will Erat, Barrett Foa, Lucia Giannetta, Capathia Jenkins, Chad Kimball, Leslie Kritzer and Eliseo Roman.

On 24–29 September at The Palace Theatre, Manchester, and then until 1 December 2007 touring UK, played a Godspell production directed by Paul Kerryson and scored by Stephen Schwartz.

[31] The cast included Todd Buonopane, Joseph J. Carney, Jessica Carter, Sharon Francis, Esteban Girón, Sarah Hubbard, Natalie Joy Johnson, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Lauren Lebowitz, Sal Sabella, and Michael Yuen.

[33] The production featured Hunter Parrish, Wallace Smith, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Celisse Henderson, Telly Leung, George Salazar, Morgan James, Uzo Aduba, Nick Blaemire, and Lindsay Mendez, and was directed by Daniel Goldstein, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, and produced by Ken Davenport.

This production featured Leonardo Miggiorin, Beto Sargentelli, Gabriela Medvedovski, Matheus Severo, Artur Volpi, Juliana Peppi, Rafael Pucca, Nathália Borges, Mariana Nunes, Fernanda Cascardo, Pri Esteves, Pedro Navarro e Adler Henrique.

This production, which was performed in a tent in the Berkshire Theatre Group's parking lot, featured Nicholas Edwards, Tim Jones, Alex Getlin, Michael Wartella, Zach Williams, Dan Rosales, Brandon Lee, Emily Koch, Isabel Jordan, Najah Hetsberger and Kimberly Emmanuel.

The concept was derived by John-Michael Tebelak from a book by Harvey Cox, a professor at Harvard Divinity School, entitled Feast of Fools.

Rather than be resurrected, Jesus dies in the "Finale", and the cast is typically directed to lift his body over their heads and walk off through the audience to end the show.

[41]Though Godspell was a successful production, much like Jesus Christ Superstar, that began to break down the barriers between rock and roll and Christianity, it was regarded with suspicion by the mainstream evangelical culture because it disregarded the religious doctrines of resurrection and atonement.