by Michael Rizzo
St. Gregory’s Theatre Group in Bellerose is marking its 35th birthday with a revival of its first play – “Godspell,” a musical based on parables in the Gospels. It’s directed by Kathleen Rollo Ferrara, who started the theatre group as a teenager in 1979.
“When we started this we didn’t realize we were starting a theatre company,” she said. “The theatre group allowed the parish youth group to continue bonding. It’s brought great joy to the actors and the audience.”
But why reprise “Godspell?”
“This is the show that started it all and now another community of actors is growing in this space and growing artistically.”
Ferrara said in 1979, the stage consisted of a few planks of wood and a fence. Now the set has live trees donated by a local nursery, a gazebo for the five-piece band, swings, see-saws and a colorful floor. The theatre group has been known for its special effects, and “Godspell” will feature Twitter messages projected on a screen behind the actors during performances.
“Godspell” carries a cast of about 35 performers from eight years old to over age 50. There’s also another 25 crew members behind the scenes. While some performers have professional experience, everyone in the group is a volunteer except for the lighting designer.
One member of the chorus is St. Gregory’s parishioner and 15-year-old Meredith Weber, who’s been with the group for about five years.
“There’s a special bond with everyone,” she said.
And what’s special about this play?
“It speaks God’s message,” she added. “In ‘Godspell,’ always follow God no matter what.”
Donations Fund Performances
Mickey Cutter is a deacon at St. Gregory’s parish and moderator of the group. He said cake sales, program ads, ticket sales and donations fund the performances. He said performers used to be almost exclusively from St. Gregory’s but now come from around Queens, Long Island and beyond, and even include people of other faiths.
Rich Alexandro is a former St. Gregory’s parishioner who now comes back from Richmond Hill to perform. The 47-year-old has been a lead in past plays but is happy to just be a chorus member in this one.
“I get to witness the next generation taking part,” he said, “and see that it’s in good hands.”
Members of the group who have gone on to professional show business careers include Alexandro’s brother Ted, a stand-up comic; Krista Buccellato, a member of the touring version of “Peter Pan;” and Kate Kuhle, who is the production manager at Manhattan’s 92nd Street YMCA performing arts center and back helping the theatre group with marketing.
Even as Ferrara, whose full-time job is as recreation director at the Chapin Home for the Aging in Jamaica, took the cast through final rehearsals for their two-week run, she kept a smile on her face, and perhaps that more than anything personified the theatre group’s motto of “To God Through Stage.”
“That value statement means there’s something more here than just having fun,” she said. “We have respect and support for each other. ‘Godspell’ has these values and it’s not just a play about Jesus, it’s about teaching values.”
“It’s a lot like a family,” Kuhle said. “This parish is very social. One of our former parish priests even said we take sociability to another level and make it a sacrament.”
“Godspell” will be performed Aug. 13-16 at 8 p.m. and Aug. 17 at 2 p.m. in St. Gregory’s Gregorian Hall in Bellerose. Tickets are available at www.sgtg.org or call 718-989-2451.