From David Mahler

I had the honor of rappin' with both Jeffrey and David Haskell at the Advent's 10th Anniversary production... I was a GODSPELL groupie, and LOVED the movie! I'd just returned from Mexico City, where I'd understudied the role of "Che" in their production of EVITA, prior to which, I played "John/Judas" in a Spanish production of LA PALABRA ("Godspell" en espanol, which translates as THE WORD).

Getting the chance to meet original cast members was beyond belief... I was a little bummed that Matt Landers had just replaced Stephen Nathan (the original "Jesus") who'd broken his arm. I got to the church (where this revival was playing- it was Gilmer and David's house of worship, and the show benefited various programs for the church) about an hour early. Talking to one of the ushers, I told him that I'd done the show several times, and he asked if I'd like to meet the Cast!!!

Everyone was in a room upstairs putting on their make-up... I was especially thrilled to meet David Haskell and Jeffrey (uh... I'M gay, and I had a crush on him too! LOL!). And what a reception I got from EVERYBODY... they all couldn't get enough of me singing the score IN SPANISH, and David especially couldn't stop laughing when I sang BOTH parts of "All For The Best"! I stayed with them all till five minutes before curtain...

After the show, David wanted me to sing for Stephen Reinhardt, who was the original orchestrator for the stage show as well as the film, and was playing and conducting the band. I sang "Save The People" in English, and "All Good Gifts" in Spanish... I thought I was doing it strictly for their amusement. But I guessed I'd really impressed Mr. Haskell- they asked me if I'd "Understudy" the two lead male roles!!! What a thrill it would be to work with all these GODSPELL alumni!

Unfortunately, I'd just returned to California after being "On The Road" for two years, first with an international performing/education group called UP WITH PEOPLE, and then from several months in Mexico where'd I'd performed for 4 months with that said group. My younger sister had just passed away from Hodgkin's Disease (cancer of the lymph glands), and I was tired and depressed, and needed time to re-coup with my family. A sadly missed opportunity... I've always regretted not taking them up on their offer! And I didn't go back to see the show a second time, although it ran for another month or two at that church in L.A.

I've done GODSPELL a couple of times after that in various dinner theaters and Civic Light Operas, and met many other key "GODSPELL" figures, including composer Stephen Schwartz (I actually gave him a video of the original L.A. cast of one of his OTHER fabulous musicals: WORKING (which again I've performed in on numerous occasions!). But I'll never forget the time I got to meet Jeffrey... he was charming, funny and incredibly talented, and the Theater World lost a major talent! I actually spent more time with David Haskell than Jeff, but as I mentioned, Jeff was as warm and sweet as could be- he has one of those "Dorian Gray" kind of faces- he looked exactly the same as when he first appeared in GODSPELL!

P.S.- I couldn't resist... this is me from a Japanese tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (I was playing "King Herod"- totally in JAPANESE! I have shots of me from the various productions of GODSPELL... but they're buried somewhere in the hundreds of memorabilia boxes I have in my garage!