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John-Michael Tebelak

Shows · John-Michael Tebelak

Book WriterDirector 1949–1985

John-Michael Tebelak (September 17, 1949 – April 2, 1985) was an American playwright and director. He is best known for creating the musical Godspell, based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, with the composer Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the music. Some of the lyrics are original to the show, while others were taken from either the Bible or traditional hymns in the 1940 Episcopal hymnal.

Also credited on1 work

Godspell

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz conceived Godspell , a feel-good (despite its unavoidable crucifixion finale) collection of pleasantly memorable sing-along songs, loosely strung together to recount the gospel of St Matthew. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice followed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – expanded into a f…ebooks/Bagnall, Rob/Still the Beast is Feeding_ 40 Years of Rocky Horror - Rob Bagnall & Phil Barden.txt
  • The show was conceived by John-Michael Tebelak while he was still at Carnegie Tech. He’d done a version of it at Café La Mama, with songs that didn’t really function as musical numbers so much as they gave little respites. Thinking of moving it to off-Broadway, people called me and asked me to provide the score. I worked very closely with…ebooks/Citron, Stephen/Musical From the Inside Out, The - Stephen Citron.txt
  • Godspell was created by John-Michael Tebelak when he was a graduate student at Carnegie-Mellon University. 26 After a short run at the downtown experimental theatre La MaMa, producers Edgar Lansbury (brother of Angela) and Joseph Beruh thought the idea had potential but that it needed a stronger score. Stephen Schwartz, who had been an un…ebooks/Wolf, Stacy/Changed for Good_A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical - Stacy Wolf.txt
  • Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz; conceived and directed by John-Michael Tebelak, based on St Matthew’s Gospelebooks/Wright, Adrian/West End Broadway_ The Golden Age of the American Musical in London - Adrian Wright.txt
  • John-Michael Tebelak began his Godspell (archaic spelling of gospel) as a college project, while going for his master’s at Carnegie-Mellon. After graduation he workshopped a freewheeling, improvisational version—with songs by the cast—at Café La Mama. Producers Edgar Lansbury (Angela's little brother) and Joseph Beruh picked up thetheatre-pdfs/More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin.txt
  • GODSPELL Music and Lyrics, Stephen Schwartz; Conceived and Directed by John-Michael Tebelak; Based on "The Gospel According to St. Matthew;" Lighting, Lowell B. Achziger; Costumes, Susan Tsu; Production Supervisor, Nina Faso; Musical Director, David Lewis; Associate Producer, Charles Arrangement and Direction, Stephen Musical Haid; Schwar…theatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1971-72 Season, v. 28 (Willis).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

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