Film Forum

YOU HAD TO BE THERE: HOW THE TORONTO GODSPELL IGNITED THE COMEDY REVOLUTION…

Nick Davis · 2025 · USA GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT · 98 min

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YOU HAD TO BE THERE: HOW THE TORONTO GODSPELL IGNITED THE COMEDY REVOLUTION, SPREAD LOVE & OVERALLS, AND CREATED A COMMUNITY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (IN A CANADIAN KIND OF WAY) The 1972 Toronto production of the musical Godspell featured an eye-popping cast of future comedy titans: Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Dave Thomas—with Victor Garber as a hippie Jesus and Paul Shaffer as musical director. YOU HAD TO BE THERE features interviews with all surviving members, hilariously recounting a production that changed the course of comedy in North America. “Joyous... the 1972 Godspell planted seeds that would grow into a tree of many branches—one branch being SNL, another SCTV, another being comedies like BEST IN SHOW.” — Matthew Carey, Deadline