Review: You Had To Be There – “A crowd-pleaser.”

In 1971, New York City saw the opening of an off-Broadway show that became a phenomenon.  In a time of ‘peace and love’ and hippie culture, the stage of La Mama theatre welcomed the show Godspell to rave reviews and some protest.  Depicting Jesus and his disciples as clowns wouldn’t be seen without some controversy.  But, John-Michael Tebelak’s and Stephen Schwartz’s musical reinterpretation of the Gospel of St. Matthew re-imagined this 2000 year old tale as funny, a radical idea.  However, it made sense to them that Jesus and his followers were entertainers, perhaps comically so, to get their message to resonate.

As tends to happen when a show hits big, it spawned touring groups around the world.  Los Angeles, London and Paris got their own versions.  But, so did Toronto, Canada.  And why did director Nick Davis and executive producer Judd Apatow decide this Canadian production was good material for a documentary? Because it became the starting point for a cast who would almost all become household names.  It was, what Lin-Manuel Miranda calls a ‘comedy incubator.’ That’s why You Had To Be There.

The full title of this film is actually 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).  You can see why we’ll use the short form.  And yet it’s perfectly descriptive of what happened.  In March of 1972, auditions for the Toronto production of Godspell took place at the Masonic Temple (now known as The Concert Hall).  In that room were such unknowns as Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Paul Schafer, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, and Martin Short.

The original cast which was rounded out by Jayne Eastwood, Avril Chown, Rudy Webb and Valda Aviks had their debut at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on June 1, 1972.  At the time it was Canada’s biggest theatre, and unbeknownst to these actors, they were about to be the biggest celebrities in Toronto.  Godspell launched the career of a then 22-year-old Martin Short (who was pre-med at McMaster University at the time) as well as Gilda Radner who auditioned singing Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah and still took the attention of everyone in the room.

Sadly, no video footage of the show exists, but thanks to some (illegally) recorded audio from Martin Short himself, we can enjoy the sounds of the cast.  Where needed, the film augments visuals with stock footage of the era and animation which appears like it was taken straight from the 70’s itself.  There is also some audio footage of parties that used to happen at a house that Levy and Short shared at 1063 Avenue Road – parties that included their friends like John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Dave Thomas and Catherine O’Hara.

Most of the film is made up of interviews of the stars, and the friendship created through performing in the show is palpable right up to their very sweet reunion.  Many, including Short and Levy, share much of their own personal histories and the insights about the starts of their careers is fascinating stuff.  There’s much to learn along the way about all these incredible people.  The inclusion of the interviews from the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Heidi Gardner, and Mike Meyers are there to acknowledge the breadth of influence these performers had, and while enjoyable, are somewhat unnecessary. With star power as was in Godspell, the cast can more than speak for themselves.

The 1970’s was before my time, but there is no denying that this era in Toronto seems to just be one of those unique moments in history where everything just seemed to align.  There was this incredible pocket of talent coming out of this city, this show in particular, that went on to influence so many of our modern creatives. Not everyone in the cast had happy endings, something the documentary sensitively acknowledges, but many went on to Second City, SCTV and, in the case of Radner Saturday Night Live, which was just being started by Toronto native Lorne Michaels.

You Had To Be There is a crowd-pleaser, likely to make everyone happy – unless of course you’re the owners of 1063 Avenue Road who might get some unwanted attention.  Though honestly, it sounds like whoever now owns this house in midtown Toronto should make it into a museum! It at least deserves to be named a heritage site.  Get that plaque!  But I digress.  You Had To Be There is joyful and nostalgic.  It’s a piece of not only Toronto’s history, but comedy history.  If you’re Canadian, or a Torontonian, you might just feel a little glimmer of pride watching this documentary.  But, even if you’re not there’s a lot to like here, essential viewing for any comedy lover and an insider’s look into a group of friends who are still part of each other’s DNA.

If you happen to live in Canada, You Had To Be There is rolling out showings across the country over the next month.  For my fellow Torontonians, you can check this out at TIFF Lightbox (including a screening October 10th with a post show Q&A with Jayne Eastwood & Eugene Levy) at Hot Docs Cinema or at the Fox Theatre in The Beaches (support local independent cinemas!)